LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 79, 30 September 1924, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

During a discussion in the House of Representatives 6n\ Saturday morning regarding the rate of interest on the chares which the Government is getting in .the Bank of New..Zealand,.-the Prime Minister . was asked "what interest he | *as paying on the' shares. ' 3lr" Mas--sey replied that he would take care that not more than a fair, rate was paid -He was not going to.pay .anything ."like 6* or 7 per cent. " ' '' -& -. . 2 The Appeal Court sat in. Wellington this morning to make" fixtures.' No' cases were nxed/lor to-day or to-moreow. In connection with the proposed.Hutt road ..extension scheme, a meeting, of ratepayers and residents of Upper Hutt Town District is to be held on Friday evening at _ the Record Hall, to consider ; ttiei resolution,' having for" its object the inclusion of the ..district in.the'scheme, "In the American papers—at least the majority of thera-there' i s only an odd little paragraph here and there that recognisos:there is a world outside of the United States," remarked^Dr. J. Maomillan. Brown, on his return from a trip to America yesterday. -"This is one of die most menacing features of the American nation. It. is ' isolated, not merely in its politics, but in all its attitude towards the rest of the world. -It is this that will be its nearest approach to ruin No nation,, as no "man, can isolate itself. We are born social "animals." '

For the Dunedin . Exhibition about 5000 square feet of space is'to. be" set aside, for Government" Departments, this being about a tenth-of the whole space available. Government. trading Departments, such as the Government Life'lnsurance, State Fire . Office, and! Public1 Trustee's ' Department (states ' "'.'The Post's" Correspondent) seem favourable to taking space in the General' Courts and. paying for it in the ordinary.way. •the-"Government) Court space is being provided by the directors'"free of, charge .at a cost to the .company of a'bbut £12,000 for T building and lighting. Several branches of, the A.S.R.S. .hayo been discussing the Government's land and income; tax proposals,.and .passing resolutions in protest. Tlie ■ Hawera branch .passed . a.resolution:' "That- this I meeting protests the . conteniI. plated action;of the Government.to reduce the land and income, tax by . £800,000 before restoring the recent cuts that were, made in the wages of the Pub- ; lie, Service." The Westport: branch, resolved last night: "That.we strongly resent the action of the. Government' in reducing the .land and income tax until such time, as the .wage'for Public servants is adjusted.*' A. Press"" Association message jfrom Christchurch states that, the, Canterbury Chamber of Commerce meeting last night congratulated the Minister of Railways, (the -Hon. J. G. Cpates) on ;,the policy outlined .in ..his .statement, and expressed gratification and recognition of the necessity for. the elasticity in the regulations and determination to seek business. The statement by the,general manager (Mr. It. W..M'Villy), regarding past, and.future losses on the Ofira line, came in for criticism, the president (Mr. Stronach Pa'terson) stating' that the general manager made no. suggestions for reducing'the losses, though the chamber had been endeavouring foi^ years to convince the Department that this could' be expected.

'.'ln forty years the accent and the mutilation of .English has greatly progressed," said Dr. J. Macmill'an-Brown, Chancellor of the New Zealand Univorsity, who returned from America by the Tahiti yesterday. "The trilled r and 1 has become extremely prominent, and you might almost say universal, aud it is the most difficult sound. The Americans turn tho. tip of the tongue up against ,the upper palate, and then make.it trill. The result is they cannot pronounce tho dental consonant after it or before .it. ,For instance, they cay 'wah-er' instead of 'water,' because the tip of the tongue is against the upper palate,' and it cannot be brought back into contact with the teeth at the same time. Two other sounds they are mutilating. They pronounce 'o"as 'ah,' 'clack'"for "clock," 'stap' for 'stop.' And they are turning V into 'c.' They say 'ken' for 'can,' and so on. Altogether, if the process goes on, within a generation or two the language will be unintelligible to other sections of the English-speak-ing races."

In the course of his remarks when acknowledging a presentation from the officers of the Department of Agriculture yesterday, oh his retirement on superannuation, ColoViel A. R. Young, Director of the Live Stock Division, said he could not" shut his-eyes to the, fact that agriculture in New Zealand had been hampered by lack of funds. Other countries had made liberal grants to .agricultural colleges, with the result that these countries had outstripped New Zealand in the science of farming. New Zealand had not been standing still, but other countries had in this respect' gone ahead faster." It was, however, not too late to catch up. Somp .spade work was a very good thing, lie . could see in New Zealand stops ,in th.o .right direction, but he was afraid that iWhat was going to impede the onward I march was parochialism. There should, in his opinion, .be im]y one .'agricultural college issuing diplomas and degrees in .New Zealand. If they had .one college, they conld have as .many training ..schools as they liked. What he would like to see was a diploma issued which would be recognised over the whole world.

