DOMINION NEWS FRENCH COMMENT ON IMPORT SYSTEM

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 April 1946, Page 6

DOMINION NEWS FRENCH COMMENT ON IMPORT SYSTEM

M. Armand Gazel, Minister for France, said in Wellington that France’s purchase of New Zealand wool this year would probably be less, and that from Argentina correspondingly greater. In the last quarter of 1945 France bought wool valued at approximately £1,800,000, and French goods sold here amounted to something like £290. If France could get back 2/6 for her goods for every’,£l spent here, she would be satisfied, but. there seemed no prospect of that. He had taken the matter up with the Minister of Finance (Mr. Nash), but nothing had been done. On the other hand, Argentina sold wool cheaper, allowed French traders to use pesos, and‘the cost of transportation was less. France would naturally prefer to trade with New Zealand, which was an Allied country and a democracy, while Argentina was one of the few remaining Fascist countries. The French were under a disadvantage in trading with Nev/ Zealand, unless there was an alteration in the import licensing system. France was anxious to export.— (P.A.)

Transport in Time of Disaster. For the purpose solely of providing relief or assistance to- inhabitants of a locality where usual communications are interrupted by such a national disaster as a flood, earthquake or fire, the necessity for a transport license is abrogated, according to an amendment to the Transport (Goods) Applied Provisions Order, issued with last night’s Gazette. — (P.A.) Report Contradicted. '‘There is no foundation in fact for this statement,” says a reply macle by the Union Steam Ship Company to an announcement published yesterday that the company did not, in the meantime, intend to replace the Awatea, which was lost during the war. The reason attributed by the report for this' alleged decision was the present prohibitive cost of shipbuilding.— (P.A.)

Factory Worker Killed. William Jack Higginbottom, aged 39, a married man, with four young children was killed at the works of New Zealand Insulators Ltd., Temuka, yesterday afternoon. He was replacing a belt on a pulley when a loose encl cf his coat was caught on the shaft. He was whirled round and thrown head downwards on a concrete floor. Death was almost instantaneous.— (P.A.)

Tour by Warship. The Minister of Defence, Mr. Jones, announced in Wellington yesterday that on completion of her refit at H.M.N.Z. dockyard, Devonport, H.M.S. Alacrity (Lieutenant Commander J. Clutton Baker, D.S.C.,- Royal Navy) will carry out the following programme: April 15, arrive at Gisborne; depart April 18; April 20 arrive at Timaru; depart April 24; April 25 arrive at Bluff; depart April 28. On her departure from Bluff, the Alacrity, which is one of the most modern sloops of the Royal Navy, will sail for Sydney, where she will re-join the British Pacific Fleet.— (P.A.) War Gratuity for Pensioners. Approval of the stulemonL of the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jones, in connection with the calculation of the war service gratuity payable to those in receipt of a pension under the 1943 War Pensions Act was expressed by Mr. C. O. Bell, Dominion vice-presi-dent of the N.Z.R.S.A., in a statement in Wellington to-day. Representatives of the Dominion executive committee who had served in the 1939-45 war, he said, recently discussed this question with the Ministei- of Finance, Mr. Nash, and their recommendation, embodied in clause IV of the Minister’s statement, had been adopted.— (P.A.) Convalescent Home Sold.

Although two independent Crown valuations were about 10 per cent, below the contract price, the Dunedin Land Sales Committee has decided to approve the sale of the Noradene Convalescent Home to Otago University for £4750.. In view of the discrepancy between the Crown valuations and the purchase price, the committee decided under Section 54 of the Land Sales Servicemen’s Settlement Act, not to fix a basic value. The home at present provides accommodation for 15 patients.—(P.A.) Japanese Drug Destroyed.

A New Zealand medical officer recently supervised the destruction of 7157 grammes of heroin, conservatively valued at. £1,000,000 in New Zealand currency. The drug was surrendered to the Allied military authorities by chemists at hosiptals and other institutions in the Yamaguchi prefecture, which is at present occupied by New Zealand troops, in accordance with a directive issued last year. The drug was destroyed by fire on a vacant plot of land near the New Zealand barracks. — (Official correspondent with J Force).

