IN OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 42, 13 November 1907, Page 8

IN OTHER CENTRES.

AUCKLAND. November 12. Tho "Herald" protests bitterly against tho rush of business to bo brought on this session ond. Referring to the Premier's statement that the session would probably close on November 20, tho,journal in question says: "It will surprise nobody to learn that, although tho ond of the session is thus brought near,. there is a long list of important measures which. Sir Joseph Ward announces his intention of pushing through in tho remaining fortnight, sonio of which measures have not oven been introduced. This is a repetition of one of tho most serious evils of our legislative sj'stem, an ovil from which the Dominion continually suffers. After months are frittered away in idle and superfluous.discussions upon topics in which nobody is particularly interested, the most important business of a session is crowded into as many weeks with the inevitable result. The most, vital enactments aro carelessly passed with no,clear sense of the significance of their various clauses by mombors who aro in a hurry to get homo, and who, with that end in view, vote in order to expedite business. Wo cannot expect sound legislation as long as this objectionable rule prevails, but thcro seems to, be as littlo prospect of a reform in this direction as ever there was." Serious Effect of Holiday. ' Owing to the Customs authorities observing yesterday as , a public holiday, a* considerable amount of inconvenionce was caused in shipping circles. The Manujca, which arrived from the' South on Sunday afternoon, was permitted to dischargo cargo until shortly after 10 a.m. yesterday, when the authorities closed down operations, preventing further unloading 'or shipping of cargo, consequently a quantity, of potatoes, ete., from the South for Auckland could, not ho landed, and was carried on to Sydney. All oversea shipping'had to cease work shortly after 10 a.m. yesterday, the Customs authorities warning all masters of steamers and coastal sailing vessels 'that thoy could not work. ' .. ' Vitiating Dust. ~ ' The shopkeepers of Mount Edon mado a strenuous appeal at the Borough Council mooting last night for active measures to bo taken in combating the dust nuisance. The spokesman said that, though water was glontiful and a sweeper, was owned .by tho ouncil, nothing had been done. Tho,perfect whirlwind of dust experienced from daylight to dark had the efrect of driving residents to the by-ways and. to other parts of the city to transact their business. Tho shopkeepers were . losing money not only through the lessoning of business, but by damage to stock. Doors and windows could not be opened, and myriads of microbes got on to the foodstuffs', and were swallowed by the people "He had no hesitation in say ing that the main road was absolutely tho worst and dirtiest iii the Dominion. The Mayor, said that, sweeping would hardly overcome the nuisance, but, as Mount Eden wouldbe included iri'the Tramway Company's watering scheme, it would' bp!wasted money to purchaso a watering cart. After further discussion, it was decided to procure a watering hydrant at, onco, .and to water and sweep a certain portion, of the main road. Surveys. Mr. Thomas Humphries, Surveyor -General of New Zealand, is at present on a visit to the Auckland Province. Seen by a " Star " representative,'■; Mr. Humphries refused to be drawn into an utterance of opinion on tho recent'action of tho Auckland Instituto of Surveyors in regard to tho alleged delay which oxistsan the survey of Nativo and Crown lands? Pending tho consideration of the Nativo Affairs Mr. Humphries preferred to abstain from expressing his opinion on the subject. "This, I will say," tho Surveyor-General remarked-, " thcro has been no delay during tho last-twplvo morilhs, and no fewer than seventy-five surveyors havo been at .work on tho staff, apart from thoso engaged : on' contract." Tho Surveyor-General further stated, in reply to a question as'to his mission in tho north, that it was simply a tour of inspection., Ho had visited tho ltewi Settlement,.ten miles from' Tanpiri, and the surveying and subdividing is practically finished, so that this area will very shortly be ■on tho market. Asked if there was any further Departmental information relative to the Piako swamp and its reclamation, Mr. Humphries said the. matter was out of his hands. Ho goes north to-night accompanied by Mr. M'Kenzio, Commissioner of Crown.lands. He will inspect a nnmbor of Native land blocks at Whangarei, and go on to Hokianga.for a similar purpose.

CHRISTCHURCH,

November 12. Mr. A. W. Rutherford, M.H.R., told a "Press" representative yesterday that his present intention was hot to stand for the Hurunui seat at the next election. "But you never know what may occur, in tho future," he added, " to causo a change of present intention."* Mr. Rutherford, by tho way, is not in favour of the suggestion thta the Government shall give an annual subsidy of £1000 to the Christchurch .and ;Manawatu. Shows alternatively. "I am! ono of those," hesaid; " who 'think tho farmers aro very well off, and that they don't | require any Government assistance for their shows. I don't think wo should rush off .to tho Government as the townspeople do for assistance in every direction. The Government already gives a considerable number of concessions and facilities for the conveyance of prize stock and other show considerations, and should not bo called upon to further support agricultural and pastoral; shows. This is rank heresy to farmers," concluded Mr. Rutherford," but it is my opinion all tho same."

