NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 24, 28 July 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

WEATHER FORECAST

Moderate northerly winds, freshening gradually. Weather fair to fine, apart from some morning low cloud. Temperatures moderate. Further outlook: Mainly fair to cloudy, but some drizzle or rain late on Sunday. Temperature at 9 a.m., 49 degrees. Full moon, August 5. , I High Water.—Today, 11.12 p.m.; tomorrow, 11.34 a.m., 11.55 p.m. Sun sets today 5.22 p.m.; rises tomorrow 7.32 a.m., sets 5.23 p.m. Migration of Eels. The mystery of the annual migration to the sea of mature eels was referred to by Mr. A. E. Hefford in a recent address in Invercargill. Every autumn a certain proportion\of eels matured and migrated, said Mr. Hefford, the first to leave being the males of the short-finned species, which left in February, followed by the longfinned males, and last of all in April by females of the long-finned species. It was not known to which part of the Pacific the eels went, but it was certainly towards the Tropics, and also certain that the long-finned and shortfinned varieties made for different spawning areas. Land for Soldiers. A property of 2530 acres has been purchased by the Kehabilitation Civic League, formed by Mr. D. V. Bryant, of Hamilton, for the settlement of returned servicemen, states a Hamilton correspondent. The area is situated nine miles from Ngaruawahia and five miles from Glen Afton, and is known as Paerangi. Its value is estimated at £44,000 but through the generosity of the vendors, Messrs. A. Miller, J. F. Vercoe, and the Bryant House Trustees the cost will be reduced by £4000, plus the capital costs involved in subdivision, roading, and housing, and minus any profits made. Messrs. Miller and Vercoe have undertaken to administer • the property for a year without charge. The area is at present carrying 5500 ewes, 500 head of cattle, and other stock, and the annual profit is given at £6000. The purchase of the property is subject to approval by the Land Sales Committee. J. H. Howell Benefaction. The Board of Managers of the Wellington Technical College yesterday passed a motion placing on record its very deep appreciation of the benefactions under the will of the late Mr John Henry Howell. Subject to a life interest of his wife Mr. Howell, who was a generous supporter of the .college, has willed to the board property in Bidwell Street, to be held in trust and the income to benefit the Howe Recreation Fund which Mr Howell established on his retirement from the position of Director for the cultural and social welfare of the students. Suspicious Farmers. "The farmers have no confidence in the Government, .and view its every action with suspicion," declared Mr W S. Goosman (National, Waikato) in'the House of Representatives last night, when speaking in.the second reading debate of the Finance BilL "They are in a very resentful frame of mind," he added. "More resentful than at any time in the history of the country." The Government did not recognise the farmer's ownership of the produce from his land, Mr. Goosman continued. Everything the farmers had obtained they had to ngnt for and they had never received justice. New Zealand had been importing on high prices and selling at a low level, and there was only one end to that procedure. For any goods exchanged under lend-lease the accounting should be computed on the highest prices ruling in each country. Hasty Legislation. The passing of legislation with too much haste and too little consideration was criticised in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Holland), who also urged that legislation should be couched in terms that could be readily understood by the ordinary citizen. Mr. Holland was speaking in the second reading debate of the Finance Bill. "I disagree entirely with the statement that it was quite within the rights of Parliament and the Government, if they saw a hole in the law, to go back some years afterwards ■and say, 'You are not going to get through that hole,'" he said. "I suggest that in a democracy it is our job to take time to make law without holes, and if we want to correct things we have left in the law it is the job of this Parliament to correct them' by amendment of the law, and not to keep everybody in suspense, wondering what next the Government is going to do." A method by which people could understand legislation more readily should be de•vised. The Finance Bill was being used to introduce vital and fundamental changes in the existing law. The reasons for that, he suggested, were that it was more convenient for the Government, and that there was less chance of the intentions of the Government being detected. It was designed to cramp discussion on half a dozen major subjects into a half-hour speech. Mr. Holland suggested that Bills which came before the House should be accompanied by explanatory memoranda. The late Hon. H. T. Armstrong had done that with his legislation and it had been most helpful. Relationships Between Countries. Since the start of the war there had been an increase in the publicity given to New Zealand by Swiss newspapers, said the Consul of Switzerland, Dr. Walter Schmid, in an address given at a luncheon meeting of the British-American Co-operation Movement this week. That publicity had been increased by the escape of New Zealand soldiers from Italian prisoner-of-war camps to Switzerland. A fundamental necessity for healthy relationships between nations was that each should have correct information about the other, said Dr. Schmid, and he gave examples of ignorance he had found in Switzerland about New Zealand, and vice versa. Asked by a Swiss newspaper what he knew about New Zealand, a solicitor in Switzerland had replied that he had no idea of the situation, size, population, or capital of New Zealand. About the New Zealand people the solicitor had said: "Very probably they are negroes or heathens, but I don't know." A New Zealand school teacher he had met, said Dr. Schmid, did not know that Switzerland was a republic. Erosion in High Country. Erosion in the high country above 5000 feet in the South Canterbury Catchment Board's area was mainly due to climatic conditions, said the Mackenzie County engineer-clerk (Mr. D. Jeune) in a report submitted at a meeting of the South Canterbury Catchment Board at Timaru, reports "The Press." A secondary cause was the habit of chamois and thar in making tracks in a direct line up the steeper slopes rather than making semi-contour tracks. In the area between 5000 and 3000 feet, burning and over-stocking appeared to be the primary cause of erosion, and the fault seemed to be in the lack of strict supervision by the Government Departments concerned. Rents, rather than the conservation of land for the future, seemed to have been the dominating factor of concern, said Mr. Jeune. He urged stricter control of these areas by men with experience of high country. In the lower country river control had been the duty of local bodies and the Government. In the Mackenzie Country very little had been done. Mr. P. R. Talbot, said Mr. Jeune, had touched on a matter of vital importance in a report on erosion and river control. All the work would be futile unless a longterm policy was adopted and shingle was prevented from coming down. The county engineers at Ashburton and Geraldine both reported serious erosion.