Food Short in Cook Islands “There has been no vessel at Rarotonga from New Zealand with food supplies since the Maui Pomare arrived on January 17,” reports the Rarotonga correspondent ,of the New Zealand Press Association in a dispatch written on April 1. “This vessel is due back to load oranges at Rarotonga about the end of April. In the meantime there is no butter, no potatoes, no flour—only a small deteriorating supply for breadmaking—and no fresh meat, and there are ho green vegetables. Things are not at all good in the Cook Islands. Some of Rarotonga’s supplies were directed to the outer islands after the storm in January.—(P.A.) Charitable Bequests. Substantial bequests for charitable purposes are in the will of Mr. William Calcutt Arkle, retired solicitor, ‘ of Dunedin, of whose estate 'of £40,000 only £2500 is devoted to personal bequests. The sum of £lOOO is left for the income to go to the Palmerston Presbyterian Church and a similar sum is to bo to the Dunedin Branch of the Crippled Children Society. The balances are left upon trust, half to the Presbyterian SocialService Association, Dunedin, to be used as necessary to erect and maintain a hospital for the aged at Oamaru, and the other half to the Presbyterian Church for the benefit of the General Assembly’s youth work.—(P.A.) Employment Service

Appreciation of the way in which the National Employment Service had approached the task of collecting half yearly employment information, was expressed in Wellington yesterday by Mr. Percy Coyle,- president of the New Zealand Employers’ Federation. “Apart from the value of the information to be obtained,” said Mr. Coyle, “I think all employers will appreciate the extent to which the Department has been- con-

siderate and helpful in introducing the new meas.ure. As for the value of the job, we all want to maintain full employment and full purchasing power. While no one would suggest that the mere gathering ,of employment information will realise that objective, those who give the matter a little thought will see that the existence and availability of that information is a necessary starting point for -at least some of the steps that will maintain full employment.” — (P.A.)

Fertiliser Works Dispute. No settlement was reached yesterday in the dispute that has rendered about 90 employees idle at the Smart Road works of the New Zealand Farmers’ Fertiliser Co., Ltd., at New Plymouth. When work is resumed, it will take one week to get one acid plant running, and two weeks to put both plants into operation. The weekly output of the company is now 1500 tons. Until recently the output of the works was limited because there wqs only one acid plant, and production is over 1000, tons behind schedule. There is nobody to handle deliveries, and about 400 tons of rock phosphate at present being unloaded at the port of New Plymouth, cannot be taken into store.—(P.A.) Mcturoa Oilfields.

That there is a possibility of the Government becoming interested in further development of the Moturoa oilfield at New Plymouth was confirmed by the Under-Secretary of Mines, Mr. C. H. Benney, at Wellington. Mr. Benney stated that Moturoa Oilfields, Ltd., had submitted certain proposals to the Government and these were being considered. The proposals involved the drilling of more wells. Moturoa Oilfields, Ltd., drilled f6ur wells on its leases at Moturoa between 1931 and 1934. Three of the wells were producers and except for brief cessations have produced continuously ever since. The refinery at Moturoa in its peak year put through about 130,000 gallons of oil, and for the last two years the figures have been 84,000 and 90,000 gallons.—(P.A.) Successful Parachute Jumps. Figures were released by the Minister of Defence (Mr. Jones) yesterday on the number of successful parachute jumps in relation to aircraft accidents' in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. In non-opera-tional and training flights from September, 1939, to August, 1945, air crews abandoned aircraft in flight and used parachutes 64 times. On two of these occasions pupils fell out cf aircraft involuntarily but made successful descents. Only five were unsuccessful descents and in none of these was the parachute defective. In two cases, the aircraft were abandoned at too low an altitude to permit parachutes opening fully. In one case a pupil pulled the ripcord too soon and was caught in the aircraft. One failed to clear the aircraft when bailing out, and one was struck by the aeroplane after leaving it. Mr. Jones said that the figures were a splendid tribute both to the parachute manufacturers and to the care shown by parachute packers, who were mostly W.A.A.F.’s. The Minister added that during the period mentioned, Royal New Zealand Air Force aeroplanes flew a total time of 2,000,000 hodrs, approximately 1,750,000 of which was occupied in training flights.—(P.A.)