The Prohibitionists colebrated the close of "Carnival Week" by a No-License "rally" at. the Opera House on Sunday night. The Hon. G. J. Smith was in the chair. The chief speakers were the Rev. F. W. Isitt and Mr. T. E. Taylor. Mr. Isitt remarked that he had more hope than ever in his life bofore that he would live to seo the 'death of the liquor traffic in-New Zealand. "Having just come from'tho West Coast," said Mr. Isitt, "I may be' inclined to spoak a little cautiously about winning everywhere. The West Coast to-day ' is what it was — drink 1 sodden. In every part of the Coast I heard the same'story about evasions of tho law, and,, in some instances; inactivities of the police. The liquor trado is always the same. If it washes its face it is only because it has to. It nevor washes its heart, and it never can." Mr. Isitt said that a fact that troubled him was that there were many ministers of the Gospel who did not support the Prohibition movoment. They continued to give their vote's for the traffic that could not exist without destroying men. The reason, he bolieved, lay in their absolute misconception of 'the whole spirit of religion. Mr. Taylor, referring to Bishop Neligan's recent address on social evils, said he believed that Bishop Noligan was bound to come over whole-heartedly to the NoLicenso movement noxt year. Ho did not seo how ho could avoid it. Police Records. Carnival Week was marked in tho police records by a few more drunks than usual, but, in spite of an influx of more or less undesirnblo characters such ' as generally takes place about Cup and Show time, (hero has been practically no increase in crime. A 1 new arrival from Home had the good fortune to fall into tho, hands of a cons'table, and thereby escape a worse doing. He.was in a state,.of helpless t intoxication, and had tho sum of £102 on him, and at tho time ho was being furtively "shadowed" by two individuals whoso intentions wero distinctly open to suspicion. A Blow Under the Chin. A resident of Linwood, who had occasion to go for a doctor, was startled by the sudden appearance of a man who sprang out of the darkness. Ho was about to attack when the liinwood resident got'in first with a blow under the chin. This was all the footpad wanted, and ho did not wait for more. Leprosy. Mr. G. Laurenson, as mombor for Lyttolton, is up in arms .against the action of tho Government in sending another leprosy patient to Quail Island, in Lyttelton Harbour, which is also tho quarantine station.

Speaking to a "Times" reporter, ho remarked that while ono did not like to say much whon there was only one caso, from Canterbury, of leprosy on tho Island, and that said to be only temporarily there, it h an altogether different matter when a caso from another part of Now Zealand is sent there.. Some time ago it was suggested that a leper station should bo formed on the Island of Kapiti, but a protest was raised against the proposal in view of the Island being a sanctuary for native fauna, and tho idea was dropped. There are, however, much moro suitable sites for such a station than Quail Island—Canterbury's only island, by tho way. "To my mind," continued Mr. Laurenson, "there aro serious objections quite apart from tho sentimental ones to establishing such a place on that Island. First and foremost its proximity to a closelypopulated district; then tho fact that it 'is used as a quarantine station for stock, where practically all tho prize stock imported for tho South Island aro quarantined for longthy periods. Thcro is another point, and that is that it has been determined by the Prisons Department to uso Iho north 'side of Quail Island as tho site of an indeterminate sentonco prison, and to my mind it appears quite wrong to 'have a leper depot and a prison on ono small island." Protecting the Workers. Mr. Ell, M.H.R., has been urging tho Minister for Customs to protect the workpeople of New Zealand against tho sweated products of Great Britain. He has. ascertained that firms : at Home aro sending out catalogues stating that thoy aro prepared to make men's suits to measure for as littlo as a guinea or 255. per suit, a price which certainly suggests sweating of tho most pronounced character. The Minister; according to the " Times," has directed that a circular bo sent out enjoining increased vigilanco so as to protect as, far as ho can tho workpeople of tho Dominion against tho lower conditions of labour in tho older countries.

DUNEDIN.

Novoraber 12. Tho topid baths for tho city, plans, for which have been prepared, aro estimated to cost £6000. Maintenance is set down at £620, and rovonuo at £730. # The potato boom, has collapsed. This day last week £8 a ton was asked'; to-day sales were not oasy to make at ,£4 10s. , Mr. Goo. Benstead is coming from England as Principal of tho new homo for mentally defoctive_ boys, which the Government is establishing at Kurow. Irrigation. The residents of Cromwoll and Upper Clutha declare that the £100,000 allocated for irrigation in Central Otago is insufficient. A correspondent, writing in the " Star," says that the race • now being surveyed from tho head of tho Taieri to Wodderburn will cost more than that. Then there aro the reticulation channeb and tho reservoir, tho cost of which will bo enormous, and tho Government do not hold the right to a singlo hoad of water to put in the race. They will have "to buy Laffeyj and Party's right or wait for forty-two years for tho oxpiry of tho tenure Fancy, the parched plains waiting for fortytwo years for irrigation! Indignation hero is intense at the vote of £20,000 for a palatial bathhouse to bo erected at Rotorua,. when that sum would suffico to bring in tho roaring Meg stream on tho Cromwoll Flat, and bo tho means of irrigating 4000 acres of tho richest soil in Otago.