LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 32, 7 August 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

According to a return presented to Parliament yesterday, the amount of land tax outstanding at 31st March last was £367,950. Income tax outstanding amounted to £449,214.

A special meeting of the Te Aro Advancement Association was held yesterday afternoon to consider the steps taken by Employees' Associations attempting to make it unlawful for shops to remain open on Friday night, and,- after discussion, in which great surprise was shown that the employees should take up an. attitude so detrimental to trade, the following resolution, proposed by Mr. A. A. George, was carried unanimously :— "That this association is strongly of the opinion that the convenience to the public of v late shopping -. night is of such importance to trade that any attempted interference must be strongly opposed in the interest, not only of the employers but the-employees also." Mr. W. Cole was deputed to convey to the Drapers' Association the feeling of the meeting.

Those who recognise the important fact that flourishing forests are one of the most important resources of a nation will be willing to do a little to help the New Zealand Forestry • League. The healthy condition of the forest movement in New Zealand is largely due to the efforts of the league, which" helped to bring the State Forest Service into ex^ istencc. Now the lengue is taking another step forward, by inaugurating Forestry Day in Wellington on Friday next. Trees, shrubs, and seedlings • will' ba on sale at stalls in the city streets, and the proceeds will go to the funds of the league to assist in its forestry propaganda. The local branch of the league hopes to make Forestry Day an annual function, and in future years to devote the proceeds to some tree-planting efforts for the beautification of the city.

Stamps to the value of £2,936.052 and postal notes to the value of £14,761 were printed at the Government Printing Office during the year ended 31st March last. Railway tickets to the number of 9,270,127 were also printed, the largest number being 1,109,771 in May, 1922. The number of rubber stamps made was 4635. Of tho "Gazette," 1120 of each issue was printed, the number of subscribers being 465. and the amount received from sales being £2702. The annual report of the Government Printer (Mr. W. A. G. Skinner) states that the profit for the year amounted to £1011, against £7904 for the previous year, but this was due in a great measure to the reduced charges for the; work done. This decrease had consequently been to the' benefit of the other Govrnment Departments.

A point of some interest to commercial firms was drawn attention to at a meeting of the Council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Mr A. Leigh Hunt produced a window envelope, Unit is, an envelope with a transparent panel, which had been posted to Melbourne, and which subsequently was returned, with its contents, to the sender in Wellington with a notification that such envelopes did not comply with the Australian postal regulations. I he Chief Postmaster. Mr. I<\ W. Penlington, quoted the New Zealand regulation, which states that in the case of window letters for transmission beyond New Zealand, except the United States and the United Kingdom, the panel must form part of the envelope. Apparently in Australia the postal regulations prohibit panel envelopes.

_ A correspondent's complaint that those who dig up footpaths or roadways —apart from City Corporation workers —fail to lay them down again and to replace the surface in anything like the order they found them in when work on the laying of a new pipe or drain or the repair or alteration of an old one commenced, was referred by a "Post" reporter to the Mayor this morning. Mr. Wright replied that the regulations were clear enough on the point—tho surface had to he replaced as it was found, but actually it was not such'a simple matter to carry those regulations out; for the replaced earth always settled , down to a certain extent and even if the surfacing were loft over for a little time to allow the subsidence to take place a patch was still a patch. Various bodies had the statutory, right to put in pipes, etc., and the work must go on. but, Mr. Wright sutrcested, if citizens would draw the council's attention, by a letter to thcTmvn Clerk, to cases of unsatisfactory replacement work, tho matter would at. once be inquired into. If the council proposed tv keep an eye on every detail of footpath work it could, of course, do so, but only by appointing a young army of inspectors.

Two first offenders for drunkenness were dealt with by Mr. E. Page, S.M. at the Magistrate's Court to-day, each being ordered to forfeit the amount of his bail, 10a.

R. _F. Duckworth, a pupil at Otago Boys' High School, was presented at Duncdin yesterday by Sir Francis Bell with the Royal Humane Society Medal for gallantry in saving Ufa at St. Clair last year.

A verdict of guilty was returned at the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon in the case of Herbert Harold Macknelly, who was charged with obtaining £100 by falsely representing' that he had the sole right to distribute advertising matter in the schools'per medium of the "School Journal. 1' Prisoner, who was represented by Mr. J. F. B. Stevenson, was remanded until Saturday for sentence.

I Ihe subject of spiritual healing and the approaching Hickson mission was brought up at a meeting of the Wellington Ministers' Association yesterday. The Rev. Dr. Gibb comuared spiritual healing with healing by'suggestion. In the course of the discussion which ensued, •-he Yen. Archdeacon Johnson, alluding to the mission, invited the co-operation of the churches. It was decided to leave the question of co-operation in the hand* of individual members.

A member of the Tasmanian Legislafive Council, Mr. Cheek, is pressing the iasmanian Government to investigate statements that certain exporters of Tas. manian chaff are allowing hay chaff to be adulterated with straw chaff. Mr. ( heck implies that such an admixture has damaged the reputation of Tasmaujan chaff in New South 'Wales and Queensland, and may have the same resu.t m New Zealand, to which exports are being made.

