AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXIX, Issue 118, 20 May 1905, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

COMMONWEALTH. Tin' Federal Government is prepared to amend I lie Constitution so tvs to niako the iitld lies of Common wealth o/Kcers liable to .Stale income tux. For this reason (he Commonwealth Government in all probability m ill not bo represented at thu forthcoming Privy Council app,.,l .Shea Ling in Perth last week the Chairnun of 1 he Federal Old-ago Pension Commission h.iid then- was a general desire to iniilu' iSir (it'oi'm; Turner permanent Federal Ticisurer. The amount of the defalcations in the various branches of lliu Federal service is .iMiuininti .seiioiiß propoi lions. Last quail er, £'130 had to be made good. There have been persistent rumours of dissensions in llie Fedeial Cabinet. Mr. Ueid de*el.ires that the report is wholly uutiue. They are quito a "happy family." (special trains for the Governor-Gen-eral are to be discontinued, as Lord Northcotc h;us no desire to involve the Government in expense. Four thousand live hundred rifles of the new British Army pattern have been delivuiod to the Commonwealth. A Customs examiner informed the Federal TiiiiH' Ci>mmi.H.sion th.il lie had coino across hiiuidy containing aniline dye, which v.is injurious to health. One of the most important results of .ludvje Muiuiy's lvdistribuHon of Federal ek'Cloi.ites is that Sydney gains two scaly. One of th-'se seats will virtually come fiom the country electorates of New iSouth Wales, and the other seat is f;,iin<'d from Victoria. A -niliuhs before the Tariff Commission huvt week s.iid there was nothing to |itivciit Australia sii|>j)lyinf; the world \vilh brandy. The tutine witness said ho bflieved he was correct in his opinion th.it jffiod vhisky could not bo made in Australia. Another witness before the Tariff Commiifioii s.iid it was a. fraud to call half the 35 000,000 gallons of spirit, said to bi- mode by the 160 distilleries in Scotlatid, whisky. It was made from unmalt.'d rice, potatoes, or other uiiitt'iials. It would bo a protection against this, he agreed, to have all spirits labelled. The Federated Amalgamated Government Riiilwiiys and Tramways Association has applied for registration under the Fedeial Atbilmtion Act. The Federated Stewards and Cooks' Union of Australasia, which has its headquarters at Sydney, ■with 800 members, has also applied for legist rat ion.