LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 54, 6 March 1922, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Governor-General has received the following telegram from Her Royal j Highness Princess Mary, in reply to the message sent by His Excellency conveying New Zealand's congratulations oil the occasion- of her marriage : —"I destre to express my grateful thanks to the Government and people of New Zealand and yourself for your kind message." The Minister of Health has issued a, further, statement emphasising the fact that the next, three months constitute the period in which there is the greatest risk of plague being introduced into New Zealand from' Australia. He therefore urges departmental offiqers, local authorities, and citizens generally not to relax their efforts, first to keep the plague out, I and, second, to keep down the rats so that should the disease reach the country it will have little chance of spreading. The Methodist Conference decided to establish a, special fund to assist ministers who served with the Expeditionary Force, and whose needs are due to the failure of the Government to meet their requirements in the direction of accumulated superannuation. The, superannu;ation fund was stated to total £113,460. The year's revenue was £6637, and the fund showed an increase of £2500 during 1921. A further case of attempted' burglary is reported from Cuba-street. On Thursday night, or in the early hours of Friday morning, the lock* of the door at the back of Messrs. R. Hannah and Co.'s premises was tampered with, but the would-be intruder, or intruders, did. not succeed in gaining access to £he shop, owing to the door having been strongly bolted and barred. < Some facts about the payment of sharemilkers were heard in the course of a case which occupied the attention of the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, says the Herald. A witness cant-radiated the assertion that shaTemilkers could be obtained for "thirds," and in his experience of this class of worker, ranging over eighteen to twenty years,.he said he had never paid less than 40 per cen;t. It was an unsatisfactory class of labour, however, for in every six' there- was only one good one, and the'rest were "duds." The xeally efficient sharemilker could do well, and' the witness quoted his own case, in which the employee's share of the milk cheques for a recent year was £7SO. Often the good; stiareiriilker was able to buy a property of his own within a- very few years. It was true that he hadl to call on his family to work, but the witness thought it would only be bringing up the children to be goodi citizens. "If they are not taught to work when they are young, they will never learn," he concluded. Some discussion occurred at a recent meeting of the Devonport Borough Council on the matter of local authorities paying interest on bank overdrafts for debit balances, at the same time not receiving an allowance in respect of credit balances on loan accounts, following the receipt of a. letter read from the Napier Borough Council. The southern council suggested to remedy the anomaly by legislation. The matter was referred to the v Finance Committee. It is reported from Coromandel, says the New Zealand Herald, that as the result of recent heavy rain and floods, the Waikawau Bridge was partly destroyed, and motor traffic to the Thames interrupted. A number of slips < took place on the Mercury Bay-road, and the sweeping a.\vay of a filling will require considerable time to repair. A temporary road will, however, be opened in a few days. At Whenuakite the cream launch sailed over the tops of wire fences in collecting its cargo, there being Bft of" water in the paddocks. A great deal of threshing is being done from the stook in South Canterbury this season, and - complaints are general that the wheat is out of condition, the Press reports. Broker?'who have handled a great many Hues say that they very seldom get one which could be classed as of first quality milling. Farmer? say that by stook threshing they save the expense of stacking, but brokers cciileml that- the money -lost through stook 'hreshiii.g wrwhl much more than compensate fcr The expense of slt-icking. Many grower?, linve losta shilling ;i bushel through rushing their wheat on to the market before i. was hi milling condition.

There was one very disappointing I event at the swimming carnival held at To Aro Baths on Saturday. This waa the competition for the Swimmers' Memorial Cup, the championship lifesaving event. The public has been led to believe that interest in life-saving was strong amongst the swimmers of "Wellington. There are several life-saving clubs, and an interesting competition was anticipated. For some reason, however, only one team—that representing Lyali Bay Surf and Life-saving Club—appeared on the starting board. There -was considerable comment upon the fact that no other club was represented. The J,yall Bay men gave a- very interesting exhibition of 1 the various methods employed in water work, and the cup gees to them by default. The Parliamentary Committee appointed last session to consider, in the interests of the public, and generally for its more satisfactory working, what amendments are required in the Licensing Act, will meet in Wellington on 16tli March. The members of the Committee are: Messrs. F. F. Hockly (Rotorua), A. Harris (Waitemata), L. M. Isitt ! (Christchurch North), W. D. Lysnar (iTisborne), H, M'Callum (Wairau), M. J. Savage (Auckland West),'C-E.Stath-am (Dunedin Central), G. Witty (Riccarton), R. A. Wright (Wellington Suburbs), Sir John Luke > (Wellington North), the Hon.E. P. Lee (Minister of Justice), and the Prime Minister. • A reduction in the price of cigars is announced from Auckland as a result of a drop in the wholesale price in Havana of 20 dollars per thousand on all cigars irrespective ,of the original cost. This represents a drop in the wholesale price of 7s 6d to 9s 6d per hundred