There is no doubt that as far as the carpenters are concerned, this has been a pretty busy winter," Ea id a union official to a -Post" reporter to-day. iliere .was no marked slackening up and the busy season, which in an average year might not be expected till about this month, actually set in this year quite a couple of months ago. Moreover, we will be busier still and busy right round the year If the new legislai tion brought down by the Government to provide easier finance for those who wish to build operates successfully." Delegates to the last meeting of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council found fault with the City Council for approaching Mr. W. A. Grenfell, of the Wellington Employers' Association, to act on its behalf in connection with labour disputes, ( for the general opinion was that, as, the council was representative of the whole of the citizens, it was just as reasonable to request it to affiliate with the Trades Council as with the Employers' Association. As a matter of fact, of course, it was not affiliated with either, but all the same it appeared that the council was quite willing to use the machinery provided by the association.

At last week's meeting of the Waimate Hospital Committee the chairman (Mr. W. Geddes) stated that -circumstances of which lie was only just lately aware necessitated his immediate retirement from the Hospital Committee and the South Canterbury Hospital Board. Cases recently decided in the North Island, said Mr. Geddes, had shown that a director of a company that sells products to a hospital hoard cannot sit as a member of the board. As he was a director of the Waimate Gas Company, which sells gas to the Waimate Hospital, he was therefore debarred' from * being' • a member of either the board or the committee, and therefore he tendered his resignation: The members expressed their keen regret at Mr. Geddes's retirement, stating that the law in this case had resulted in a distinct loss tn the hospital administration in the district.

A letter from the Postal Department drawing the attention of business linns to the inconvenience and delay caused to the Department by the quantity of mail matter posted late in the afternoon was road at a meeting of the Council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce yesterday. The suggestion was made that whers possible tirms should post their mail matter earlier in the day. If the present practice continued, t-ho Department would have to consider the question of fixLig an earlier closing hour for mails, so as to enable the staff to cope with .the accumulation of mail matter at 5 p.m. The Chief Postmaster explained that the practice of late posting meant that the staff had to work right on in the evening on most nights in the week m order to overtake the deluge of correspondence posted at or after 5 o clock. The possibility of an earlier mail-closing hour being fixed could be avoided by as much postal matter us possible being posted from time to time auring the day. ;

Ihe ojd-tune coaches which ran bntween Arthur's Pass and Otira have been taken off the road {states the Christchurch "Sun"). Mr. j! Campbell manager of Hall and Co.'s coaches, lias received a letter from the Chief Postmaster, Christohurch, stating that' tho mail contract with Hall and Co. and Cassidy and Co., joint mail carriers teiminated on the day on which the mails were transported by train, which was ■on Monday. The Chief Postmaster thanked the two firms for the manner in which they had carried put the contract over a long period of years, and promised to bring their services under the notice of the head office of the De partment. Arrangements have been made by the Government with Hall and Co. to held some of their horses and plant at Otira. for a time, presumably as a precautionary measure, to ensure a means for transporting mails over the iill being available. Some of the horses have already been sold, and the remainder of the plant, with the exception of that part being held for emergency, will bo sold immediately. "The collection of interest has considerably improved during the last twelve months, and very substantial reductions have been made in the overdue interest during the last three or four months of the financial year," states the annual report of the Public Trustee (Mr. J W Maedonald). "As a. resujt of the , enhanced prices that have been obtained during the year for all the primary products, the stock and station agents and financial institutions are now in a much better position to make advances to their clients for the payment of interest on their mortgages than they have been durm ? the last two years, and most of the clients of the office will in future be 111 a position to meet their interest as it falls due without any extension of time for payment. It is patent that the lenient terms adopted by the Public Trustee in extending the time for payment of interest until mortgagors are in receipt of the proceeds of their farms has been of very great assistance to the farming community. When it is borne in mind that the interest collected durin* the year from investments amounted to and that conditions mTot yet normal, the amount of interest overdue must be regarded as comparatively small The policy of the office during file past year has bee,, to extend to mortgagors as much consideration as possible" consistent with ensuring that the trust funds are adequately protected, and each individual case has been treated on its merits. In only very few cases has 'it been necessary to adopt extreme steps to enforce payment, and the amount of interest that will not be ultimately collected 15 small indeed, and it is in almost all cases adequately covered by reserves."

The Postal authorities have received advice from San Francisco that the Wairuna, which left Sail Francisco on the 2nd instant for Auckland, has on board for New Zealand 122 bags of mail and 540 bags of parcels. The mails on board the Wairuna are all American.

The question of reduced passengeß fares for New Zealarders visiting the British Empire Exhibition was discussed by the Canterbury District Committee yesterday, sayg a Christchurch Press Association message, and a motion carried asking the Government to make inquiries as to the chartering of passenger vessels.

