FIFTY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 41, 16 August 1930, Page 17

FIFTY YEARS AGO

ITEMS FEOM " THE POST "

SPEECHES TO CABBAGES

The waste of tima in Parliament by superfluous talk was apparently as marked fifty years ago as it is to-day, and "The Post" of that date did not hesitate to say what it thought aboutt it.

When the session was ending in August, 1880, "The.Post" remarked: "It is now regarded as practically certain that the session will not outlive the present mouth, simply because members are fixedly determined not to remain any longer. There is no money to be scrambled for, and no political capital to be made, and their honorarium is voted, so they see no fun in staying." A leading article, headed '' A Legis lative Cabbage Garden,' ' remarks "Between Sydney street and the minia ture plateau, on which jaded legislator* recruit their -exhausted energies witi lawn tennis, lies a tract of Parliamen tary grounds, which for some inscrut able reason has long . been . used as a kitchen garden. The committee now recommends that this should be planted ■with trees. The suggestion is one which we heartily approve, and we hope to see taking'the place ere long of the necessary but unhandsome . cabbage, and the useful but, evil-smelling onion,. green foliage and smooth turf. Why those cabbages ever came there is, as .we have hinted, an inscrutable mys- ■ tery. Whether they are intended for consumption at Bellamy's or Government House, they are equally 'matter in the wrong place.' The only possible ground on which their existence might be justified is that our honourable legislators need a row of cabbages,: like the famous Grecian orator of old,-.so that they may have 'dumb insensate objects* before which to rehearse their eloquence. If members do follow the high precedent set by Demosthenes, we can only say that their speeches do not seem to have been much improved by the practice. The Parliamentary grounds are public property, and ought to be made as attractive as possible to the eye of the people. It is as inexcusable to turn them into a kitchen garden as it would be to take away the Basin Beserve for the same purpose. There is only one condition on which thoso cabbages should be tolerated, and that is that members should not only rehearse their speeches there, but should content themselves with that performance, and not afterwards inflict them upon an unwilling House.' LOCAL INDUSTRIES. The Local Industries Commission's report figures,largely in "The Post''of 13th August, 1880. ; '?The Commissioners" we read, "recommend that bonuses should be offered for the manufacture of linseed products in the colony for the production of sugar and for the manufacture of starch. The cultivation of olives and mulberries, the production of superior honey, the extension of agricultural improvements by draining and irrigation, are .all recommended to be encouraged. The use of wood for railway fuel in forest districts, and the granting of facilities to the coal industry, are advised, but the Commission unanimously, deprecates an ■unjust duty on-'coal. The woollen industry needs no artificial assistance. _ The excessive cost of carrying goods to market is the principal drawback to the earthenware industry, and reduced railway charges are proposed. Bemusion of the duty on sewing machine silks and threads, and on saffron used by tanners, is recommended as an aid to the: leather industry. Forest-con-servation is strongly advised, care being taken to avoid excessive cost,in officials.; The Commissioners hold that local manufacturers, should receive every facility; for; supplying railway rolling-stock when needed,by:the Government, and that hickory wheel-spokea should be admitted free of duty. The competition of Government workshops is thought injurious to the metal trade, and'all exemptions of corporate; and other bodies from duty on importod <r O ods should .be abolished to enable local manufacturers to compete with importers. Fisheries should be encouraged by lower railway f^eightß. In the Commission's opinion the smelting _ of iron ore or sand, or its conversion, into steel, cannot as yet be carried on:profitably in New Zealand. They do not recommend a prohibitive duty on imported jewellery, or an export duty on greenstone, as they do not approve taxins the whole community or restricting choice in works of art of luxury t« make an artificial industry for which there is not a natural demand.; To encourage the.cement industry, which they think should become very valuable.as there are large deposits of the necessary materials in various localities, they advise that the Government should offer to purchase 100 tons of cement- from any boria fide local manufacturer, subject to proper'tests, at the.then rnliiig market pricl' The bookbinding trade and manufacture, of account, book* should be encouraged by.remitting duty on bookbinders' leather, ruUrigink* and other articles use* in the trade, anS by Government inviting tender* for such articles as can be manufaetured^ locally. They suggest that a bonus should be offered for thei manufacture of sulphuric acid, as the cost of plant is very'heavy; also for sugar refining and silk manufacture, the last "be the same as in 1871 viz., 50 per cent, on the first £.1000 worth of cocoons produced in the oolony,not less than £50 or more than £100 being produced by any one person. "The Commission suggest the removal of .anomalies in tariff, holding that the effect of the existing Customs tarffl is distinctly, though inequitably, ■protective, as it affords artificial advan tages to particular industries by limiting the market of those who are dependent on them for their supplies. They consider, that, in the nascent stage of the industrial energies of the colony, there is every danger of the ; protection of one trade proving deterrmental, if not positively destructive, ■ to others, and therefore recommend that great caution be exercised in making any changes in the Customs tariff except for revenue purposes." UNEMPLOYMENT. "Mr. Johnson, the Believing Officer, is always inexhaustible in his suggestions to the unemployed, with a view to enabling them .to eke out a bare subsistence until the dawn of better days. It was he who made knowr the fact that a pretty sum might be earned in the Masterton district by snaring rabbits; and he now points out that by carrying bundles of fish round the city. and suburbs eariy in the morning an odd shilling or two could easily be earned daily. A fishmonger, whose name he is prepared to reveal, has intimated his readiness to supply fish for this purpose. Mr Johnson also hints that as a 'der-nier-ressort' the unemployed might betake themselves to gathering fungus, in the forests. This is an article whose exportation to other countries, notably China, is rapidly increasing, but whether the occupation would prove sufficiently remunerative is questionable. ■ A Press Association message from Dunedin stated that 150 persons attended a meeting of the unemployed. "Two motions wore carried; one.to petition the Government to stop immigration at once, and the other to petition the United States Government to aid- the ■working classes here in going to America. Both motions were carried unanimously, but the meeting terminated without any steps being taken to draw up the petitiojj."