NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 72, 28 March 1929, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

The " Evening Post.'' Tho "Evening Post" will not be published to-morrow (Good .Friday). "Insults of This Kind." "A perfectly needless cause of irritation," was the description applied by Dr. J. B. Condliffe of the Institute of Pacific Eolations at Auckland on Monday to certain anti-Chinese provisions in New Zealand's laws (states the "Now Zealand Herald")- He referred specially to the fact that tho Chinese are the only race debarred from the benefits of tho Old Age Pensions Act, and that there is similar discrimination against them in tho more recent Family Allowances Act. Dr. Condliffe pointed out that copies of these statutes went to China, where they came under the notice of students and were used to inflame racial feeling. "The Chinese are peculiarly sensitive to insults of this kind," he added. "A Master of Policy." "I do not pose as an educational expert, nor do I believe that it is necessary to be one to be a successful Minister of Education. . I cast no reflection on my officers —for I believe I am well serve cl —t> u t I hold that a Minister must be master of the policy of his own Department." In these words the Minister of Education (the Hon. Mr. Atmore) explained his conception of his office to a deputation from the Canterbury Open-Air Schools' League. He made tho remarks, he said,' because there were some distinguished educationists - id officials present, and he wanted them to know where he, as Minister of Education, stood. Ho believed in every case the Minister should evolve and enunciate the policy of his Department. Ho had capable advisers whose advice he took or refused to take according as he felt it was in accordance with the will of the people whom he represented, and as he deemed it to be in their interest. Departmental officers did not necessarily—in fact could not possibly—know the mind of the people, for they had no opportunity to go amongst them and learn it. Once a policy was evolved, then it was for the officers to carry it out. Which Eats Which? When, shown, a paragraph which reported that eels had been seen ravenously eating trout, Mr. D. Hope, Curator of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society's gardens, said that he thought the story most unlikely (states "The Press"). He. had frequently, however seen a trout about 21b in weight,, which had swallowed an eel about half a pound in Weight. He had even caught trout in the Avon in which the eel was still alive. It was quite probable, he thought, that trout fed on eels as much as eels on trout. Eels in the elver stage came up the rivers in shoals in the spring. They came up with the whitebait, and were frequently sold in the .shops along with genuine whitebait. , These elvers furnished a large part of trout food. ■ Mr. Hope said that eels, as a rule, did not come out in the day time, and it would have to.be a Very large eel that would swallow a trout weighing a pound and a half. No doubt eels got a certain quantity of small trout, but the story seemed to him highly improbable.

Accusations of '■'Cannibalism." "Kainbow trout are not half so much addicted to cannibalism as brown trout," said Mr. D. Hope, curator of tho Canterbury Acclimatisation Society's Gardens, when shown a report of a meeting oij, the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, which said that rainbow trout were cannibals right from the beginning. Brown trout, said Mr. Hope, were cannibals from their very infancy, reports "The Press." They lived, of course, also on insect life, but even, in the fry stage they had a cannibal instinct, and he often' found numbers in 'the boxes trying to swallow their cdihpanions when only a month old. He . did not notice this, however, in the rearing of rainbow fry, though it was just possible that they, did' eat one another. At the gardens they reared both varieties of trout, and he very rarely saw cannibalism among rainbow fry. : If 25,000 yearling brown trout were wanted it was necessary to stock with 50,000, as eannibaljsm and other causes accounted for 50 per cent, of the original stock. Kainbow trout, however, gave 75 per cent, results. The Auckland notice, too, suggested that the trout should not be liberated till they were four ' months old. Mr. Hope disagreed with this, and said that if they were liberated a few • weeks after absorbing ttie yolk sack they were led by instinct to the shallows, but if kept for four -months in a domesticated state they easily fell a prey to\larger fish. . Nuisance from Destructor Chimney.

A petition, signed by 118 househplders, representing those who live in the vicinity of the city destructor in Clyde quay, has been presented to the Mayor asking that something should be done to' minimise the serious nuisance caused by smoke, dust and ashes, and burnt paper from the destructor chimney blowing into their houses and spoiling the appearance of properties. A footnote to the petition states that the signatures were obtained during two morning canvasses only, and that many more householders who reside in a lrhe with the smoke, as far as Brougham and Pir\e streets, would have been glad to sign. In the case of the smoke nuisance at Evans Bay, the council had taken immediate steps to remedy the trouble and to compensate those whose properties had been marred, but in the vicinity of the destructor the nuisance had gone on for twenty years, and no attempt appeared to have been made to remove the nuisance. The destructor was an eyesore to one- of the most attractive parts of the city, and it would, confer a great benefit, not only to the nearby residents, but to the whole of Wellington, were it removed to a less obtrusive site. The Mayor promised that the matter would be given every consideration.