No further landslips have been reported on the Main Trunk line during the past week. The delay in the- arrival ot the express from Auckland on Saturday was caused by the breaking of ail axle on a wagon of a goods train near Ngaurukehu. The express was held up lor several hours until the line was reported clear.

c^f ter£ nee to the fact that an employee! o* the City Hotel had been served with liquor at a night bar was made by the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) at the Supreme Court to.-day, when summing up in a case of assault. " I'don't know what is the usual thing in hotels," said his Honour, " and I don't know what licensing committees would have to gay about this sort of thing " ■

An appeal for better school facilities ab iulbirme South was voiced by Mr A L Monteith (Welji^ton xj) m the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon For four years the children had rht I \ e$ oateas ™ith accommodation i a church halls, and that was most unsatisfactory. It was about time that the Minister announced his intention of having a new school erected, because the mand d!t p6pu'ation in the"district de-

A meeting of creditors in the bank* nipt estate of Eobert James NesbUt painter, of Wellington, was called this n« "T'a a"d adioi»-ned owing to tlia Official Assignee being engaged at ths Supreme Court. Bankrupt's statement showed that he owed £93 7s to unsecured creditors and £7 12s 6d to secured creditors, and had stock-in-trade £5 and surplus from securities £12 7s 6d . leav, ing a deficiency of £83 14s. He attributed[his 1 failure to working with too many old debts to pay off. He had incurred no recent debts, but had been unable to get ahead owing to bad weather and illness.

Speaking at the annual meeting oE tlie Cambridge Co-operative Dairy Com^ puny on Saturday, Mr. Mervyn Wells, tlie chairman, suggested that the mosb practical way for New Zealand dairy farmers to get preference on the British market would be for the British Government to subsidise ocean freight, seeing that Customs preference would not be acceptable to the Homeland. This indirect method, 6 uy. a subsidy of onethird of the freight, would substantially strengthen our producers, and would also encourage New Zealand to give preference to British goods. The proposal (reports the Press Association) was received most favourably by tlie meeting, and will be submitted to the Government. ■

The farm lands adjacent to Matamata. continue to draw favourable comment from visitors. A party of American r, oct?» s,, who l ro °" tlleir way to attend the Melbourne Scientists'- Conference in passing through this week, were heard to compare the outlook to that of Illinois. In conversation they said that they had travelled. both islands of New Zealand, but had nowhere seen tlie ■growth of grass as on tho country b«. tween Morrinsville. and Matamata (stati'H the Auckland "Star"). "%w Zealand is a marvellous country, but with one outstanding bad. feature," they said. Needless to say the latter was the railway facilities.

Discussing the earthquake shocks recorded last year in the Taupo district, the annual report of the Geological Survey Branch of the Mines Department, states that the number of shocks was very large and probably had seldom been equalled-in earthquake records. The loose uneonsolidated nature of the surface rocks and perhaos the weakness of the deeper-seated jocks were probab'v contnbuting factors to this distribution of the seismic, energy. The shocks were undoubtedly of a tectonic : nature, and had then- origins along a north-north-east-strikmg fault-zone, a few miles to the west of Taupo Township and Wairakei. lliey were not "volcanic." nor directly due to movements of magma in subterranean reservoirs.

The fact that the Petone Technical bchool is handicapped financially in its work wae deplored by Mr. T. M. Wilford (Hutt) m the House of Representatives yesterday. The expenditure per year was £284 16s, and it looked as if *i.oio°o dn? nly be available an amount ot £212 2s 2d to meet the liabilities, that was, taking into consideration Government subsidies and voluntary subscriptions He asked whether the Minister could not see his way clear to make more money available for the school. Mr. Wilford also said he regretted that no grant had been made for the Hutt Valley High School, and was sorry that no satisfaction had been given in regard to the Petone Wept School, the accommodation of which was bad

The hope has often been expressed that those misguided individuals who give false fire alarms would be' caught and severely punished. Two of them were recently captured, and these werebrought .before the Juvenile Court afc Dunedm on Saturday morning. Tha .Bench, however, was in something of a quandary when it found that the culprits were two girls of abput fourteen years of age. Senior-Sergeant Mathiesoii said that the offeree was committed at 10.15 p.m. on 23rd July, and as a result the Morningtoii brigade (which consists entirely of volunteers) was brought out on a fruitless errand. The Juyenilo Irobatiou Officer (Miss O'Shea) gave the girls a good character, and stated that they came from respectable homes. Ihe mother of one of them, in reply to the Magistrate (Mr. Bartholomew) said that the girls had been to a Sunday school social that night, which accounted for them being, out so late. His-Wor-ship remarked that it was an extraordinary escapade for girls to be mixed up in. If the offenders had been boyp he would have ordered a sound birching. In the circumstances he would take steps to curtail the girls' privileges co as to bring the seriousness of the offence home to them (reports the "Sun"). They would each be admitted to probation for twelve months, and forbidden to go to "the pictures'' for the first six months of that term. Miss O'Shea would keep an eye on them during the probation period.