LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 123, 25 May 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"Lately we have been honour I by the visit of the Prince of Wales to our shores," stated Mr. G. L. Marshall, president of the Farmers' Union, at the opening of the annual conference at Feilding to-day. '"All classes of the community, except, perhaps, some of the extreme Labour Party, joined in giving him a splendid reception, and his visit has done mach to% foster the spirit of loyalty amongst us, and especially, I hope, amongst the children. The Empire is indeed fortunate in having so able and genial a Prince as Heir to the Throne."

Tho quality of the coal at present available for the Petone Municipal Gasworks is so poor that the Petone Borough Council finds that it is impossible to maintain the gas pressure required by the Lower Hutt borough, and has ma<3e a request to the latter borough to reduce the "consumption on street lighting by lighting only each alternate street lamp. ' The manager of the Petone Gasworks hopes to shortly obtain a better class of coal.

Brief reference to the last General Election was made by Mr. G. L. Marshall in his presidential address at the opening of the Farmers' Union Provincial Conference at Feilding to-day. "Although we are a non-political body," he said, "most of us are glad, to fi:iu* that the farming community l;.as a larger representation in Parliament than formerly. Many members of our union were successful in gaining seats, and to them I offer my sincere congratulations."

During the past three weeks thirtycases of chicken-pox have been reported in the Wellington Public Health District. The District Health Officer stated yesterday that~ this disease had recently been made notifiable because of the fact that a few mild cases of smallpox had occurred in Otago. Whenever there were outbreaks of small-pox it was customary to make chicken-pox -notifiable in order 1 that the diagnoses of the two diseases should be clearly defined.

Mr. R. Masters, M.P., who convened the conference of Taranaki M.P.'s held at Stratford, remarked that, for the first time within his memory, the members representing Taranaki—both Reform and Liberal —had decided to pull together on all matters affecting the province as it whole. It was the intention of members to take the' broader vision of provincialism, and work for,the whole of Taranaki.

Seven inebriates, of whom five were first offenders, were dealt with by Mr. E. Page, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court this morning. Four of the first offenders were fined the amount of their bail (10s), and the other, who had spent the night in tile lock-up, was fined ss. Ellen Rogers, a second offender, was ordered to pay a fine of 10s, or to go to gaol for 48 hours. THomas "Lowry was fined £2 for a fifth offence of drunkenness- within the statutory period of six months, and was also prohibited. For damaging fittings in his ceil he was fined £1, and ordered to pay the damage, 12s 6d.

At the coming conference between teachers of secondary schools and the Minister of Education (Hon. C. J. Parr) on the subject of classification and salaries, senior teachers will be represented by Miss F. I. Patterson, ALA., or Miss W. Picken, M.A. (Auckland), Mr. F. M. Ren-ner, M.A. (WelliivgtoV), and Miss E. N. Cbadf M.A. (Wellington). Mr. D. Arnott (Chfistchurch) will appear for intermediate teachers, Miss Anderson or Miss Bud (Dunedin), and Mr. W. P. Hargreaves (Waitaki) will present the case for junior assistants, and Mr. H. Robson, M.A. (Marlborough) and Miss E. C. Collins, B.A. (Hamilton) will represent mixed schools.

Lecturing on "The Times We Live In" at the Alexandra Hall on Sunday night, Mr. P. Hickey spoke at length on the Labour movement in Australia, contending that in that country'there "was never a- more deplorable crime committed in tha name of Labour than the attempted Laobour administration of capitalistic institutions. Labour Government in Australia had not benefited the working class one iota,' because- wrong methods had been pursued. The way to .overcome the difficulty was for organised Labour to carry- on its industrial organisation, establish, if it could, its shop stewards, , establish its political party, and, after winning political control, do the essential thing for tho industrial democratisation of the ' industries i in. which the ■-workers) were employed. Industrial action and political action must work hand in hand, as by direct action alone the objects of Labour could never be attained. ■' a

That the white slave traffic still exists on some of our dairy farms, was clearly demonstrated at the local, Court yesterday, telegraphs The' Post's Wanganui correspondent, when two youths engaged 1 in dairying, and employed by their parents, made application for exemption from attending; territorial parades. Lieut. Wales opposed the application on the grounds that he considered the boys were overworked. They were up at 4 o'clock each morning, and finished at 7 n.m. If the parades did nothing else he considered it would mean a day's holiday for- the toys.. The Magistrate stated that it was evident- that the lads were overworked. This was corroborated by the mother, who also stated that the boyf had not been to the pictures once in two years. The Magistrate replied that the boys were none the worse off for that, but at the sa.me time they should get some relaxation and an opportunity to mix with other lads. ■ ■ The work should not stand in the way of attending parades, and as the parents were makins sufficient money ■they would ha,ve to employ someone to relieve 'tile boys. The application for exemption was then refused. f

The Hon. J. G. Coatus arrived in. Blenheim last night, and was received by the Mayor and councillors. He received deputations in regard to hydro-electric development, a continuous telephone service for Blenheim, the road from Blenheim to the West Coast, and the completion of the South Island Trunk Bailw-a-y. Mr. Coate-s, in reply, said that the time had come to face the problems they had , to. face in a businesslike way. One of the difficulties was the question-oil labour, which ho was sure would be overcome. A greater difficulty was the question of material. The methods of the past wore out of date, and things had to bo tackled in a new way. Torday it was not wise to use a man where one could use machinery. It was necessary to get ftioney, .though that was not his job. Large orders for equipment and material had already been given, so that when the work was gone into they would have the stuff to do the work with. His intention was to impress the Government that important work should be done, and an endeavour made to carry out plans in the best and most economical way. Referring, to the request for hydro-electric power, he said an engineer would come into the district in September. In regard to the West Coast road, he said he would have a, report made by his engineers. He would also get a. report in regard to a, continuous telephonic service. He would not make promises about the South Island Trunk line, but it was very desirable they should have it completed. In accordance with the importance of works asked foi. they would be placed on a- list he would lay before Cabinet, and be judged on their merits. What they aimed at was the opening up of the country to settlers, which was a most important thing to consider. The South Island Main Trunk line would , i(*i£ hi& wojat coigfui conacievatiou.