A Trick Outworn. _/ "Haven't anything smaller," said the passenger on the first tram from the depot, as ho tendered half a crown for a2d tickot," says the "Auckland Star." The conductor had no change, so he overlooked the matter of collecting the fare. Next morning.the same passenger had nothing smaller than a ten-Shilling note. The conductor seemed indifferent. Next morning the passenger had 2d. He got a ticket. On the following morning ho. presented half a crown once more. ''Thank you," said the conductor, handing him three 2d tickets and a florin. "Hey, you, I only want one ticket," protested the passenger. "You've got it," was the reply, "and the two tickets you should have got last Monday and Tuesday. Any complaints?" For the remainder of the journey the passenger foun3 much to interest him in the passing landscape. Piles of Files. " « "I almost owe you all an apology for not having made your acquaintance sooner," said the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. E. A. Eansom) addressing the' officers of his Department at their gathering yesterday afternoon to farewell Mr. E. Bold (Senior' Land Purchase Officer), retiring on superannuation. "But," added the Minister, "you have kept me so hard at work that you haven't given mo much opportunity to mako your acquaintance. I have often said to my private secretary that as soon as I had got through the pilo of files before nio v l would conio across with him to see you all. But, then, in would somebody with a double lot of papers and tho visit had to bo postponed.-"

Some Public Service Records. " "I once heard a Public Works Minister say of me to a disgruntled landowner who was trying to got more "out of the Minister than ho could out of the Land Purchase Officer, 'He gets me into more rows than all the other officers in the Department put together,' " stated Mr. E. Bold (Senior Land Purchase Officer to the Department), amid laughter, at the farewell, gathering in his honour yesterday. It was astonishing, ho added, that the landowners invariably told him that tho engineering officers of the Department had chosen tho very best portions of their land. So ho must give thoso officers credit for being good judges of land. (Laughter.) What with too sympathetic Ministers, absolutely conscienceless. members of Parliament, and grasping landowners, he had often had a strenuous time of it; but after he had heard one member of Parliament say that he was out to back up his constituents, right or wrong, he had not taken much notice of tho statements they made. (Laughter and applause.) Ho thought ho could claim to hold two records, if not three. Firstly, ■he had held the position of Land Purchase Officer longer than any other officer of tho Department right through from Sir Julius Vogel's time; secondly, he had had to deal with claims relating to 700 miles of railway, and he did not think that anybody else had done or would even have to do that again in New Zealand. Thirdly, he wondered if anybody in the Department had been in the head office for a longer period than he had been— thirty-two years. But out of the twenty-three years that he had been Land Purchase Officer he had been seventeen years away from home. There had been so much travelling to do. That was one of the flies in the ointment. One did not get all the home life one would like in the job. Eight on the Job. Speaking at a bowlers' social at New Plymouth on Saturday evening a visitor from Waikato referred to the splenl did roads throughout Taranaki (reports the "Taranaki Herald). Motorists, he said, could not exceed a certain" speed in his district without considerable shaking, but in Taranaki he had discovered one could travel on the tarsealed surfaces at 50 miles an hour in comfort. The visitor had hardly concluded his remarks when a well-known inspector's voice was heard: "Mr. Chairman, would you mind taking that man's name and address, please?" The chairman was equal to the occasion, and reminded the inspector that be must not allow duty to interfere, with pleasure; in any case the district mentioned was out of his jurisdiction. Stamping of Transhipping Papers. . Beeently the Wellington Chamber of Commerce took up with the Wellington Harbour Board the question of some more convenient method for the stamping of transhipping papers where the discharging vessel was remote from'the central Harbour Board office, and Messrs. Jacobs and M'.GoWan, on behalf of the Wellington Chamber, waited upon the Harbour Board's general manager. Their representations were well received, and to meet the complaint the Harbour Board is prepared to elaborate its system to obviate, inconvenience to those requiring transhipping papers to be stamped under similar circumstances to those from which 1 the suggestion arose for some' review of the procedure, and this will be most satisfactory to the commercial community.

Lost Prestige of White Eace. ' '' The legend of the superior white race is completely exploded in \he Far East, and we are now, differentiated as individuals," said. Professor J, B. Condliffe, of the Institute of Pacific, Belatkms, in an address on the "Clash of Civilisation in the Pacific," at the Auckland University College. He added that the Great War and its aftermath, more than anything else, had contributed to the collapse of the old, belief in the prestige of the white races. . '■',•■ Auckland Aero Club Progress. Eighteen pupil members of the Auckland Aero Club received flying instruction last week, and three of the learners are now ready for solo flights, states the "New Zealand Herald." „ The club's two machines are kept in such frequent service for dual' instruction that it will be impossible to -proceed with solo flights until the club receives another Government Moth. The demands already made on - the club are such that four machines could be kept in service. During the week ended on Sunday, the two machines were in operation for an aggregate of 11J hours. The flying comprised 7J hours dual t instruction, 1 hour 20 minutes' operation by club pilots, and 2 hours 10 minutes occupied in 12 passenger flights. Boisterous conditions .prevented flying on two days last .week. Tho club's aerial pageant will be held on Saturday, 20th April. The committee is considering several grounds near the city for the fixture. "Hard Work Never Kills."

"My experience is that hard work never kills anybody, but worry often does. By hard work we are often kept in good condition, and are.thus able to enjoy our leisure moments," said the Hon. E, A. Eansom (Minister of Public Works) at the farewell gathering to Mr. E. Bold (Senior Land Purchase Officer to the Department) yesterday afternoon, "Even when I was only a private member of Parliament, in a position' of greater freedom than I am now and not called' upon to consider anybody's feelings, I always stated that I had a great admiration for the executive officers and departmental staffs of the State Departments in New Zealand. I always said that they were- not afraid of hard work and held jealously by the high traditions of the Public Service; and I am more convinced of that than ever now." (Applause.) '