STATE BANK NOTES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 139, 19 June 1911, Page 2

STATE BANK NOTES.

The Federal Treasury is now m a position-.to supply all applications, for th<? Australian notes. There had been a temporary tightness iii regard to paper owing to the Treasury having bo wait for supplies,; and to a strong demand from Queensland consequent upon the stoppage of the State issue of, notes on May 1: That stage has now passed, and there is a full sup-t ply to meet all demands, so much so that it is certa-m that the 10 per cent, taken on bank notes will be imposed oil July 1,. as had originally been intended. The amount of the issue is already in excess of 6,000,000.

MONO-RAILWAY CONSTRUC-

TION

The Scuth Australian Government have decided to introduce a Bill to Parliament next session with the object of giving district councils the right to construct mono-railways, similar to those used by the Loxton Farmii g Company on the River Murray, which in one week shifted 2,500 bsgs ofr wheat seven miles with three horses. The work will be done under the supervision of the Railway Commissioners, and tihe Council fruarantee interest on the cost, which is,estimated at £200 per mile. The system is admittedly not efficacious for distances greater than ten miles.

MORE IMMIGRATION

The Aberdeen liner Norseman, which, left London on April 8, berthed At DaJgety's wh,arf 3 Miller's Point, on Friday afternoon. She carried a complement of 1031, passengers, among the number being 487 rmmigrants for Sydney. A good many of the Sydney contingent are assisted immigrants, and altogether they are of a very good class, and are beginning their careers in Australia in possession of £200 to £500 capital m a number of instances. Thero are families, 10 in number, taking up their a-bode in the State, and a good many of thorn are tradesmen, among them being stone-masons, carpenters, and so forth. All presented a. healthy appearance, and tho children, es--1 pecially looked bright and chubby; in fact, tho health officer stated that ho had never seen a finer grade of immigrants oome to Australia. Tho liner, which experienced a voyage, cam© oxit> under Captain' G. Berry. Messrs Dalgety and Co. are the agents. '

NEW GOLDFIELD RIjSHED

Alluvial gold has been found by leaseholders at Wet>uio, 40 miles west of .Southern Cross (W. A.) -One 3oz nugget was shown here. The application for leases ha.ye to he approved by the Minister for Mines, and alluvial diggers are debarred from working the ground. Two hundred men rushed the ground. The police were, wired for, and Sergeant Lihner and a constable left here at midni^it-. / Next morning "Warden, Finnerty and the Mining Registrar left for the field, taking an ambulance with them. • It 'is thought here that there liavo been some acts of violence.

RURAL I WORJCERS' WAGES;

At a meeting of the Bookong (N.S.W.) Farmers' Union the rural workers' claims were considered, and the following scale of wages was agreed upon: Harvester and binder diivers £2 5s per week and found, or fe& per day, driver to look after his own. horses; (2) bag-sfewere, haycarting, stooking, £,2 per week and found. " contract ivork optionally; (3) wMat^artingj After 'harvest, i 25s per week and found, man to look after "his own. horses; assistants, 22s 6d per week; * (4> ploughmen, 25s per week -and found, man to look after his owfit horses; (5; casual hands in ploughing time, 22s 6d per week and found, (6) stack-builders and thatchers, 9s per day and found; (7) I threshing-machine hands 8s per day.

THE NEW PBOTECTION

The. Commonwealth Minister of Custom* (Mr Tudor), by way of reply to the series of questions which have Leed asked of him in connection with tariff matters and the views of the Ministry, has had an official memorandum prepared on the subject. He states that the true object of the policy of Protection is to provide employment at fair and reasonable rates of wages The prosperity of our industries should, be synonymous with the employment and' prosperity of the working classes. It should be obvious that when an application is made for tariff assistance the applicant should justify by satisfactory and conclusive evidence his claim for such assistance, proving. firstly, that he is paying fair and reasonable irates of wages; secondly, that this industry.is one that will provide employment to a reasoni able extent, and with a reasonable promise of permanency; thirdly, that he will, as far as practicable, utilise I Australian raw material for the purj pose of his industry; fourthly, that ! the profits derived from his industry are insufficient for its success. It has been suggested that a tariff board should deal with these matters, but Mr >Tudor does not see how the information which is necessary could be given to a tariff board and not to the department. In connection with the circulars recently issued, manufacturers and others concerned had been assured that the information furnished by them would be treated with the greatest confidence and secrecy. Manufacturers could rest as"sure<i that no consideration could pOsjsibly.be given to any claims'for tariff consideration unless the full and precise particulars called for by the1 department were furnished in accurate details.

At the beginning of Februaa-y, when Monsignor Fowler was in Christchurch, exception was taken by Protestant bodies to references made by the visitor and the Roman Catholic dignitaries to the Reformation and its leaders. Notice wias then given by the ChristchuTch Presbytery to move an overture praying the General Assembly to take these statements into consideration. Last week the overture was moved and carried unanimously.