LOCAL AND GENERAL

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 4130, 30 October 1920, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

It is estimated that the United States originally possessed 850,000,000 acres of timber land, of which, only about 545,000,000 acres remain. Shearing operations ha,y'e oommenoed in. the Wanganui district, and it ia reported that prior to th© recent rain a fair number of small lot* had passed through the ehearers' hands. In St. Paul's Presbyterian .CJburoh to-morrow retiring collections will be taken up to clear off the remaining coat on the memorial organ. Being in memory of the men of the congregation who fell in the Great War it is desirable that the organ be opened clean - of debt. A Newcastle-on-Tyne solicitor, Mr T. H. Thompson, who recently died worth £300,000, was curiously guilty of the mistake of making alterations in his will without having them properly attested, thue invalidating some intended substantial benefactions. Excluding tanks, the War Office has distributed 108,958 trophies, of which the Dominions and India received 11,369. Australia's share is 357 guns, 3761 machine-guns, and 400 trench mortars. New Zealand's share is 129 guns, 1490 machine-guns and 87 mortars. The total Postal revenue for the September quarter amounted to £363,007 18s 9d, as compared with £249,684 14s 4d. In the corresponding quarter of last year. telegraph revenue totalled £273,383 6s, as against £299,937 6s Id, and the postal and telegraph revenue combined amounted to £596,991 4s 9d ; as compared with £479,622 0s sd. The Star has been informed' that the shipping companies have announced a reduction of £4 per ton in the freight on oats to London —a reduction equivalent to about Is 6d per bushel . For months past the merchants have been endeavouring to secure a reduction no as to admit of their getting rid of large accumulations of oats that would have been shipped to Australia if the drought there had not broken. Man is immensely ancient, and may even antedate the mid-Tertiary period, cays Mr Clement Wragge. Let the person who can prove that early man did not exist in Ecfcene times come forward. I say that man never evolved from the ape, and that the monkey was a "throw-back" from man. Ardent evolutionist though I am, yet may the ghost of Darwin forgive mcl For once I ea-y that Darwin was wrong. Of interest to Feilding.—One of the most important provisions of the Education Amendment Bill relates to the system of appointing and transferring teachers. It states that position on. the grading list shall be the guide in making appointments, "unless, in the opinion of the board and the Senior Inspector, some other candidate is more suitable for the position under consideration." The beet sugar industry is believtd by the Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce to be one that can be of great commercial value to New Zealand. The council of the chamber has induced the Government to instruct the Department of Industries and Commerce to convene a conference of local bodies, representatives of the Government, Chambers of Commerce, Farmers' Union, industrial associations, and labour unions, to discuss the matter. A matter of considerable interest to motorists was dealt with by the Wellington Motor Traders' Association, Mr Stuart Wilson presiding. It was unanimously resolved: "That this meeting approves of the national principle of an 'Anzao highway' through the two islands of the Dominion as one worthy means of commemorating the great part taken by New Zealand in the Great War, and it. Ie agreed that this association will do all-in its power to help in the achievement of this national ideal." If a Cabinet and a law draftsman oan do all the law-making, why elect 80 members? asks the Post. The same paper puts it this way editorially : On Tuesday the Housing Amendment Bill was introduced; on Wednesday it 'was circulated, and on Wednesday (the same Wednesday) it was passed by the- House of Representatives. The Bill may be most praiseworthy; there may be no fault or flaw in it, but, if it were not flawlew and faultless, what opportunity had members for discovering the fact? A particularly interesting vessel from America is at present berthed at the Lyttelton wharf. This ia the non-magnetic brigantine Carnegie, owned by the Terrestrial Magnetism Department of the Carnegie Institute at Washington. The Carnegie has previously visited Lyttelton in November, 1915, and April, 1916. On her present cruise the Carnegie left Washington on October 8 of last year, with a crew of 23 officers and men, for a voyage of 63,000 miles in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, to continue about two years. The English Office of Works is now engaged in building between 7000 and 8000 houses by "direct labour," and thoir operations are extending rapidly ns more -and more applications come in from local authorities. In each case the Office of Works provides materials, architects, etc., employs the labour and accepts the "guild system" of labour _ management where desired. Their experience of "direct labour" has shown that as much as £250 to £300 is saved on each house over contractors' prices. No wonder the applications from local authorities pour in! A strong protest was made at the Auckland Education Board's meeting last week against the increasing tendency to legislation by means of regulation. The matter cropped up when the secretary reported the receipts from the Minister of Education of extracts from the New Zealand Gazetto, containing regulations dealwith a number of matters. Members of the board took vigorous exception to this continued increase of regulations. It was pointed out that it implied a tendency towards centralisation in Wellington, and government by Deportment rather than by the people. Regulations were not the law. A decision was made as folilows: "That in acknowledging the receipt of notifications' from the Education Department of new regulations under the Education Act, this board expresses its strong dissatisfaction at this evidence of a tendency to legislate by means of regulation, the board submitting thai such mai> ters as 'incidental expenses of schools,' 'school fund allowances/ 'expenses of board members, 5 etc., should be discussed and decided by the voice of the representatives of the people in Parliament." *

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Might it be suggested that now would be good time to show Premier Massey, -Minister of Railways, over the route of the proposed LevinGreatford deviation? Possibly the Premier ooukl get over the route an a eeapliOie. The Tiinaru (South Canterbury) Brass Band attended the eompeti-tiene-iat- B.allarat last w©ek. Member* won the trombone trio >and the B fiat has* aolo; ako that H. Osborne was second in the amateur oornet competition, and Ted S-chnack was second in the soprano solo, and that Timaru secured eecond place- in the septet. The Timaru Band won in the test selection, and scored most music points in the quickstep. The figures of tlie Post Office Savings Bank for tho September quarter show that the deposits totalled £8.----639,395 7s 8d as compared with £7,----084,959 9s 8d for tho corresponding quarter of last year, and the withdrawals amounted to £8,070,403 3s 4d, m against £7,146,243 3s Id. The excess of deposits over withdrawals in tho past quarter amounted to £568,992 4s 4d, while in the corresponding quarter last year the withdrawals exceeded tho deposits by £61,283 13s sd.