In the case of Scells v. Betirman heard at the Supreme Court yesterday, Sir John Salmond reserved h'isr decision.

The annual conference of the New Zealand Fruit-Growers' Federation will commence to-morrow morning at the Dominion Farmers' Institute Building, The Minister of Agriculture (Hon. W. Nosworthy) will deliver an opening address.

Coal mining developments are pro-, ceeding apace in this district (states the Greymouth Star). Applications have lately been lodged for coal areas near the Wallsend field. The owner of the Dobson field has arranged to develop his field at Stillwater.

The Borough Inspector of Lower Hutt i-eported last evening that 31 cases were pending against motor-car drivers for exceeding the speed limit. He also reported that it was evident that cars were being used with wrong numbers, and that in many cases numbers were duplicated. v'

A Court case was 'recently taken at New Plymouth to test the right of the Borough Council there to 'erect public conveniences on or under, any , street. Judgment was reserved. The case ie exciting some interest in municipal circles, as a largo number of local bodies will be affected by a judgment adverse to the New Plymouth Councii.

The day of the wooden railway wagon is passing. Questioned in Christchurch regarding the marked shortage of trucks, and the steps that the Department was taking to overcome it, the Minister of Railways (Right Hon. W. F. Massey) stated that importation would be necessary before the difficulty—importation of ironwork—could be fully overcome. It had been found that the wooden truck was not altogether satisfactory, and new stock would be of iron, as far as possible. There the shipping difficulty came in.

Replying to a deputation at Blenheim, the Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister for Public Works, emphasised that the Public Works Department wanted to be in touch with the various local bodies of the country, and to have their confidence. He had a scheme to settle thr vexed' question of main .roads.. If. they were going to encourage production they would have to give transport facilities, and his scheme would bring about a better understanding in regard to these matters.

"It is reported that tram fares are about to be substantially increased," said a ratepayer at the meeting of the Hataitai Municipal Electors' Association last evening. "It is stated that outside tickets are going up to Is 9d." He urged that Hataitai residents should be up and doing in the matter, as they, unlike those of other localities, had to tram one section whether they wished to or not, owing to the tunnel. The president of the association (Mr. A. Leigh Hunt) said the matter would be looked into by the committee. . ■• ■

Sympathetic reference was made by Mr. G. L. Marshall, Wellington Provincial president of the Farmers' Union, to the loss sustained by the fanning community as the result of. the death of Mr. W. J. Birch. In touching uppn the sad occurrence when addressing the conference to-day, Mr. Marshall said their late treasurer was one of the original founders of the union, and his mature judgment and broad outlook were of great value on many occasions. A true gentlp man in every sense of the word, he died as he lived, loved and respected by all who knew him,

A message from Tauranga states:— At a Chamber of Commerce meeting la«i night the question ■ was raisad of the serious menace to maize-growing 'in the Dominion from peste in maize imported from Fiji. A small sample exhibited here was free of weevil and moth, known as angumois moth, which the inspector declares will prove more deadly than the fireblight in fruit trees. The position is understood to be that the inspector has no power to condemn; consequently cargoes are arriving, and the pests aje being spread broadcast. The chamber passed a motion drawing the attention of the Government to the menace, and demanding immediate action.

There was a good attendance of members of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union at the annual meeting, of the union last night. Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed with the recentlymade award for the restaurant and tearoom section, members expressing ' the, opinion that the rising cost of living was making the Court's awards obsolete be-' fore they were issued. . Thf> executive was instructed to go into the question of drafting claims for a. new award for the workers employed in the hotels, and to call ai meeting at an early date, for the purpose of considering its recommendations. The annual report and; balance-sheet were then submitted and adopted, and the election of officers for the ensuing term proceeded with. The following were declared elected :—President, Mr. H. Lees; vice-president, Mr. T. Gilmore; secretary, Mr. H..o'Malley; trustees, Messrs. J. M'Gow and' H. Lees; treasurer, Ml*. W. Galloway; Executive Committee, Messrs. G. Clark: son, A. Martin, Mrs.. Lawlor, Mrs Wyan, and Miss Watson. . I

While the Wellington Municipal Fish Market can hardiy be described as a success, And is now almost a negligible fp.ctor in determining the price of fish to the public, the corresponding institution in Auckland has proved of distinct value in securing comparatively cheap fish to the people. The Mayor recently explained to the council that the concern was quite sound, and had paid its way after full depreciation and accident and sinking fund reserves had been provided for, there beina; a credit balance in. the revenue account of £91. The accounts presented showed that £43,000 worth of fish had been sold to the public from the .city market and depot in the year ended 31st March last. This included fish from all sources. The council's two trawlers had cajight 900 tons of fish during the year, and a further supply was obtained from Kaipara and other sources, bringing the total value up to the amount named. The cost of the bnsineas had been *>very j much greater, and was still subject to an upward tendency. This accounied for the recent further increase in the sellKng prices, and, unless the cost of wages and materials ceased to rise, the price of fish must go up further, but there would hi no profiteering, and the municipal market undoubtedly had a steadying effect on prices.