AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 66, 14 September 1907, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

COMMONWEALTH. The Governor-Gen?ral has foi warded a mas&nge to the Fed-eial Senate intimating that h« hid given tho royal assent to th-j Kulgooilic to Port Augusta 15 ailway Service Dill and the Pailiamentaiy Allowances Bill. In the Federal Houps of Representatives on the 30th August, Mr. Johnson (New South Wales) enquired if the Acting Prime Minister intended to take any stjps towards definitely fixing upon tho capital sits this session? Sir William Lyne replied that the question v;ou]d probably bo brought forward after ths tariff -was disposed of. (Mr. JohnEon — ".That won't be this session. "J Sir William Lyuo replied that it woidd be this- session. The Minister of Customs (Mi*. Chapman) — The site is already chosdii. On tho 30th August, the New Zealand Government agent in Melbourne (Mr. Manson) called ou the Acting PrimeMinister at Parliament House, and asked that New Zealand also might be accorded preferentil treatment, which NewZealand would be prepared to interchange. "I told him," said Sir William Lyue afterwards, "that a. reciprocal treaty had been arranged with the late Mr. Seddun, but the pr-asent New Zealand Government had not gone on with it. T said that, we would be prepared to enter into some preference proposal whan 'the present tariff had been got out of the way. Wo would deal with the matter in the way in which we did before ; but preference with both Canada and New Zealand must be made the subject of separate reciprocal treaties, apart from ths tariff. We must deal with the tariff first." The Acting Prime Minister stated on the 30th ult. that Cabinet had decided that legal proceedings , for the recovery of £25,000 duo under th^ bond given. in connection -with the cancelled mail contract should be taken at once. They j were on tho of sending instructions to London to take the necessary; legal steps to initiate proceedings when a. cable message \va> received -wliieli caused them to stay, their hdrid. This cable message convoyed information (hat thero had been forward ?d by the English mail (expected on sth September), the opinion of counsel in England on ths- value of the bond, and the Government's chance of success in an action. No further steps \vould be taken, therefore, until, the tenor of this opinion was known. On the sth inst' the elections and Qualifications Committee tff the Senste further considered the petition of ,Mi\ Joseph Vardon against the return of Senator O'Loghlin. The committee heard Senator O'Loghlin in rdply to Mr. Piper, counsel for Mr. Vardon. Mr. Piper briefly replied, and, as the facts are admifctod, there is no need to .call witnesses. An adjournment was taken to the 14th inst., or 'to a later dato if fixed by the chairman. It was arranged that meantime the committee should read tho papers in the case, including the judgment rendered by Mr. • Justice Barton when ho sat as a Court of Disputed Returns. As Senator Do Largie, ono of the committee, bus to leave for West Australia, the commit tee will not probably come to a final decision for at least" a fortnight. Some cryptic utterances wero made by Cardinal Moran and others at a religious meeting in the Perth"' convent on the Ist inst. The Cardinal' said that they did not know what the relations of the Church and State might at 'some futnre time..- 'It might be that the State of Anstralia. in some for\orn moment, might 'raise tHe "standard of, persecution against tho Church, but they -were not- afraid of 'persecution, which had never yet overcome tho Church. Dr. Gallagher, Bishop of ftoulburn, said he thought they might have trouble in the future. Ho was one of those who put not their trust *in any j form of government. He cared not ] for the Labour Party or the Consarvativc Party. They would all be perse-, .cutors of the Church if they could. Very Kov. M. J. O'Reilly, president of St. Stanislaus College, expressed a hope that it would never be necessary for them to come into conflict with tho powers that be, but should the fears pxpressod prove not to. be groundless h«j was certain that a 'solid plialanx, of bithops, priests, and peoplo w.ould bo pro seated against any efforts, to interfere with the oppoitunities of Catholics in tho matter of education,' and in the matter of their schools. 1 Mr. John Meagher, .M.L.C.. said ho had no objection to a fight. In fact, it made them strong to have, a; row now 'and again. Ft put them on their mettle. The Cardinal had been quiet lately, but he hoped soon to sea him out again. — It, may be remembered that tho Cardinal used his influence in favour of the Socialists at thu last general election. Have they proved ungrateful? Zeal is not always according to knowledge or judgment, and the weil-meant efforts of the Commonwealth to- suppress tho illicit trade in opium by unscrupulous chemisio threaten to cnuse serious' iucon\euiencc to the reputable members of tho piofefesion, who strongly protest against the new regulation, which x'rovides -that chemists sh-all not exceed the following consumption of opium per annum: — Gum opium, ilb ; solid extract, 2oz ; liquid extract, soa ; tincture of opium, 2 quarts. Enquiries 'tend to indicate that the departmental allowance would not see chemists over six or eight weeks, using tho drag of course merely for the hinking up of piescriptione. Complaint ie also mad. 0 of the dcpai tmental overhaul wliicb is being made on chemists' stocks by officers who ate bufcjly employed in what is virtually a house-to-house examination. The minute book-keeping required would, according to a Brisbane chemist, necessitate an extra clerk. He adekd that there was .absolutely no demand in Brisbane • for opium, except for medicinal purposes, to be used in the compounding and preparation of prescriptions. He also pointed out thnt during the past month he had used six gallons of paregoric (camphorated,tincture of opium), and taking that quantity as an e&tinnte, the amount of v opium allowed by the depart ment would lost" onlyone month instead of twelve months. The wholesale trade is' no le«s pe'rtuibod. Messrs Taylor and Colledgc state., that 'the regulation limiting supplies to the amounts already quoted is absurd, because the "sale of gum opium or solid extract is prohibited altogether. They were not allowed to import them under any circumstances. Id regai d to the allowance, they had written to the department that it was totally inadequate for the demands of' the medical profession. They had also enquired what position they were in so far ne hospitals and friendly societies were concerned.. Mr. M'Dougall, according to the Melbourne correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, ex-farmer,' student of political economy, and Labour member — one who is always in" his place in the House, is nevertheless «o out of place in his p*arty that "his colleagues npw insist that an Act of Parliament be passed ,to prevent him going straight any longer." .He was the only one of the party who opposed the £200 "grab," holding that ho had, contracted for a certain salary aj}d was bound by the contract. Ho therefore handed the turplub to the' chanties in bis district. '.'As soon vi Vhe ELpjisa of

F.cpicbcutative> met to-day (6th met), Mr. Ilutchi&on, a South Australian socialist, acting witb the full sanction of his party, called attention to what he was p.cascd to deteribe »<-. 'bribsiy and corruption of (he inuyl objectionable character' on the p-irt of his colleague and othcis. and insiited that a Bill should bs introduced to put a. stop to the practice. Mr. -V Dougali was dumbfounded. ' Other Li- [ boui^ member* cheered, nnd Sir William Lyne, who lor the time being- was unable to make up his mind ;is to whether the demand was senously made or not, lcplied "smilingly that no Mich mea.sure vas ( contemplated. Mr Hutchison, with a tlnciity.iing deinevncur, intimated to Sir William Lyno that unless he altered hie mind very quickly something would h;ip£i?n, and significantly remai-ked that the abour party ikelf would iuuoduce such a Bill."