wholesale. The representative of an Auckland tobacco firm stated to a Herald representative that the majority of the warehouses in Auckland were holding fairly large stocks of cigars that were bought at high prices, but these firms had decided to make an immediate reduction to clear their stocks. In the retail_ business cigars would be reduced in price by about Id or 2d each, according to quality. Manila cigars, he added, were being reduced at about the same rate as Havanas. A strong point was scored by Canon Haselden in a speech at the Methodist Conference, at Auckland, says the Herald, advocating increased unity between the churches. "Out at that very desirable suburb of Mount Albert, measuring about one square mile, and populated by a few thousand people," he said, "there are no fewer than six churches, six Sunday schools, six parish halls, six vicarages, and six unusually able ministers ! They could not all manage to live in the same locality, in fact, unless they were very able ministers, for the people \ they look after are within a 10----minute motor run to Pitt-street Church itself.' Now, it is just such facts .'as these that will force closer unity between your church and mine. You are wanting more men for God's work, we are wanting more yet we have six ministers in this one 'district, while other districts are sorely in need of workers. We must leave off spoiling laymen by (living them too much of these good things, and try to get nearer one another in the matter of promoting Church unity." A year or so ago a' "Safety-first" campaign was launched in Wellington, and after staggering along in the face of certain difficulties for a few weeks was forgotten, not, however, till some useful lessons had been impressed upon the public. Christchurch has now undertaken to launch a live campaign and as one of its features proposes a series of lecturettes to school children on the following main points :—(1) Keep off the roadway except when you must cross it. (2) Look for danger, first to right, then to left, before crossing the road. (3) When crossing the road, always cross at right angles to j footpath. (4) Walk quickly, but. do not run, across .the road. (s)'When in the city, only cross the streets at defined'crossings. (6) When leaving the tramcar or vehicle, look both ways' for'other vehicles, and go! straight to footpath. (7) Do not play or stand talking on the roadway. (8) When riding a bicycle, be careful to keep, on left side of road, sound bell when coining to corners, keep well on proper side when turning a corner. (9) Teach children direction signals. " It appears to me to be a mistaken policy to do more than try to teach backward children—subnormal children— as much of the three R.s as possible," said Dr. H. A. Davies, senior school medical officer, in a report to the Auckland Education Board, " and as they will never be more than the hewers of wood and drawers of water, keeping thorn at school often in standards far in advance of what they should be, only retards those children with a high mental capacity—and upon whom the State will depend for its welfare. A great deal 'more could be done jn organising school lunches, tooth brush drill, etc., if the teacher's time was not so filled up. In addition, I understand the schools are understaffed and the classes far too big. The work of the school nurses, often under difficult and trying conditions, is most satisfactory. They are persistent in their efforts to persuade parents to take their children for treatment, and frequently accompany children to the hospital when the mother is unable to <do so. The work at Myers School, is of the very best, and children with defective speech have been cured or improved to the delight and surprise of the parents. It is regretted that the school is unable to cope with the great amount of work which confronts it, and, of course, it is able to deal with a case only here and there of those living outside the city." Prior to his departure for Australia, where he is to undertake tariff negotiations with the Federal Minister of Customs, the Hon. W. Downie Stewart indicated that he-was going with an open mind on many of the points that would require to be discussed. He had >net the representatives of the manufacturers and of the producers in this country, and heard their views. He realised,that some of the-ldcal industries might be prejudiced by Australian competition if reciprocity went too far. •He naturally would, have regard for the interests of local industries as well as of the Dominion as a whole. But it seemed clear that the present tariff relations 'between ' New Zealand and Australia ■were aot saisfactory. The present position, said the Minister, was that the Dominion and the Commonwealth, the two British States of the South Pacific, were treating one another as foreign countries for tariff purposes. This state of affairs had arisen from certain circumstances that were familiar to the ■people who had paid attention to the development of tariff policy in the two countries. There certainly was room, for discussion and investigation. Whatever he might do would be reported to Parliament later in the year. That second-hand dealers must keep au exact account of all their transactions was made clear by Mr. H, W. Bundle, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court, Christchurch. The name and address of any person from wliom an article is bought must be taken, ifhese precautions are necessary to assist the police in carrying out their duties. Seven first-offending inebriates came before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court to-day. Michael Murray, who had a previous conviction for drunkenness against him, was fined 20s (the amount of his bail), and John Madden, who was making his fifth appearance, within, a period of six months, was finer] £1, in default three days in gaol. It is stated that there will be about 1000 lights in' the Otira, tunnel when it is completed.