It is ,but very occasionally that the AVellington War Belief Association receives any thanks for its work in the' interests of returned men, and for that reason a letter received at yesterday's meeting of the association was very welcome. Here is an extract : "It affords me unbounded pleasure to be able to iirform you that through your society's goodness to me'in .lending me that £325 wher.ewith to. secure my second i.nortgagSj I 'have been able,.by keeping my nose to the grindstone, to pay off -my first mor.tgage. I have done .this by weekly payments, and am pleased again to state I never missed a payment. I complete payment this month, and herein I am notifying you that I am instructing .my solicitors to .transfer the deeds to you. I trust you will facilitate mutters by advising me as early as possible that you are prepared'-to accept them. One little matter further. AVoiild it be possible for me to hand over my pension '.certificate (I have been awarded one pound a week for life) for you .to collect until such time as my liability to your, society is cleared? I intend lo pay .vo'u every penny your society in its' sympathetic consideration of my case advanced to me."

The Petone Borough Council last.evening, after. Rearing a" deputation consisting of Messrs. E. P. Bunny, W. .T...Strand, and J. Mitchell, from the Taita Cemetery .Board, relative to the p.urchase' of 142 .acres of land -for .an extension of the .cemetery, approved the principle of the .acquisition of the 'land. A new footpath policy in regard to at : least the business portion of the. main street was .adopted, last' evening by the Petone Borough Council, when. it. was .resolved to .lay down concrete: flags on. the Jackson street' footpaths : from the, rail.way station to the post, office, at a post' .of about. £1200. The. .engineer ,w,as. in--j.striicted to!. carry out. the .' work immesdiately. .He jwas. also, instructed - r tp report ..uppn the best method of.permanent-' ly. surfacing the side-streets." " ' -; .Some remarkable-,features 4 about. the' life .of .Patrick', M'Cartliy, ..an old^mau. who died" sjiddenly.'.'in Carrdr'j street,, haye been' revealed,'.states, a'Pr,ess!As-' sociation .message, from Bunedin. Though, living under conditions of '. filfli .and squalor he .was" a" man of .considerableestate, being the owner of , seventeenhouses in ' the city. The police . found* secreted in' all parts .of the -.building notes.to.the."total, value.of byer.'£looo." -

"Another, feature of.America that I, think is.worth, noticing," said; Dr.- Macmillaiv Brown, Chancellor of ;.the -New Zealand • University, on.- his return : from America, to a '.'Post", reporter, yester-' day. "It is the enormous number, of. students attending the universities. Itis the tendency to 'clean^collar' .pro-, Sessions or employment that. is..becoming so strong in the United States. In, ,the University of California, there are' : 17,000 students ; and,' besides that, .Le--.land.,Stanford University,..a,-little fur-' fther.south, has . between „3000 .and, ■ 4000 "students. ' . This in... a.' population' not much larger. than-.JSfew' Zealand is r l .ominous of the future.' ''There"are fa'tr .too jnany i .rushing,.into.-tke. professions." irlie same tendency"appears iii'.New-'Zea-- : land, ..but, not ,to. so..great .an ' extent.' .What is wanted 'is that that T.talent- , should be diverted /to .the.■fundamental' .industries of the. country, ..farming "es- ; penally. It is the "only : wholeiqme 'ad.vance that : a .country or can development of the iarmim; .industries.- ,Tbis is. a line that took up . last jear in, my .address... as Chancellor -of., the - University ; and' 1 Z,$ 0?' t 6' and "•5 re c"nvJ"«d ,that. we should have ...to ..do. .something: for .the- - o ~n-°^e youthful, talent of our countiy , n t]? c d]rection of agl . icultul . e _ ■We need scientific farming ~i£ we are' corned thec°uutl-y when glower-price:

h ti I:*"? to.-WelUrigW by the Ta .iiiti from America .yesterday, "I was mterviewed by three . t epp.r.ter S and a iS*. i^M I H" ght tlie.concluajohs were !Mr W 11, 01 of; *6 "Examiner," (Mr, Edward Clark, a very intelligent man ,rang me up at-the residence if Sir. Rob,ert Dollar .(the shipowner, with whom-I was, staving),. and „asked :if .he could in-.tei-Yjew me. I aj^d.-.and.he'.arranged, a trip to the.Golden Gate Musebm'^wiih Ur.'i-orbes, who liad presented the mus-: .cum with a large Mexican 'collection io' .the «ty. :He drey/my.attention-to..cer- ;- i tarn printed .statements about : P etro- ; gryphs.from Nevada and-asjced my opin-, ;ion upon them. I, saia, '••■! ..reserve Jmy; judgment wholly about,your Nevada ex-i ; ploration .and your . .contusions.' '11167 ;offered .to drive ,me out to ; the .petrol ,gryphs on the.jocks ,and.pwamidakv but' i said I haye-tpo littlejtime, aiid you have not adyanped far^noughfor.a sound I judgment, to be come, to." I shall-bei back! ;m;three or;four y.e.irs. to .see.wVt you: .have .done; meantime, ; I .reserve my' judgment.' -They, got.a.young Chinariian !frpm_]S.evada,lJ:iiiversity..to go anS lookat the petrpgryphs, .and ,he .translated: them, and .said they : .were ■ the same as .Uunese ideograplis. Unfortunately, .the .editor had already got .other experts to: 'find them ..the .same .as. the Babylonian ,and others [found them, the. same ,as!the .Egyptian, .and .still others;the:.same as! ilMaya, in Central America, As remarked to him 'ftliey' could not all be .true. ' ' . ■ :