The Ensign. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1915. DUNEDIN CENTRAL.

Mataura Ensign, 1 February 1915, Page 4

The Ensign. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1915. DUNEDIN CENTRAL.

The iiy-elcction for the Dunedin Central seat in the House of 'Representatives is.causing a considerable amount ot interest throughout the Dominion. This is not surprising, for the result of. that contest may greatly affect the future oi New Zealand. if Mr J. W. M.uuro limit* favor in the eyes of the electors on. Wednesday the political parlies in the House of Represoutatives •will be eeqital. That is to _sfl.v„.the. Goveignment. iandi- Opposition; parties ti ill he equal iu numbers, tor tlje Opposition is composed of several parties. It includes the so-called Liberals, the Independent Labor Party, the SocialDemocrats, and. a free-lance in the person of Mr John Payne. There are at present- three election petitions under consideration by the Supreme Court 'judges. It,is nrobable that there will

be ail' alteration if a fre.sk election is ordered in each of these, petitions. The Government have an excellent l chance, of capturing the Taumarunui scat and retaining the Northern Maori; but we do not think it has much hope of the Hawke’s Bay seat. But if the Government retains its present position after the petitions have been decided and Mr Statham wins Dunedin Central. the Dominion may look for stable and linn Government during the next three years. Du the other hand, if Mr Mnnro wins the parties will be equal. Of course jt is possible that the Opposition may win the three Northern seats in the event of new elections. In that ease the- Opposition would have one of a majority if it has .a win at

Dunedin Central. It vs therefore not surprising that Sir Joseph Ward l has paid a visit to Dunedin to assist his candidate. Sonic exception has been taken to the Leader of the Opposition intelering in the contest. If Sir Joseph considers Mr Munro so weak that he requires assistance he is .perfectly justified is assisting him. The fact that Mr Munro is a Social-Democrat docs not affect-' the position is so far as Sir .Joseph Ward is concerned. It is said that he lias made a solemn compact with the Social-Democrats to work together until Mr ,Massey is defeated. The- Social-Democrats have not made any secret of their intentions after Mr Massey has been defeated. The ‘Maorihuul' Worker,’ which is the accredited monthpicco of the Social-Democrats published the following on December 2J last:—“ Sir Joseph Ward may come into power with a. precarious.majority of one, in which case his Government would be. entirely at the mercy of the 'seven Social-Democratic and Labor members on the one baud, and three Liberal Maoris ‘on, the other hand. Should Sir Joseph Ward achieve office, tlio position of Social-Democracy and Labor in Parliament will be strong

indeed. Wo shall be in a position to eoinpel the measures wo desire and' the remission of many evil class-devised enactments. Our "party will in such an event maitain its identity as a separate party. Its members will not sit- in tire Liberal caucus, ami will not line np at the crack of the Liberal whip; and under no circumstances' will any SocialDemocrat or Labor man take office in the Liberal or any other Administration.” There is no mistaking the in- | tent-ions of the Social-Democrats in face jof this ingenuous statement. The electors of Dunedin Central know what to I expect if they place Mr Munro at the top of the poll; Sir Joseph Ward stated at Dunedin on Friday night that ho was not responsible for the elections being hold in December last while the couutrv was at- war. This may he true; •but with regard to his further statement that ho did not propose that they should- he postponed for three mouths or to March next, Hansard, on page 101 of volume 170, reports the. Light

lion, gtiitleman to have said;—‘T want to say that in my opinion it would he far better to defer the elections until at least March of next year. It should he deferred to at least March of next year. It could he done upon throe months’ notice. If at the end of March it was found _ that the. circumstances connected with the war were unfavorable and that- the condition of the war was such as to cause extreme anxiety on the part of the people of the country in relation to the Empire and those fighting in the war, I say that in the best interests of the internal public life of New Zealand, it would be.au

easy matter to defer the (lection for another three months. That,l recognise, would carry n s on to June aid involve a meeting of Parliament.’’ It is ridiculous for Sir Joseph Wait], in face of this record from ‘Hansard,’ to'say that ho did not propose theprdtppucment of the elections for time months. It is true that he said they might bo again: postponed, but that won hi involve a. meeting of Parliament. His Dunedin speech is not at all likely to turn any votes from Mr Stathani to his nominee. The Dunedin people are very cautious as a. rule, and will pause before removing Mr Statham and) the Government. We -shall be surprised if they indicate that they would rather entrust the public affairs of New Zealand to a. mixed party such as the present. Opposition when they have the opportunity of securing the services of the united party which at present occupies the .Government 'benches. If they fail to elect Mr .Statham t it is certain that Sir Joseph Ward, will not he able to ignore the wishes of his allies, and that the Social-Democrats will squeeze him and the Liberals until they will be either forced to gq> out of office or to go to the country in order to be relieved of their Old Man of the Sea...

