LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3095, 28 May 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A ballot to provide the additional recruits required for the Thirty-second Heiiil'orccmcuts will bo begun to-niorro.v morning. The names of the selected Reservists will bo announced early next week.

The Minister of In tenia I Affairs (Iho Hon. U. \V. ttussell) lias received from 11 r. A. 11. .Miles, managing director of 'Messrs. Murray, Roberts and Co., a letter covering a. cheque for .flOflfl, as_ a donation towards the funds of the National War Funds Council.

The attention of Sir James Allen was called in Christchurcli to a remark made by him to tho deputation from tho Civil Service Association as to tho amount of excess profits tax paid by tho farmers. Sir James Allen said the figures were not yet available, but when they were published they would prove astonishing, especially to those who contended that thcro had been no conscription of wealth.

An allegation has beon made Hint drugs, commonly known as "dope," havo beon used by some men. called up in the ballot for tho purpose of ensuring rejection at the medical test, says n, southern paper. The statement is made that certain men are in possession of drags, and arc confident that they can cheat the doctor if the necessity arises. The drugs are said to have been brought hack by returned soldiers. The authorities would gladly welcome any information that would lead to the detection of such a ruse, but so far no case seems ■ to have como to their notice, although it is inferred that they havo their suspicions. Some light was thrown on the matter byDr. Thacker, who was asked by ' a "Lyttelton Times" reporter if any known drugs wore capable of deceiving a doctor. ..He replied that evidently the authorities surmised that some recruits had been tampering with themselves, for, in the course of correspondence on ■the subiect.of unfit men being passed as fit (before the standard- was raised! ho had received a latter from Surgeon-Gene-ral Henderson stating that some men nail been chewing or eating tobacco to influence the heart's action. "Of course, Dr. Thacker added, "a doctor could spot a thing lilte that right away. A doctor would spot any man nattering from a drug,, and such a man could bo put under observation either in camp or hospital." Speaking at a, Christen urch gathering Sir James Allen said the story of the campaigns of the New Zealand Army had not vet Tjeen written,, and it was not easv to find a man wild 1 could write ] of history as it should he written. Ho appealed to all parents and relatives or men who went on active service to -preserve all letters and communications! received from soldiers, "ire had seen many diaries, and if extracts could be token, from these the story of tho struggle would be best told. The letters from the nen on tho spot during the great. CT«nts would greatly hebn- the future historian. Tt was indeed a gre.it story, composed of units, making n whole of which NewZealand had every reason to be proud. A District Order states: "With referonce to the separation allowance of Is. a day "ranted to the widowed mothers of members of tho NX . Expeditionary Force, it has been approved that Iho present' regulations under which payment of this allowance is made, will, in future, bo proportionately relaxed as regards the qualification of a minimum allotment of 3s. a day of deferred -my m particular cases where a soldier establishes that ho is unable to allot the lull amount of his deferred, pay. Such cases will be dealt with on their merits, and tho allowance will bo granted, provided U:lie mother's iucomo from other sources 'does not exceed 7s. a week. Cabinet has decided that children's allowance is to be paid up to the age of 2! to soldiers children who are suffering lrom mental or physical infirmity necessitating special treatment or training in an institution where facilities for, such treatment oi training are provided." ■Replying to a complaint from i.n. Auckland lady that letters which she had sent to her soldier son in Iraw.e had not been delivered before his death, the Minister of Defence said in Christchurch:-"! wish to assure von that everything possible is being done to ,n----sure tho Tegular and prompt, delivery ot correspondence to nnr men, but with the special- 'circumstance.? .existing at the f'ont it is quite impassible to guarantee the delivery of every letter and parcel that may bo forwarded, work of delivering mails to mpn at the front .» verv hazardous, and in some in,tauce» mails, unfortunately, have been destroyed as the result of the 'enemys gunfire. The letter adds that the Director of Army Postal Services, in a recent report, •notified that he had arranged ■ for ' the address of each letter to be noted™ iN arrival, in London, and iiny change due ■ to ' notations at the front Ms also registered; so that the letters may reach (he men' within a few days after arrival in England;

The Returned Soldiers' Association Conference at Dunedin passed a motion that a Minister for Returned Soldiers be appointed forthwith, to deal with matters generally concerning men back from the front" It was pointed out that probably 100,000 men would return at the close ot the war, and require settling on the land or in some civil capacity, and a special Department should be created, so that they should not he loft to drift and heroine a burden on their parents and relations. The State should begin now to devise a scheme, and not wait until the men were here. It was stated that it something was not done to attract men ada and Australia, where inducements back tliev would urobably drift to Canwere beiiig offered for settlement.

At Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon, P..H. Galvin, a player in the Urn-, versitv v. Wellington Rugby match, seriously "injured bis kneecap, and had to tie removed to the Hospital.

