General News

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21866, 20 August 1936, Page 10

General News

Perch at Horseshoe Lake Whether Horseshoe Lake was a sanctuary for eame only, or whether fishing also was prohibited there was a Question raised at the meetK the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society Rust evening. Mr V. Pankhurst smd that although the lake was a sanctuary, he thought fishing should be permitted there, r£ onlv from the- banks. Perch and tench had been liberated thgre, and- 25 years ago it was. swarming with The chairman (Mr G. L. Pomfret-Dodd) said that the lake was a sanctuary for game and not for fish. Mr Pankhurst claimed that there was some confusion, as old notices posted by the lake mfade it appear that fishing was not allowed. He would like the fact that the lake could be fished mentioned on the licenses. It was decided to find out from the records what was the true position. Intercolonial Trade No possibility of a settlement of the outstanding trade problems between Australia and New Zealand seems likely before the return of the Hon W. Nasji (Minister for Finance) from England at the end of next summer, is. the view of Mr R. H. Nesbitt. Australian Trade Commissioner. Mr Nesbitt said last evening that Australia was ready and willing to discuss the matter of the potato embargo at any time, but the New Zealand Government was not prepared to deal with, particular trade questions until it was in a position to discuss intercolonial trade as a whole. The position seemed to be that New Zealand trade was looked on as depending primarily on England, then on the colonies, and last on Continental markets. For that reason he could not see any settlement of the potato question before Mr Nash returns from his trip to England, where one of the matters to be dealt with is New Zealand’s trade with Britain. A Criticism Answered “It has been statedT" by certain critics that, in relation to the general populations of the two countries. New Zealand has a prison population three or four times that of England,” states the annual report of the Controller-Gen-eral of Prisons, Mr B. L. Dallard. “As has been pointed out in earlier reports,” the report adds, “exact comparisons cannot be made, as certain classes of offenders are included in the New Zealand prison statistics who are not so dealt with in England. The latest published English statistics show the receptions on convictions for each 100,000 of the general population to be 12.4, hence it will be seen that the disparity is not so wide.” The report gives 13.76 as the figure for receptions in New Zealand for each 100,000 of general population. Chukor Becoming Established The spread of chukor in tbs high country of the Ashburton headwaters was mentioned at the meeting of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society last evening. Mi- T. Bain said that he had been told that members of the Ashburton branch of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club had seen coveys of as many as 30 chukor together above Lake Heron recently. Lake Heron was outside the society’s district, but it was good news to hear that the birds wfere established there. The secretary (Mr C. W. Hervey) said that Mr J. R. Todhunter had estimated six months ago that there were 4000 chukor in the Ashburton gorge area. Buller Left Out Ironical reference to Nelson civic authorities’ knowledge of their own province was made at a meeting of the Buller County Council yesterday when a, letter was received from the Town Clerk at Nelson apologising for not inviting representatives of the county to a meeting recently held in Nelson to form a provincial centennial committee. The letter said that the fact that the Buller county was in the Nelson province had been overlooked. The county clerk and engineer (Mr C. F. Schadick) remarked that the Buller county was the twelfth largest in New Zealand,and amusing references to Nelson’s mistake were made by councillors. Overlapping of Local Bodies The council of the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce carried a motion last night urging that a local body commission should take evidence about the apparent overlapping of local bodies in districts throughout the Dominion, and that it should take cognisance of the peculiar requirements of each district. Cheap Electricity in East “In China and Japan, where practically the whole of the electric supply i% in the hands of private enterprise, public street lighting in certain cities is supplied free of charge,” said Mr A. Main, manager, at a meeting of the Waitemata Electric Power Board. With an abundance of cheap power, he added, current was taken to the tiny fishing villages, hamlets, and farms in the most remote corners of Japan. “Certainly their system of low-tension reticulation in the distant villages knows no regulations, and would give our own engineers the horrors,” said Mr Mein, “but the big thing is that it gives the people the supply.” Course in Public Administration A recommendation that the council of the Auckland University College inform the local bodies in the metropolitan area that it was prepared to arrange a course in public administration, provided there was no, financial responsibility on the college, was approved at a meeting of the council recently. The scheme was suggested by Mr ,F, B. Stephens, a lecturer at the college, after his return from a trip abroad. He said that the university curriculum did not provide for instruction on the working of the Government, its departments, or the various municipalities and boards. The education committee reported that Mr Stephen? said tha,t the first two years would be taken up with spadework. During that time only typing assistance would be necessary, but finally a graduate assistant and a typiste would be required. The Committee estimated that the finance required would probably be up to £ 800 for the first two years, rising thereafter to £IOOO. Car Registration Formalities A protest against the formalities necessary before a visiting motorist could drive his motor-car in New Zealand was made by Mr T. W. Mitchell, noted Australian ski-er, who arrived in Auckland by the Aorangi. On his last visit to New Zealand, Mr Mitchell said, he had wasted at least half a day getting his car ashore, registering it, and obtaining a license. Reciprocal arrangements, for registration had been reached in most overseas countries, and New Zealand and Australia should arrange for their number plates to be mutually acceptable. At the very least motorists should be allowed to carry out all the formalities at their place of departure, instead of having to walk helplessly round a strange town. South African Prosperity “Conditions generally in South Africa are very good and must continue so as long as gold remains at or about its present price,” said Captain W. R. Butters* of Cape Town, at Auckland. New mines were being developed in the Transvaal and unheard of wealth was being produced. The Transvaal mining area had been extended to almost double its size of 20 years ago. Captain Butters added. New Trials in Collision Cases Comment oh the increasing number of motions for new trials in collision cases is made in a judgment delivered at Wellington by his Honour Mr Justice Smith, who gives recently stated principles as viewed by the House of Lords. His Honour quotes from a House of Lords headnote on the principles updn which the court should act where it is alleged that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence. The substance of the remarks is that if it is obvious that no verdict for the plaintiff on all the available evidence could bfe supported, the court may save the waste of time in ordering a new trial which could have only one result, by ordering the verdict and judgment to be entered for the defendant. His Honour said, that motions for a new trial in collision cases, on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence, had become common in New Zealand. That might be understandable in view of the regularity with which juries to-day found for the plaintiff and awarded substantial damages. Nevertheless,. he thought it not inappropriate to draw the attention-of practitioners to the' recent observations of their Lordships and to suggest close consideration of them.-—Press Association.