The ‘Gazette’ of January 28 contains the names of all clergymen and others who are officiating ministers under the Marriage Act, 1908.

A first offender who was arrested in the North Chat ton district on a charge of drunkenness on Friday was ■brought before Mr H. A. Young, S.M., at the Gore court on Saturday, and remanded to Invercargill for seven lor medi«al attendance.

,S~* 5% It js understood that, the executive of the Duruxim .branch of the Bible in StiiUr Schools League has decided to support Mr Statham’s candidature in the contest for the Dunedin Central seat (states the ‘Otago Daily Times’).

'An example of the tasks some people expect the postal authorities to perform is indicated in the shape of a. letter received at the Christchurch: Hospital, the address on which reads as follows: —“Mrs Harriet Gynn, Christchurch Hospital, or elsewhere, old. ago pensioner, South Island. New Zealand.”

At Saturday’s meeting of the committee of the Gore Agricultural and Pastoral Association a letter was read from Messrs J. and B. Carter, Saddle Hill, intimating their desire to donate the prize money (10s, second prize in the Gist hack class) won at the last Gore Show to the Belgian Relief Fund, (flic letter v/as received ami it was resolved to thank the donor.

At Waitaki Boys’ High School a .few days ago, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth (lit. Hon. Andrew Fisher) and his party were much amused, when they entered) the, picture gallery, to find 1 a portrait of his Imperial Majesty Wilhelm 11. hanging on the wall upside down. “An excess of feeling, no doubt, on the part of one of the boys,” smilingly remarked! Mr Fisher.

“The war has caused a tremendous demand for remount and artillery horses,” said the Prime Minister at the Levin Show a few days ago. “With the First Expeditionary Force nearly 4000 horses were sent away, and) only 1.9 were lost.” This, added Mr Massey, was a wonderful result, and pointed to the possibilities of an important trade in. horses between New Zealand and oversea countries.

At Christchurch on Saturday- George Bounington, chemist, was charged) with soling vinegar essence made from acetic acid and caramel without having it described as imitation vinegar (.states a Press Associations, telegram). He was also charged; with selling food colored •with caramel. The 'defendant'wasepuyicted without line in both cases. The prosecution said, that the' addition of caramel made the vinegar' m'istalcaible for the real article by the purchaser.

“What I a man in an impecunious position like this fellow incurring a debt of £ll for a funeral,” exclaimed Mr H. W.'Bishopj S.M., when a solicitor applied, for judgment in an undefended claim. The solicitor for plaintiff remarked that he believed that it was for the funeral of his mother-in-law and that the man raw tip such a bill. , “Motherin-law!” his Wbr.shp exclaimed again, “all the more reason whv he should have got it done cheaply.”

At a meeting of the. Invercargill branch of the Farmers’ Union on Saturday the question of how best to deal with noxious weed®, especially Californian thistles, was discussed. The discussion was introduced by reading a letter from the president of the Board of Agriculture. After considerable discussion, Mr McQueen moved and Mr F. J. Tanner seconded, “That this meeting is of opinion that the Act should be allowed to become non-effective, as a solution of the trouble will be brought about by natural causes.” Mir W. H. Hogue moved as an amendment and Mr W. S. Fleming seconded. “That the subject he hold, over for discussion till next meeting of the branch.” The amendment was,-carried.

v “ Bunny ” was n topic of discussion by members of the committee of the Gore Agricultural and Pastoral Association on. Saturday. Mr John Turnbull said lie had noticed that some of the exporters of rabbits were getting nr> an agitation to stop poisoning operations. He was opposed to suoli a. suggestion. So long as there was trapping for exr pnrb so long would they, have rabbits. Ho preferred to have trapping stopped and poisoning continued. Mr Macara said he was satisfied that if they stopped poisoning operations for two years the rabbit nuisance would be as groat a curse to Die country as ever it was. Mr On lien said he knew some farm managers who would not allow' trappci's on the farms under their control. They kept the rabbits clear by poisoning. Ifc was the opinion of mom bet's that consideration of the matter should, be held over until it was scon whether any effective movement was likely to be made by the Dunedin exporters and then they could take action.

