DOMINION NEWS FAILURE TO SEND CHILDREN TO SCHOOL

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 December 1946, Page 4

DOMINION NEWS FAILURE TO SEND CHILDREN TO SCHOOL

‘-.“The raising of the school age from 14 to 15 has resulted in some trouble being experienced by the authorities in keeping children at school,” said Mr. A. C. Stephens, representing the Otago Education Board? ip court proceedings in which the parents of three children’’were charged, with failing to send them to school, Counsel added that two of the mothers were separated from their husbaiids. One of the boys concerned was interested in horse racing, and could not' be kept away from the stables. The second boy could not be induced to stop at school, in spite of. frequent thrashings. The parents were fined the minimum penalty of 2/- on each charge.—(P.A.)

Death at 105 Years. Mrs. Sybella Margaret Watts has died at Cambridge in her 106th year. Before coming to ‘New Zealand in the ship Cairngorm nearly 83 years a cr o ■ Mrs. Watts travelled extensively in England and ths Continent Her husband, the late John Ross Watts, was an officer in the armed constabulary stationed in Hamilton in Ihe sixties and seventies. Their son, the late Mr. J. C. R. Watts, founded a prominent Morrinsville business more than 3,5 years ago.—(P.A.) Election Incident.

Four Jugoslav restaurant employees were charged in the Magistrate’s Court, Wellington, last week with a breach of the city by-laws relating to sticking notices on posts. They" were found early one morning during the election campaign -sticking posters on lamp posts in Courtenay place. The posters were in support of Mr. Brian Berg, the Communist candidate for Island Bay. “Is this the Communist element we are getting in the country?” said the Magistrate (Mr. J. L. Stout, S.M.). Each of the defendants was fined £3. Tramwaymen’s Wages Wellington tramwaymen have been granted an all-round increase in wages of about Id an hour under a new award made by the Arbitration Court. A provision in the old award tor the payment of 3/4 a week as a special war-time loading bonus has been deleted and the bonus, as requested by the union, has been incorporated in the new wages schedule. For motormen and conductors the hours of work are 40 a week between Monday and Saturday inclusive, overtime being payable for work outside those hours. —(P.A).

State Offer for Mine. Although the Government had opened negotiations and offered a price for the Kamo coal mine, no agreement had been reached, stated the managing director of Kamo Collieries, Mr. W. H. Reed. He was questioned regarding a statement made during, the election campaign Jhat the Government had purchased the mine. Mr. Reed said that negotiations were first opened about two years ago, and lately, while he was in Wellington, the Government made an offer for the mine, but this had not yet been accepted by the company and no decision had been made. Canned Fish. The opinion that the absence of imported canned fish in New Zealand was caused by the actions of the New Zealand Government and not because of world shortages was expressed in a letter received in Auckland from a Canadian fish exporting firm. The letter says that allocations of sardines and other tinned fish from Norway have been made to various countries, including Australia and Canada, while supplies of Canadian fish have been exported to many nations, but in all instances New Zealand has been left out. The firm said it had been advised that New Zealand was missed at its own request.—(P.A.) Insurance Claims

The percentage ratio of claims to premiums for all classes of insurances in 1944 was 50.7 against 49.8 in 1943, according to the Abstract of Statistics. The percentages, with 1943 figures in parenthesis, were:— employers’ liability, 58.9 (56.2); motor vehicle, 48.7 (46.4); personal accident, 31.7 (35.1). Gross premiums for fire insurance were £2,596,595, and gross claims were £556,582, the fire losses being £160,511 below the 1943 figures. The premium income was ■ £121,188 below the record figure of 1943. The fall was not the result of a decrease in the amount of business recorded but was due to a reduction in certain premium rates. Gross claims for earthquake damage were £B2, the gross premiums being £320,274.

Broadcasting Monopoly. Pastor W. G. Turner, president of the Australasian Union Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, speaking in Palmerston North, described broadcasting facilities in New Zealand as a tragedy. He had been speaking of his mission’s extensive radio programme, Wihch he had hoped to extend to New Zealand, but because of the Government monopoly he had been refused permission and informed he could not get it. “Surely the people are entitled to freedom of the air, as well as freedom of the press and speech,” he said. He added that during the last four years he had been chairman of what was recognised as the largest religious radio organisation in the world, known ,as “The Voice of Prophecy,” based in Washington. They had in 1941 as many as 69 radio stations, reaching from Alaska to South America. Now they had something like 600. They were starting programmes in Africa, China, Europe, and India, and had 50 stations in Australia. It was felt, they were something New Zealand would also have appreciated. “It is a downright shame,” Pastor Turner 1 added, “that such a monopoly should completely eliminate one of the most important freedoms of democracy.”