AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS

Evening Star, Issue 18020, 14 July 1922, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS

Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. Australian end N.Z. Press Association,

BETTING BY CHEQUE,

TEST CASE COMMENCES.

MELBOURNE, July 13.

The cheque-betting test case has commenced in the Supreme Court. _ The executors in the estate of the late Richard Garland applied for leave to enter a. first judgment against Herbert Englebert, bookmaker, for the recovery of £405, alleged to have been paid by Garland by a cheque in settlement of betting transactions. —A. and N.Z. Cable.

WHITE AUSTRALIA.

SIB n. HARWELL’S DENIAL.

SYDNEY, July 12. Sir Henry Barwell, Premier of South Australia, interviewed, denied the statements attributed to him by the American X*rcS3 in favor of t<ho introduction of oLiclc labor into Australia. Ho declared that apparently if tho American journalists could not get news they constructed it. His attitude towards tropical labor was really that something should be done to develop Australia’s waste territory. If tine were possible by white labor, no one would bo ebtter pleased than he, but tho question must be tackled and a sane solution reached.

RETRENCHMENT IN QUEENSLAND,

SALARIES REDUCED

BRISANE, July 13. Mr Theodore has announced that the Government is reducing oy 5 per cent, the salaries of all officers in the Public Service in receipt of more than £SOO yearly. The reduction also applies to the. Ministers and members of Parliament, for. which special legislation will bo enacted. The salaries of tho judges are not affected. Highly-placed officers, including the Commissioners of the Railways and the Police, also the Auditor-General, who do not come within the operation of tho scheme, have voluntarily agreed to the reduction.

RANK MANAGER'S DEATH

SPIRITUALISTS BUSY,

SYDNEY, July 14,

(Received July 14, at 9.10 n.m.) The police have been inundated with letters containing theories regarding the Hornsby murder. Spiritualists ,jjid clairvoyants have made many suggestions m respect to the crime, and many people hare written stating that they had seen the murder re-enacted. Even sketches of the murderer have been .forwarded. THE CATTS CHARGES. SYDNEY, July 14. Tho Labor Party’s Executive appointed a committee to inquire into Air Catts s charges against Labor control in Now' South Wales, formulated in the Federal House. The report furnished by the executive characterises the attack as “cunningly concocted misrepresentations, made under cover of privilege and designed to injure those prominently associated with tho expulsion of ’Mr Catts from the Labor Piftf.y.” It recommends a vote of confidence iu tiro persons attacked.

QUESTIONABLE SAVINGS,

SYDNEY, July 14,

Further drastic curtailments have been ordered by the Government Meteorologist, including the discontinuance of forenoon reports from country observers respecting the rainfall and the weather. The absence of such information, it is considered, will severely handicap the Weather Bureau in its forecasts.

THE FULLER GOVERNMENT,

SIR J. CARRUTHERS UNPOPULAR

SYDNEY, July 14. Trouble Is brewing in the New South Wales Cabinet over its lands policy. It is understood that Cabinet is divided over Sir Joseph Carruthers’s land settlement scheme, particularly regarding the Murray River- lands, about which it is stated an export officer’s adverse report was suppressed. _ It is considered likely that the may terminate in tho resignation ol Sir J. Camilhers. Color is lent to this suggestion by the speech by Mr Weaver (Nationalist) on the censure motion, when he stated that the sooner Sir J. Oanruthcrs got out of tho Ministry the better it would be for tho party. In tho Legislative Assembly, after an ■all-night session, tho censure motion on the Government was negatived by 47 votes to 31. NO ORCHESTRA SUBSIDY. "SYDNEY, July 14. A proposal is on foot to convert the New South W T ales Stato_ Orchestra into a symphony orchestra, which is to he selfsupporting, with M. Shalski as organiser and conductor without remuneration, till it is a financial success. M. Shalski has outlined a scheme by which he invites subscriptions for two lengthy series of concerts of both popular and classical music. Tho subscription for the former is to be £4 per annum, and for the latter- £3. THE COAL INDUSTRY. SYDNEY, July 14. (Received July 14, at 11.25 a.m.) The Coal Miners’ Federation has withdrawn the injunction proceedings against the -Coal Tribrnwi, as no good purpose would bo served by spending the union’s funds in testing the validity of the laws. [ln tho High Court on June 27 tho Workers’ Industrial Union of Australia applied for a rate nisi to restrain the Coal Tribunal from dealing with tho dispute in the coal mining industry on the grounds that there was no industrial dispute, and that if there were a dispute no specific dispute had .been referred to the tribunal, and that tho Coal Tribunal had no jurisdiction to investigate a dispute because it was not validly constituted under the Industrial Peace Act of 1920, or under the Constitution. Mr Justice Higgins dismissed the first two grounds, but granted a rule nisi on the third ground.]

A LABOR PROTEST,

MELBOURNE, July 14

In the Federal House of Representatives Mr Scullin’3 amendment opposing the closing of the Geelong Woollen Mills was rejected by 33 votes to 16.