At the Returned Soldiers' Association Conference at Dunedin, there was a discussion on the question of tho employment of aliens, and a motion was passed requesting the Government to conscript all alien labour for State purposes and pay wages on tho basis of the P«.V ,01 privates in the Expeditionary Force.

•District Orders 'stale that temporary officers will only bo eligible to sit for tho first appointment examination, it t icy arc within tho ago of 25 years. Practicno temporary officers can ba so examined, as tho principle governing their appointment sets out that they should, except under special circumstances, bo well over the age of 25 years. Officers holdin" temporary commissions slioultl, however, ho required to pass an examination for next higei- rank, before being promoted. ' Tho Art Gallery in Whitmore Street has recently been enriched by the addition of a charming little "Gorrcgio chalk drawing,,,the gift 0 Dr. Walter Ml, a past-president of tho academy who is now on the staff ot the Bcthual Green Military Hospital, E. London. This little example, which is one ol tho old master's Holy Family series, was brought out to Now Zealand by Mr. L. Y Fell, of Nelson, who returned a tow weeks ago from a visit to the Old Country It will be on view at the gallery as''soon as suitably framed. A further addition to the collection is a beautiful-ly-bound volume of Eaemaker cartoons (ono hundred in number), presented by Mrs. W. B. Collins, who is still in England. Tho cartoons may be seen at the gallery on application to the custodian. At tlio last meeting of tho Academy Council members present spoke in appreciative terms of the thoughtful generosity of the absent donors, which prompted their i respective gifts, and a hearty vote of thanks was passed to them.

■ The following airiendmenls to the existing price list of uniform clothing for officers have beon made:—Dismounted officer's field kit: Breeches, knick'er, pairs, £t 35.; cap, forage! 95.; greatcoat. JB3 Ss. (id.: jackets, service, dress (2), £1 Us.; vmttees, pairs (2), 125.; trousers. £1 2s. Mounted officer's field kit: Breeches; riding, <£1 6s. Cd.,: greatcoat, mounted paltorn. ,£3 10s. The price a pair for tan boots lias been increased from .£1 -Is. ild. to £1 Gs.

At 2 o'clock, yesterday afternoon tlio fire brigade received a call to lfiC Tarannki Street. Tlio house was occupied by Thomas Loughurst, and owned by Jfr. Edwards, Karepa Street, Brooklyn. The fire was caused by a boy playing with matches in a bedroom and the bedding catching fire. l The damage- was not serious. The building was insured in the South British Office for .6100.

The General Officer Commanding tha N.Z. Defence Forces has culcil us follows.—"Veterans in possession of British war medals, may bo. awarded military funerals, provided that no expense to the public- is incurred."

Information regarding the conditions tinder which Japaueso doctors will be allowed to 'practice in New Zealand Is asked by the Japaneso Consul-General in Sydney in a Tetter to the Minister lor Internal Affairs (Hon. G. W. _Jtuss%l!). 'I ho question thus raised is receiving tho attention of tho Govornment. Tho graduates in medical science of tho University of Japan are recognised to be men of high professional qualifications, but there may bo difficulties in the way of recognising their degrees in a British community. The clause of the Medical Practitioners' Act, 1011. dealing with the point, is as follows:— "Every poison shall be entitled to be registered under the Act who satisfies the board that ho is the holder of a diploma (hereinafter referred to as a foreign diploma) approved by the board and granted by any university or institution other than tho University of New Zealand or a university or institution situated in the United Kingdom, after a course of not less than five years' study of the subject, pertaining to a medical and surgical decree or license."

Tho New Zealand Club will entertain on Tuesday Mr. C. J. Parr, C.M.G., who was one of the New Zealand Parliamentary delegation which visited England and the battlefields of Franco at tho invitation of the Empire Parliamentary. Association. Mr. Parr, in a telegram to the- president of the club, states that ho nroposcs to give five-minute sketches of prominent soldiers, sailors, and statesmen, and the futility of forty politicians in time of crisis.

. In the Supreme Court on Saturday, His Honour Mr. Justice Hosking resumed tho hearing of Robert Burns Grange's claim against the Poverty Bay Farmers' Meat Co., Ltd., for .£ll3O Gs. damages for alleged breach of contract. There was a counter-claim by the defendaut company for a similar amount. Mr. A. \V. Blair and Afr. P. H. Putnam appeared for plaintiff, and Mr. M. Myers for the defendant company. Argument lasting all the morning was heard, and His Honour reserved his decision.

