NEWS 0E THE BAY

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 78, 29 September 1930, Page 8

NEWS 0E THE BAY

Drunkenness in New Zealand.

Among the New Zealand-born population (including Maoris) there is evidence of less drunkenness than among persons who have come from abroad, comments the Annual Report ■ on. Justico Statistics, 1929. A table is given showing that in each of six age-groups the percentage of convictions of males born in New Zealand is lower than the corresponding percentage of population. American Subsidised Mails. A quantity oi" American mail for New Zealand which ordinarily would have readied Wellington last Holiday by the Tahiti; which fouudcred on the way to America, was brought by the American steamer Golden Cloud. The Golden Cloud arrived at Auckland yesterday from. Los Angeles. The mail totalled 012 bags. .■ The usual United States Government subsidy paid to the shipping company in respect to the mail was £2SOO, which works out at £4 11s 6d a bag. Hotel Bar Work. The Arbitration Court has given judgment on the application made for an interpretation of a clause in the New Zealand Licensed Hotels Employees' Award covering tho wages of general hands giving relief or temporary assistance in bars. The Court holds that, a general male worker may be employed relieving in a bar one day a week at a minimum wage of £2 7s Gd. ITe may be employed relieving on two or more days at £2 11s a week provided the hotel hours in the bar do not exceed 1(3 in the week. If this total is exceeded tho hand must receive the minimum barman's wage of £3 7s a week. Western Maori.Seat. "It would appear that the principal interest of the Natives of Taranaki and "Waikato in tho election for tho Western Maori seat is divided between the candidature of Mr. Te Ilurinui Jones (Independent), and Mr. Taite Te Tomo. (official Reform candidate)," states the "Hawcra . Star." "Mr. Toko Ratana is also in the field as an Independent United. For, the last three years Air. To Ilurinui' Jones lias been officer in charge of Maori lands consolidation in tho Waikato. 'Rau Tau Hou' ('the new century') is the slogan ho has adopted, and his presentation of tho Young Maori viewpoint, which is still in keeping with the respect for tradition so deeply ingrained in the older people of the race, has won him many admirers. His Reform opponent is respected as a Maori orator, but ho is not an English linguist." "A Man When Sixteen." . The part that youthful aviators played in the Great War, and the alleged* practice of calling men boys, were referred to by tho Deputy-Mayor (Councillor Thaoker, speaking to the annual report of the.Canterbury Centre of the Royal Life, Saving Society last week. "Boys of twenty-two who may still be at Christ's College or High School are still called 'boys,' when they are menj" stated Councillor Thaeker. "Whon I was young I believed that I was a man when sixteen. We don't want our young manhood called boys and our young women called girls. It is a perfect humbug to have young women described as girls. It is a ridiculous way of talking babyishly, and is a sort of spoon-fed thing that is no good. The war was won to a largo extent by aviators, who were at their best at nineteen, years and under." Early School Attendance. "We are probably sending our children to school at too early an age, thereby doing-the children harm and wasting the country's money," states a report by Mr. N. R. M'Kenzie, senior, inspector of schools, New Plymouth, in W September issue of "The School Committee Journal." "The school rolls show, for example, that Maori pupils in Staudard VI. are older than the white children, but have been at school a shorter time. In writing, spelling, and mechanical arithmetic they are, moreover, superior to the Europeans. It has also been found in Canada that children who entered school at tho age of five flnished the course only two months earlier, on the average, than those who entered at the age of sis. This means that the teachers were paid a year's salary for two months of effective work. Hi short, we are wasting time, energy, and money in attempting to instruct children who are not yet ready for formal instruction and who may actually be injured by our efforts." i "Chief Cause of Unemployment." "If the awards rate for shearing is 25s a hundred, farmers should bo punished by law if they pay higher rates just as they would if they paid lower rates," remarked Mr. H. G. Parish at :i meeting of the executive of the North Canterbury Farmers' Union. .His suggestion received little support (states the '' Christchureh Press.") " I do not thinlc that is the way to attack the problem," said Mr. W. "W. Mulhollaud. "Wo are strongly opposed to the Arbitration Act, and lose no opportunity to advocate its abolition. A sheepowner with any resources could hold his men once ho had engaged them. If they left the shed beforo their work was flnished they could be proceeded against, but I see no way of altering the Act as Mr. Parish suggests. It is the chief cause of unemployment in this country, and the sooner we get it wiped off the Statute Book and have decent legislation in its place, the better." The chairman (Mr. C. M'lntosh) said that if the sheepowner "wanted, for some 'reason, to pay more, he could do so by way of a bonus. Mr., Parish: "And then you are opening up the whole question of whether or not the rates for shearers should bo increased." Mr. Mulholland: "Wo can't do anything. It's the illogical award which should bo done away with." po action, was-taken.

The Meaning of "Ipise." The meaning of the word " ipise " j was explained by Sir Alfred Robin' when speaking at ,the opening of the new Scout Hall for the Lyall Bay Troop on Saturday. '■ Sir Alfred, after presenting Assistant-Scoutmaster J. Kelly with his wan-tint, under thj ceremony of "ipise," said that the word was one used by the American Bed--1 skins, and meant "whither." When ouo wampr mefc another in tho forest he would ask him "whither?" meaning "where was ho going?" To-day, tho word is used iv a ceremony in Scouting, when the Scout is asked questions pertaining to his aims in the movement. Empire Free Trade. Dr.■. Fisher, Professor of, Economics, found time in the course oij an address at., the Otago University Club luncheon last week to direct a thrust at Lord Beaverbrook and his colleagues who are • devoting so much of their time to the matter of Empire Free Trade. Dr. Fisher explained that the main hope of an improvement in tho world's gold position lay in co-operation between the great central reserve banks of Europe. This information, ho said, might lead people to think, that, since New Zealand was so small a country, it could have no influence on tho position whatever. That might bo so, but if people in this country only realised that the1 solution of the problem lay so far away from themselves they might at the same time learn to appreciate better the Dominion 's dependence on other countries. ''Also, ' ' concluded Dr.• >< Fisher, "it would convince people in New Zealand of the profound unimportance of the work Lord Beaverbrook and his companions are making such a song about." Armistice Day. A suggestion that a ceremony ; for children be held annually on Armistice Day at the Cenotaph was made' by Sir George Richardson at a meeting of the executive of the Auckland Keturned Soldiers' Association, reports the "New Zealand Herald." Sir George said that as Armistice Day was not a public holiday a public function could not very well be held. It would be of educational value to children, ihowever, if each school were represented by two pupils at the-proposed ceremony. At 11 a.m. the children would lay wreaths at the foot of the Cenotaph. An appropriate hymn would be sung and a short nonseetarian ceremony would be condnet-5 cd. The children would then ,bo taken through the Hall of Memories. Headmasters would also be invited to address their pupils at the schools on. the meaning of Armistice Day. The proposal was approved by the meeting, and it was decided to circularise the schools seeking thgir co-operation.: ■