POLITICAL TOPICS, NEWS AND NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 27, 31 July 1907, Page 8

POLITICAL TOPICS, NEWS AND NOTES.

'ABOUT RAILWAYS. The Midland Railway came in for Mmc candid and caustic criticism by MrV'LAure'psbn 'during the debate on the Loan B,UL'.' yesterday." He had been i advocating 'with' Mr. Herries the claims of the Gistjorne tp Rotovua railway, and i after outlining the great possibilities ] of that part of tho" East Coast, pointed ' to' the Midland line. "Sir," ho declar- j ed, "that liri* ought nover to have been commenced. It was a scandal when it j was commenced, and it is a scondal thaCft has been allowed .to reach its | present stage, but having reached that ; stage I q\"te recognise it had to be ' brought to a paying point." This vigoroas""cpndemnation was greeted with I hearty '"Hear, hears." Mr. Laurenson then commenced^ to enlarge on Gis- J borne's- ckitns, and said the line re- • Serred to by Mr. Herries .should be the first to be considered after tho Mam I Trunk had been completed. Ho refei- ; red to an' application made the other ' day for the extension of the Culvorden line to Waia.u- "This" he said, •'would . dfily 1 benefit three largo estates. If , that railway was carried a single step ( further it wQuld.be nothing more nor less' than a public scandal— (Hear, fceari'-'-and I will do all I can to prevent any such proposal until such time as the Government acquires the large estates in tho track of the proposed line I Congratulate the Premier on the "attitude he "adopted towards the two .railway deputations vvaich waited on ..him yesterday.' '/ CARELESS EMPLOYERS. 'Some pertinent comments, on a class Of case Which frequently came before tho Arbitration Court are made by the Inspector of Awards (Mr. Aldndge) in the course of his annual report. 1 have found," he says, "that m the majority of cases of breach of award the breach has not been wilfully committed. Employers will no. take the trouble to acquaint themselvos with i the conditions of the award under which they are working, and consequently they commit' bveachos thereof, and are unaware that they are doing so Ninetenths of the breaches investigated by me have been committed in this way I am afraid there is no other remedy . tut to take such employers before the Arbitration I Court, and the "nposing of a substantial penalty will, no doub., cause them to acquaint themselves with snd to observe their obligations. lne persistency of workers in working for less than the minium wage, so noticc»ble a couple of years ago, has now almost 'entirely disappeared. borne difficulty is still experienced m enforcing the preference clause of tho ditferent awards and agreements. Many employers wiU not trouble to consult the union's employment book, but simply engage the first man who comes along, whether he is a unionist or not does not apparently concern them. On investigation of such cases the usual reply -is : that the employer was unaware it was" necessary to engage a unionist. so long, as the wages clause of the -award' is being complied wi^h. It is almost incredible that so many employers will make this excuse, when St each sitting of the court in Wellington a number of employers have been fined for faffing to give preference. Se can be no excuse for such ignorance." ■ 1 -'•INSPECTION OF 'FACTORIES. „ .Some, interesting remarks are made by Mrs. Hawthorne, Inspector of Fac- , tories.m her annual report to tne Department d£:Labour, -She has, she fgpW visited the factories of WeiUnetoni Auckland, and surrounding districts', and found them generally m a satisfactory condition. The quality of structure which is used for factory purposes is very good, and a great improvement on that formerly used. An kmehdment'of'the Act is still required in the direction of firing ■ minimum for persons starting a tiade after the age of twenty" years.' • As the law Stkffds- at 1 -riresent' employers may pay th'tae^persong -whate they- like until the workef^as, .worked f oar „ year?, when the must receive 17s, and five years -1. Great complaints have been made as to the difficulty of enforcing, a weeks notice or weeks wages teing paid to workers whose services have oeen summarily dispensed with. The only retncdv seems to be civil proceedings, and in msny cases, especially amdng women and -yoaag. persons, th.ey have not the means to prosecute their claim. SomctnW&J'sne. urges >■ should. , be dope to amend one of the Labour Acts to make the process a simple -one. The hervarits Registry Office Act has wonced smoothly' throughout the year, 'chietly owing to the favt, as 1 believe, that servants havto it- all their own way, and office-keepers h.ive to act straight to do any business at all. ' WORKING OVERTIME. ThoWAbcr of hours worked overtime in fattcviss gives .'-oir.o indication of the amount ot work being carried out m Ih3 f. -.dorics in the various .t'iabfc'' ami 'towns of 1 the colony. Detailed ftcurcs 'relates *». this phase of our, industrial IHo ere gnca m a table attached, to ths annual report of the fjapait-nuut of Labour. The , total hours of. overtime we.Led in the various towns Plymouth, 1027; Wanganui, ?176 ; PaWston Kortb. 3948; Man-terton, 7836; Nelson. 6042 ; Timaru, 13,80^; Invercargill, 21,862; Cainaiu, 14,538; Oeymotith, 8199; smaller towns, 35,196. Some «f Ihe biggur figures are as lb!tcv.-3~— ' t!oachbuUding and blackptnjthing, Wellington, M,« 39;3 9; cngineertagi'Doilermakihg and moulding, Wellington, 37,801 ; dress, """"TO ,£" d mantle making, Chnstchurch, 33,487, laundry - *orfc, Wellington, 10,245; Christchurch, 11,652; printing and bookbinding — Wellington, 15,1/5 ; Christchurch, 20,688; Donedin, 14,600; sail and tent-making, Dunedin, 50,81 1 ; Cihristchurch, 39,625 ; Punedni, 20,^18 ; Invercargill, 11,511; woollen milling and spinning-Duncdin, 33,605 ; Wellington, 9983. OLD-AGE PENSIONS. Answering a question by Mr. Lang, the Premier this afternoon informed the House that it was not intended to make any alteration in the Old-age Pensions Act in the direction providing that persons who have been residents in tho colony for over twenty-five years and are able to comply with the other conditions of the Act should be entitled to the pension even though their residence had not been continuous. Any further concession would affect only those persons who left the cdlony to please themselves, and have returned to obtain the benefit of legislation passed to better the lot of those who remained.

' The Collector of Customs has held an •nquiry'into an allegation by some passengers on the ferry steamer Cobar last .Monday that the ferry steamer Duchess •twice attempted to cross the bows of the former vessel on the trip towards Point Halswell.-, The Collector has decided that the charge has not been proved. , Mr.' Justice Cooper Will hold a sitting in chambers at 10.30 a.m. on Friday..