LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 637, 14 October 1909, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

I Tho relation between, tho Churches and politics was the subject of an intcrcsyng and topical refcrcnce by the Rev. I''. G. Buckingham at tho Baptist meeting last night. we aro going to touch polities," he said, "whereror tho saving of human beings from degradation is concerned. Wo have tho audacity to . coir e from littlo country places to this capital city and tell statesmen ' that when they bless gambling saloons they ought to be ashamed of themselves. Except you repent, you are going to perish—so far as your Cabinet career is concerned."' ■■ "This," says the "Bulletin," 'was the brightest remark mado by Maoriland Premier Ward on bis roturn from, the Defence Conference—' While in .England I obtained million of money and had it sont out to Maoriland. Half Of this is for the Advances to Settlers Department and half for public works. ... I also laid the basis lor obtaining in London all moneys required by local public bodies in Maoriland, _The bulletin' firmly believes that if Jos. Ward was sent on a mission to the innards of. Africa ho would float a loan, at Tiinbuctoo and borrow money in the middle of Sahara. If ho went up naked and penniless m a balloon lie would come down with a loan in his hand. ' Canst thou draw out leviathan with ail hook? says the Scripture. If leviathan had any money ill his tail pocket Ward would get him even without tho hook." A table comparing the cost of living in tho four centres is given periodically in tho Journal of the. Labour Department. Commenting on a similar table in the annual report of the Department, as submitted: to Parliament, the Secretary for Labour (Mr. E. Tregear) notes som'o perplexing questions. "That sugar should be cheaper in Auckland than in Wellington may pernaps be owing to the presence of the sugar-refinery in Auckland, although one would scarcely, expect such a fact to the retail price of so cheap an article. Noverthe-. less, when we find that sugar, although dearer in Wellington than in Auckland, and still dearer in Christchurch, is as cheap in Dunedin as in Auckland, the matter seems hard to understand. Why one should pay more for a medium-value boot in Wellington than in Auckland, again a still higher prico in Christchurch,' and then find it in Dunedin at the cheap' Auckland rate is difficult of explanation. Dunedin buys its best kinds of candles cheap, its poor kinds of candles dear. Christchurch and Dunedin pay more for corned, beef than Auckland or Wellington does. Christchurch buys kerosene dear compared with Wellington or Dunedin, and exceedingly dear if wo note the Auckland price. The tablo appears to prove that Auckland is much the cheapest of. tho t'our cities to live in, and Dunedin the next cheapest. If we turn to the schedules of houserent at the end of the table, and bear in mind the other high rate of payment made by Wellington for. her food-suppiies and other commodities, wo can understand that the rents paid in'tho ' Empire City' aro not Only fatal to thrift among the town workers, but add to tho lot of those who toil a burden to be endured without'hope.". ' . ''

tinder tho Shops and Offices Act, a'shopkeeper who soils, tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes most not sell such articles after the hour fixed for closing of tobacconists' shops. Mr. Aldridge, Inspector of Factories, Wellington, suggests in. his report, that this should bo made tii apply all trades—for a confectioner who sells a small line of groceries may [continue to sell such groceries after v the hour fixed -'by. requisition (whero such exists) for .closing grocers' ships, or- a grocer who sells ironmongery may do so after tho hour fixed for closing ,of ironmongers l shops. .Sppaking to the Baptist .Conference last night, the Rev. J.- J.. North' claimed two prominent British politicians as Baptists. Mr. LloydGeorye, he said, was still proud to be a momber of: a Little Bethel, and Mr. Will Crooks, the Labour / M.P., who was to", visit I<ow Zealand shortly, was a Baptist deacon.

"There is still a good deal of dissatisfaction amongst cooks and.waiters in l tho Dominion, owing to tho fact that section 23 of the Act (providing for, weekly half-holiday) is limited to employees in licensed hotels," says Mr.Lomas, Chief Inspector of Factories, in-his yearly report, ' Many, of these workers—such as porters, lutchen, 1 pantry, and general hands in private hotels and restaurants—are not provided for in respect to the statutory half-', holiday, nlid no weekly hours' are fixed except' where an award of the Arbitration Court or industrial-agreement is in.force." ... - . ij "Tho average'longth .of a pupil's course in our' 1 secondary 'schools-is-iiot I'lo^jjlesouKif 'to secure the greatest boneiit to the,community from the secondary-school .system,' and every ;■ effort should ho..mine .to extend it,'-', considers the ■Minister for. Education '.(Hon.-"a.- ! Fowlds). Among other , thinfis, the: raising ;of the stand•ard of the university Matriculation Examina* tion, and still more the acceptance of a certifU. cato of four x years' satisfactory work in a scc» ondary school as a qualification for > admission to tho university, would tend to increase the,' duration of secondary.school life, aid to raise the standard of work both jin the secondary schools and in the university', colleges." , :