Commenting on the high prices at the wool stiles, the Wellington ‘Poof has this to say : —Our soldiers need not only to ibo well 1 fed. They require on an average a uniform a month under the strenuous conditions of warfare hi Flanders. This calls for a lot of wool, and, it so happens, for just the sort of wool which forms 90 per cent, of that produced in New Zealand. In normal years the value of the New Zealand wool export is roughly £8,000,000. What it will be worth for the year ended June 30, 1915, it is difficult to say, but- for the year so far as it has gone it has appreciated, roughly, 15 per cent, in value. Record prices were obtained in Wellington for -all crossbred wools, and what were once commonly described as 8-Jd 1 wools sold at anything from lOd to Hid per lb. Bradford was the buyer; in other words, England to-day dominates the wool market, as she does the money market. More, and yet more, uniforms are wanted. But let the growers beware! The khaki demand once satisfied, he may'look for a substantial 1 fall m the price of cross-bred. Now is his time to profit by the sunshine 'in his favor, hut not to neglect provision for the inevitable rainy day which authorities knowing the market predict when the war is over.

If you are thinking of Ring-ing the Belle, call and see Baker’s rings.

“I am a farmer myself,” said thij Prime Minister at the Levin bhow tM other day, “though’ I know that many of you imagine that the only turnips 1 raise arc ostrich feathers.

Mr J. Young, the Christchurch Domains Board’s chief gardener, states that he would rather have a mob of children'in the Public Gardens than a mob of adults. According to his exper.ence, children arc more thoughtiul, more considerate and less wantonly d'ostructive to flowers than 1 are ‘ ‘grownups.”

Considerable applause greeted an observation made at the Levin Show the other day by Mr W. H. Field, M.P., to the elfect that he was sure that a great many of those present hoped and trusted that when the final returns loi the Parliamentary election came to hand they would show that Mr Massey had a comfortable majority.

The vital statistics registered at Gore for the month of January are a® follows:—Marriages four, births 17, deaths nil. For the corresponding mouth of 1914 the figures, were two, ho and 14 respectively. It is worthy of mention that this is the first occasion in' the history of the registration office that no deaths have been registered during one month.

A device which is claimed to be the simplest and the same time most efficient method' of effectuahy stoppingwind, rain, draughts and’ dust coming under doors of hous.es has recently been placed l on and as no door, however well fitted, is capable of fulfilling alii these functions, the Automatic Door Pad, as the new device is called, should prove a veritable boon to housewives and 1 others. In order to demonstrate its advantage to purchasers, Mr W. E. Potts, who is the sole agent, wilt for a short time only fix it to doors free of charge. Orders Jett at Mr Geo. Peterson’® shop or at the Railway Bookstall will receive prompt attention.

One of the problems of the ilinlty mother has been solved for her by Thomson and Beattie. This is to cheaply and efficiently clothe the boy. Besides the tweed Conway suits at 9s 6d—a large number of which have been sold — there are youths.’ three-garment suits at 10s. serge Conway suits at 10s, Melville suits at 10s, summer ’varsity suits at 10s, and tunic suits at 9s Gd. All these are downright bargains.

Bulldog lost. Boarders wanted. Rabbi ter wanted. Boarders wanted. Supply of ham at Hargest’s. Grocers close on Wednesday. Additional entries for Gore sale. Pictures, Theatre Royal, to-night. Grombie’s sale—special reductions. Stock sale at Athol on Wednesday. W. Gunn and family return thanks. £20,000 to lend—J. G. Ward and Co Pukorau school excursion on Thurs day. Geo. Shave, hairdresser, inserts no tice.

Attractive! bargains at. H. and J Smith’s.

Tenders wanted for goodwill of carry ing business. Fresh fish to-morrow at O’Sullivai and Tinnock’s.

Mataura Borough Council inserts no tice re tramline.

Meeting Gore Citizens’ Defence Com mittec to-morrow.

Miss Meliaffey, L.T.C.L., commences teaching 10th inst. Gore Highland Society’s monthly meeting on Tuesday. Thomson and Beattie’s summer sale is now in full swing. Pukeran Troop National Reserve will parade every Saturday. Mataura Borough Council inserts notice re wandering cattle. T. Green and Co. hold clearing sale furniture <m February 10. Abornetby and Beatty, land, estate and commission agents, Mataura.