■ A very enjoyable programme of music waa played in the Hospital grounds yesterday by the Wellington Municipal Tramways Band. A collection in aid of the Hospital Funds realised £12 11s Id. ' Negotiation* have been practically completed for the taking over of tho North Auckland Co-operative Lime Company, which has works at Wailtiekie, adjoining thu railway, by the farming interests of the Whangarei district. The matter is one of some moment to agriculturists and pastoralists, as an inexhaustible supply of lime for' their purposes is available at this point. Among the remits ior the next provincial conference of the Auckland Farmers' Union is a protest against the increased tax on oil engines, especially in respect to engines used in dairyiug and shearing, on account of the low price of butter and wool. The lemit urges that the time is inopportune to raise the tax an anything connected with production or the land. Another remit dealing with taxation asks the Government to pay interest on all money overpaid in taxes Instances are quoted where farmers had been overcharged and had overpaid their taxes, and between the time of paying and the. refund no interest had been allowed, -while on the other- hand a heavy rate of interest is charged to those who do not pay on due date. "The latrines of tho schools are more often than not iri a disgusting condition, and cry aloud for reform. Surely.cleanliness is one of the most important things to teach a child, and with the examples of filth facing them every day the children took upon it as the natural state of things. I brought to the notice of the Department a book entitled 'Fighting' Dirt,' and I believe it was approved as being a 'good book for giving readings from in the schools, but it seems to have been pigeonholed," was-the manner in which Dr. H. A. Davies, of the ' State School Medial Department, summed up a complaint to the Auckland Education Board last week. There was an exciting .incident at Evans Bay on Saturday, when the four-teen-foot yacht Croll was caught in a violent squall and overturned. There were five persona 'n the yacht, including the owner (Mr. A. Johnston, of Newtown), and a young lady, but the party was pluckily rescued by boats, which put out as soon as the accident was noticed. Messrs.- B. J. L. Jukes and R. Johnston were prominent among the rescuers. They set out in a twelvefoot dinghy, and picked up three of the party. A very heavy sea, was running at the time, and rescue work was not easy. Two young' men \vere~in a very exhausted condition when taken out of the water. Speaking at the opening of the Norraanby Show, Taranaki, Mr. A. Lees referred to the fact that the country was now suffering from a slump as the aftermath of the land boom. During that boom Lmd had soared up to very high values./ Land was only worth what'it* would produce, and with daix'y produce at Is 4d' per lb it was not worth within £60 or £70 an acre, as compared with when prices tor dairy produce were high. It woulij, however, take some time before they could get a readjustment of. land values, and meanwhile it would be necessary to produce as much as possible ' out of the land by smaller holdings and more intensive cultivation. In this .direction l he considered horticultural shows did a lot of good, as the competitions brought farmers together, and by compajin'g notes in the exhibits they; could gain a lot of information. Union of the churches was uTged by deputations from' the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches which waited on the Methodist Conference at Auckland last ■week. Speaking on behalf,of the Anglicans, Archdeacon Mac Murray remarked that the fact that Methodism was celebrating its centenary was one of importance to. the Anglican Church as well as to the Methodist Church, for 100 years of Spiritual work in the community must necessarily have its effect upon every branch of the Christian Church. Referring to the kinship between the Anglican and Methodist Churches, the speaker reminded the conference that for no fewer than 18 centuries the spiritual ancestry of the two ■churches had been identical. Even today, they used almost the same form in several of their church services. Speaking of responsibilities which faced the Christian churches of to-day, Archdeacon Mac Murray said there never was a time when it was so necessary to the welfare of humanity that the attention of the churches should be concentrated on the great problems of the day, problem* upon which it was of the utmost importance that the whole force of the united ■churches should be brought to bear. It •was not possible to bring about unity all at once, but the growth of loving •feeling and the mutual desire to attack present-day problems would do much to strengthen the bonds between the churches. "You cannot make a decree against a dead man," said Mr. Justice Adams in the Christchurch Supreme- Court, concerning the cas« of a claim for possession of land. The question arose as- to whether an impersonal decree as to the land could be issued. Mr, K. M. Gressbn, who represented plaintiff/moved for possession of the land, saying that he intended to" abandon the monetary part of the <claim. Defendant was dead, but he died subsequently to the time in which he could have filed a statement of defonce. There was nothing to be gained by substituting any party or parties. His Honour said that it was provided that an action should not be abated by consideration of death if the action survived, but did that mean that the Court could pronounce an tn'der upon a defendant, the defendant being dead? Mr. Gresson submitted that it could not as regards money, but could regarding land. His Honour asked Mr. Gresson to suggest the form of a judgment to effect this.. How could it refer to the land apart from the physical occupant? Mr. Gresson asked who could be substituted. Defendant Lad no legal representative. His Honour said that the case was a very unusual one. The case was adjourned until 2.15 p.m. for Mr. Gresson to cite authority for the judgment desired, if such could be found. When the matter came before his Honour in the afternoon, Mr. Gresson asked that as defendant's widow had agreed to give possession of the land on 31st March, and as counsel had no further authorities to anote, he wished to withdraw his application for a- decree. His Honour agreed to this course.