NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 54, 12 September 1928, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Yesterday In Parliament. Much ground was covered by Parliament yesterday, and' the sitting was one of the busiest and most talkative that has taken place this session. The announcement made by the Prime Minister in the afternoon that the Government had decided to make a grant of £2000 to Ca_ptain Kingsford Smith and Mb companions of . the trans-Tasman flight was received with much satisfaction. After the Railways Statoment had been presentod, tho remainder of the afternoon was devoted to a discus- 1 sion on the education system. Tho Bill providing that motorists shall tako out third party risks was introduced in tho evening, also the Licensing Amendment Bill. The production of the latter measure was responsible for a two-hour preliminary skirmish over the. licensing issue, and afforded a clear indication that there will be a, long and bitter fight when the Bill comes on for second reading and is later committed. In. brief, the Bill is on much the same lines as that of last year, and with respect to tho period between polls, tho twoissuo ballot paper, and tho 55 per cent, majority it does not vary from tho original moasurc. Following tho licensing debate, there was a very lengthy discussion on the Summer Time (Local Empowering) Bill, upon which the Special Committee which considered it brought in an. adverse recomendation, but suggesting that a half-hour period might be tried. Mr. Sidey, the promoter of the Bill, viewed the recommendation in the light of half a loaf being better than no bread, and several members urged that the Government should adopt it, but no indication was given that this would bo done. The report of tho Committee was laid on the table and the House rose at 1.9 a.m. The Legislative Council devoted an hour and a half in tho afternoon to a second reading debate on the London and Now Zealand Bank, Limited, Bill, doubts being expressed as to whether tho creating of additional banking facilities were in the public interest. The measure was referred to a Committee of Selection. Tho Property Law Amendment Bill was passed with technical amendments, and tho Public Works Amondment Bill and tho Post and Telegraph Bill were read tho second time, while the debato on tho second reading of the I.C. and A. Amendment Bill was adjourned. The Council rose at 4.45 p.m. Destiny of Boy Scouts. "I am a groat believer in the movement for church union,'' said Dr. F. W. Burnham, a noted worker for the Church of Christ, in the United States, who is at present visiting Auckland (states the "New Zealand Herald"). "I believe the Boy Scout movement is one unifying force between Protostantism and the Church of Rome," he added. "Dignitaries of the Catholic Church are forbidden to take part in round-table discussions, but many of thorn are intensely interested in tho Boy Scout movoment in tho United States. On my way to New Zealand, I travelled with a number of priests bound for the Eucharistic Conference. One of them was prominently connected with tho Scout movement in New York, and at once wo had a common ground for friendship and understanding." Dr.. Burnhani is a member of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America.. Meteorological Information. The amount of information on meteorological subjects furnished on request to private individuals and Government Departments, states the annual report of tho Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, shows a marked increase. The Director of Meteorological Sorvices, Dr. Kidson, states that tho most urgent noed of tho meteorological service in New Zealand is tho establishment of properly equipped stations, on permanent sites with satisfactory, exposure, and the ensuring of continuity of obsorvations. A beginning could then bo made of tho collection of homogeneous and reliable data such as arc noeded in connection with jhj over-increasing number of social activities. The accom* plishmont of thia object in a young country whore there arc few leisured men and whero towns oro growing rapidly is a difficult matter which cannot bo brought .about at once. It will not bo possible at all without tho interest and assistance of locul bodies and individuals.