The following is from the "Chnst'church Press" :-We have occasionally published extracts from letters received by the editor of "The Press" from an American scientist whose sympathies have been with the Allies from the beginning of the war, and who was very uneasy under President Wilson's Notes to Germany. Tu a letter which came to hand by the last mail, he now writes: At last wo are in the war, and we feel better. It isn't going to be a half-heart-ed business, but an aggressive war. Thouch we shall doubtless .move slowly, I personally feel that the triumph of right is now absolutely certain. For if it •wei-o necessary we could put an additional million men'in the field every year for ten years before the first available supply is exhausted. And, in addition, there'would be a million more young men reaching tho fighting age each year. It 'the Hbhenzollerns have eyes, they can scarcely miss seeing tho handwriting on the wall. The hand has written only •one word this time, an English word, "Liberty," and further explanations or an interpreter should be superfluous. The President's speech. is, balm to impatient hearts who doubted his intentions We now think better of him and of ourselves. We feel calm and sane, healthy in bodv and mind, and we ' rejoice as a strong man to run a race. In good time our artillery will be helpin" to blast out the rock from the quarry of°Geniian arrogance and German hate, wliich will lie pulverised to impalpable dust, and only fertile felspar and spiritual mica will be left to glitter in sunny France. It's going to be a job to bo proud of. v

In an address to the North Canterbury Farmers' Union, Mr. D. Jones, president, said: The Government was again foreshadowing further increases in taxation. It was sound policy to pay a large proportion of war expenditure in the yeai's of prosperity, and the fwmers were quite prepared to carry their share of Lho burden, but 1 hey wanted a sjslem of taxation that was fair and equitable, and the excess profits tax. was. not. It "was a tax that heavily penalised, and it inijustly struck the farmer who before the war had not kept accurate accounts, and cannot state his standard income. It penalised the successful young farmers and business men who would have pushed ahead i respective of the war, while it •left almost untouched the successful man who had grown wealthy under the freedom of tho flag that was now endangered, and many others, including the farmer who had "kept accounts and had a boom year in one of the three years prior to "the war. So inequitable 'was it, that Parliament, realising its own incompetence, did what no Parliament • should ever do, placed wide discretionary powers in the hands of the Commissioner to adjust or remit taxation. It discouraged production, particularly of wheat; for two.years the wheat grower had had a disastrous time, ami if next year he got a return that would under ordinary conditions recoup luci, the Government would step in and take a "big share of his profits, but leave him to carry his losses. Tho conditions here were entirely different from British conditions, where huge war profits were made but of "shipping, munitions, etc. They should, press upon the Government the desirability of dropping this tax and raising 'the necessary taxation by a graduated income tax and, drastic taxation through the Customs on luxuries and non-essentials.

The Trades and Labour Council has written to the Minister of Defence, voicing complaints from the affiliated unions that members who were drawn in the last ballot have been ordered into camp on May 30. The secretary of the council states that this is regarded as a grievance by the men affected; for the reason.that when the first doublo ballot was drawn the public were informed through the Press that the purpose of the double ballot was to enable the Defence Department to get a month ahead of actual requirements, and to permit the balloted men to have two months from the drawing of the ballot,, to fix up their affairs prior to going into camp. "I am instructed to ask that tho Defence Department allow tho men- tho tw omonths which they wero promised,

and to point out that as men are being balloted in numbers much in excess of iiioiitlily requirements there does not seem to bo any Teal need to servo men with a peremptory notice to proceed to camp at threo weeks' notice."

It was announced by Sir James Alien in Christen inch, says a southern paper, that tho shipping conference in Wellington had adjourned in order to obtain further information as to the maximum space available and tha possibility of increased storage accommodation if that is considered desirable. The conferenco, Sir James Allen said, now was waiting answers to questions it had prepared in order to obtain that information. Inferring specially to the effect of tho shipping shortage on supplies of paper, he said: "I have urged from the first that unless newspaper people and others who used a great (leal of paper have large' stocks it is their dilty to economise, because the chances are that we shall receive only minimum quantities from America. As I stated previously, of fvo of our vessels trading to America, four were commandeered by the Imperial Government, and we do not know what will happen with the fifth. If anything does happen we shall have to set paper t,ho best way we can. I think that some people have considerable stocks." Discussing the nosition of the Government, Sir James stated that he was not aware of the exact condition of the State Printing Office in respect to paper, but that last vear considerable savins hml been made, iind further reductions would be inside in (he milliter of funics of "Hansard" sunnlicd to the public. As to reducing the length of reports of members' -•peeches, it was a verv 'difficult thing to do. The Gnvprnmont'iinVht be able to do it, but nn to the nresenf time the question had not teen discussed. ' ,

On June 3th and 10th persons prodncinj,' on request a. Crippled Soldiers' Hostel art union ticket stamped on the front "Lloyd, Jeweller." receive a present of jewellery or silver plate: .£25 worth now on view in Lloyd's window, Lambton Quay, will be given away*