: During tho year inspectors under tho Labour Department recovered *£1561 ss; 7d.. for 'tho benefit of 311 workers. This money consisted mostly of back-wages,'payments for holi- : days, overtime, etc., .due under different labour, laws, the withholding if which was not considered by tho Department'worthy of prosecution. as 'in', these cases tho, lapsis had' arisen, through inadvertence, or through ignorance of the law's requirements. '

.Delay has again occurred in the Court of proceedings. Yesterday, morning," when their Honours Justices Williams and Denniston took their seats, tho solicitors' " benches were empty, The Acting-Chief Justice intimated that, owing to misunderstanding* connsol were not aware that the case was to' have been heard that morning. . No, : blame, said his Honour wag attachable to anyone, and the nonappearance of counsel was duo simply to tho misundorstandjlig. The case was-that ef John Campbell versus tho• District Land' liegistrar at., Auckland.' It appears that the Auckland counsel reached Wellington in time to take the' case yesterday morning, but did not ' attend because,lm had boon informed that the hearing would not tako place, till to-day. The Court adjourned, until this morning. . ' . • Tim Labour Department took 552' cases before tho; .Arbitration! Court last year., for. : Woiiche£ of award, as against 754 cases for the ptecMiiifi yeftr.. Of'the cases taken this year, 463 were decided in favour of tho Department, 50 were; dismissed, 38 withdrawn, and in 1. case decision was withheld. In the 29 cases conducted by unions, 10 convictions were obtained, 9 cases dismissed, and 4 withdrawn. In detrimental eases £580 2s. 3d. penalties uero imposed, arid in cases conducted by unions iSO 10s as penalties. Of tho 113 cases taken to the Stipendiary Magistrates' Courts by the Department, 301 were won, 9 dismissed, ? bmlPb !™ inflicted amounted r.f" 2 75 ,-. , uni °«s prosecuted in 2 cases, both of whioh werd dismissed.; ~'P* Hallj-I.Conciliation Commissioner for this district, reports favourably upon tho results so. far achwved uudor the new method of dealing with.industrial disputes,: but considers that , a further amendment of the Act is neoessary. When an agreement: has ; been arrived at with the aid of a Conciliation Commissioner, it is impossible, under ■ the existing conditions, to agreement embodied 1?' * r n • e effect of, an award, and for the following reasons:'(l) An agreement having been made, there exists rio longer any: difepntof (2) as no dispute is in existence, there is nothing to submit to tho Court; (3) tho Court has therefore no jurisdiction,to interfere in the matter. . In order to.• (ivercome this anomaly, Mr. Hally suggests that power shbuld'bo vested in thd Court of Arbitration to give any indus* fj'al agreement the full effect of an award, if such is considered necessary or desirable by tho parties interested in tho dispute. Such an, alteration, he says, is desired by those who are most affected by; the operation of this species of legislation,. and is approved by the present judge of the Arbitration Court.- .

' As tho law stands, at prosent,". states a paragraph in - tho annual report Of the Minister for Education, "control of, industrial i. sohpol inmates . may be .retained, until they arrive at twenty-Ono years of ago. In the great majority of cases it is found unnecessary to exercise supervision for so longi but unfortunately there are a few who even at that ago arc quite unfit : to tako their place in society with any reasonable hopo of their succeeding in life or, in some cotes, of their refraining from committing orime.. It is suggested-thai n magistrate should be empowered to hear evidence, and, On being satisfied that the caso is not 0116. to which the ordinary provisions as to termination of control at twenty-ono years should apply, to make nn order tatendlng the period of detention to Iwenty-five years of agei and, if necessary at tho termlnfltioh of that period, a further extension could:be obtained by similar procedure. The power of tho Gov-' ernor to discharge an inmate at any time, and ,nf the Miuister to place him out from the school on probation, should apply in the same way a.? in the enso of an Ordinary, inmate'of r.n Industrial school who is under twenty-01i8 years.". . ■■■■• . . "-/f.