Bed Cross Society. At yesterday's meeting of the Wellington Centre of the New Zealand brunch of the British Hod Cross Society,'it was decided 1o make a recommendation to the Now Zealand executive that the title should bo amended to read "the New Zealand Red Cross Society." Tliis was the result of a letter received froir the headquarters of tlio British Bed Cross Society in I'jngland pointing out that, as a branch, the Now Zealand organisation was not entitled to speak or vote at the International Council tables. In effect, the step would confer autonomy on the New Zealand branch and would place it on an equal footing with the Australian and South African bodies. A Maori Victory. . The 60th anniversary of one of the greatest disasters of the Maori War, the second attack on To Ngutu-o-te-Manu, the defeat of tho Colonial Forces, fell on Friday last. People of th present generation, says a writer in ■the "Taranaki Herald," can hardly realise the feeling., of unrest that existed in Taranaki during the prolonged Maori War. Commencing in ISGO, when nearly the whole of the settlers' houses —some within less than a mile of the town —were burned down, and the unfortunate owners and their families had to seek shelter as best they could "inside the trenches"—near the post office on the one side and Whitley Church on tho other —the struggle continued, and it was not until 1870 that settlers began to feel confident that it was safe to take their wives and families back on tho land. Titokowaru's outbreak in 1868 was a serious set-back, and when the Whiteeliffs massacre took place in 18G9, it was thought that the northern Maoris, who had been quiet for som? time, would bo again induced to go on the war path; but, fortunately, nothing further occurred. "A Moral Victory." The Hon. W. P. Finlayson, tho Hon. C. Vaughan, and Miss G. L. Houlder, three workers in the Prohibition cause, who have come to the Dominion from Australia to assist in the coming campaign in the interests of Prohibition, were welcomed by tho New Zealand Alliance last evening. The chairman of the Standing Committee, Eev. W. Comrie, presided. In the course of a, short address, replying to the welcome, Mr. Vaughan emphasised the point that "Prohbition was not defeated in New South Wales; it was Prohibition with compensation." The important gain made by the Prohibition Party in that State was, he said, that they had done away forever with any poll -with compensation. They came out of the fight feeling that they had won something like a moral victory. General Assembly. The General Assembly of the Presbytorian Church of New Zealand opoils in Auckland on 21st November, and will probably last for eight days. The meeting placo will be at St. David's Church, Khyber Pass. About three hundred ministers and elders from all parts of tho Dominion are entitled to attend tho assembly, and it is probable that fully 250 will bo present. The retiring Moderator is the Eev. James Aitken, of Gisborne, and his successor the Bey. Professor llewitson, Master of Kuox Theological College, Dunedin. Many important matters will come beforo the Assembly. A successor will require to be apopinted to Professor llewitson at Knox College, also a successor to Professor James dimming, who is vacating tho Chair of Hebrew at that institution. Proposals will bo submitted to reduce- the overhead charges to tho extent of £1000 to £1200 per annum. Suggestions arc also to bo made that the Bey. George Budd be general secretary of tho church with headquarters at Wellington, that Mr. V. G. Chapman be treasuror, and the Bey. W. Mawson foreign missionary secretary. Fruit Guarantee. Several applications have been made by Mr. H. M. Campbell, M.P., to tho Minister of Agriculture lately with a view to koeping the fruit industry alive in Hawkes Bay. Many people in that district have sunk all their money in the industry, in which about 3000 hands are employed during tho season. Yesterday Mr. Campbell received an intimation from Mr. Hawken that tho Government has agreed to assist tho fruit industry by renewing the export guarantee for the coming year on similar lines to tboso applying last season. Better Facilities Wanted. In a letter resigning his position on the Immigration Committee of tho Presbyterian Church, a member of the Wellington Presbytery has drawn attention to what he regards as most unsatisfactory wharf arrangements for thoso whoso duty it is to meet and assist new arrivals by overseas steamers. The members of the Immigration Committee appointed to meet; tho immigrants arriving by the Corinthic, he said, at a meeting of the Presbytery last night, were "refused admission to tho v , wharf until the last second, being treated like ordinary curiosity-mongers instead of assistants in a Government enterprise. . Until wo assert ourselves, and demand the right to go out with the port official to thq. boat as she lies in the stream we. can't expect much real satisfaction. When the boat ties up these folk are too anxious about their luggage and the Customs and trains, etc., to be bothered with anything else." In reply to a suggestion that representations be made to the Government, it was pointed out by members of the Presbytery that official red-tago had hitherto been in the way of the facilities suggested being granted.