Nine Chinese arrived from Sydney yosterdiSy by the Manuka. AH had-formerly resided in New Zealand and had been rovisiting'thelr native; land. One of the Chinamen, having been absent from New Zealand for about tlireo weeks over the. four years prescribed in the regulations,' will require to pay another poll tux ana to pass the education test of writing and reading, ■ ■■ " :

The N.Z. Baptist, Young Men's Bible Claw Union, a young, but vigorous. body, held a meeting early yesterday; morning at the Vivian Street Baptist Church (whore the Baptist Union Conference is being held). Tho Rev. A. 8. Wilson presided. Messrs. W. H. Taylor (treasurer) and N. Christie (secretary) spoke of tlio Work of the classes, which have enrolled about 400 morabors. Messrs. \V. 11. George (Wellington) and G. If, Maunder (New,' Plymouth) also spoke. At tho breakfast which followed,, Mr.: H. 11. Driver (editor of tho "N.Z. Baptist"), Rot. J, K. Archor (Napier), Messrs. W. H. George, G. 11. Maunder, A. lloby, G. Dawson, Ray, Ambury, and others spoke. The Rev. Guy Thornton gave.an interesting account of. work on the Mam Trunk line. At a.subsequent meeting, Mr. A. Iloby presiding, it was.resolved' to form a N.Z. Baptist Young Women's Bible' Class Union. Mrs. Alfred North (Ponsonby) was. elected president. .... - 1 ,;: The municipal abattoirs at Ngahauranga will be able to dispatch GOO 6heep, 50 head of ,c&t? tic and 50 pigs per day. ; ; V r. ' That the report of the Timber Cotnmisslon has mat with considerable approval at Auckland was ascertained by a "Herald" represent tativo. If was generally agreed by merchants' that the recommendations,. as a whole, #ra, calculated' to foster the timber irijtustry "of New Zealand, particularly tho imajj'Ution of - new dutios upon. Oregon timber. W/ S. Mil-': roy, secretary of the Kauri Timber Company, - however, referred'to an'"apparent, absurdity in the proposod duties.on Oregon. "While thecommission," said Mr. Milroy, "proposes a duty of 2s. per. .100 suporficial feet on 18-ft. lengths Of Oregon, they agrto that 30-ft.' lengths should ne' admitted free. The cost of dividing those .latter sizes afterimportation! from America i 6 very trifling, so what is to prevent all the Oregon being brought over in long' lengths and cut to requirements here ?" Mr. Milroy did not,, howevor, anticipate apnenomenal.incroase in Oregon imports. The' slump on tho. American market had been ro-', sponsible for its introduction to New Zealand a couple of years ago, and last year the effects of the depression vrere still felt to a certain extent. •. With a -revival-.of American trade, however, millers in that ■ part of the world ' would not havo the . same,, necessity to 6eek' markets abroad. The drawing of timber supplies frbm outside countries -necessarily meant' a lessor expenditure ajnong New Zealand v'or-' 5' rS tho'loss in this respect during the' .past fifteen months had 1 amounted l to several' thousands of pounds. There was, therefore, more satisfaction and benefit, from a national point of view in dealing in New Zealand, timbers. . !

. ar din£ tho question of inviting* or not inviting bir Josepii Wardl Arid his collearuci 1 kAlff 11 'at the Labour Bay celebrations, positiojn is made fe M « r, ul'u i ,a s s t ficcretary of the Iron andJBrass Moulders. Union, and a delegate to the * Irades Council:—At"a meeting of the Trades Council held on October 7 a recommendation was sent down bjr the Management Committee to extend:invitations to the Prime' Minister; lnembors of th 6 CftbineK local M.IVs, andithi. Majoi of Wellington. Ik was thon urged by one of, the delegates that ' the matter should, bo referred to the Labour Day Committee. The president of. the council, however, informed tho the Management Committee'had decided to let the council as a whole dealwitfo the matter,, and the motion to extend the in- ' T? i 0D bding. put to thd vote, wasfeated by 17 votes to 15; An amendment invite ine Primo Minister* the Jdinister foi Labour, and tho Mayor was also lost by K votes to 14. Those present then supposed thai tho matter had been finally-settled, but at a meeting of the Labour Day Committee, held on inesday night last, the' original motion wa.i again moved., Several of those present protected 1 against this course being talcen as the question ,hftd already been discussed aud ( negatived br tne council as a whole. It wes, however, carried at this committee, meeting, by 15, votes to

At a meeting held at the Gnrricon Hull en ruesday. evening it was deoided to commence ttedriesday afternoon, shooting competitions at Trentham next week..