FEILDING

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 120, 21 April 1932, Page 8

FEILDING

W.E.A. LECTURE. “Distress since the War” was the subject of an address given by Mr J. A. Brailsford under the auspices of the Feilding W.E.A. in St. Paul’s Hall on Tuesday night. There were about 60 members present, and Mr A. J. Humphreys presided. The lecture was illustrated by lantern slides of cartoons, the majority of them being by David Low, a New Zealander, who is now a leading cartoonist in London. Mr Brailsford said the chief immediate cause of the present ruin was the general fall in prices. Committees of experts in Britain and New Zealand had recommended some restoration of the price level. This appeared to him the immediate pressing need and he believed that if some such action were not taken, New Zealand would have to face even worse distress in the next two years. Mr Brailsford commented on what is called over-production. The word was an absurd paradox in a world where there was so much poverty, he said. Over-production of one thing at one time often occurred but when people spoke of general over-production it was simply a confession of the failure of society to use the gains of modern methods of production for general betterment. Instead we allowed these gains to spoil the markets, ruin businesses and create unemployment and distress. When higher wagers and shorter hours were recommended as the case, we had to remember that we were competing with nations whose wages and working conditions had to be raised very considerably to approach ours. It was felt also that we should be careful not to destroy incentives to effort, initiative and true thrift. The speaker said that hope lay in the spread of various forms of co-opera-tion, under which the incentives as well as the gains would be more widely shared. , , , We could look forward to the future with hope, Mr Brailsford observed. Mankind was like an adolescent discovering the possession of vast new powers, hut struggling painfully- to control those powers and attain their proper social use. The world was mad with the madness of glorious youth. Perhaps it was even suffering the pangs of a new birth of life. In the meantime we must face the immediate distress. Would we get down to the real issues before it was too late. Ur would we who had led the world s material progress use our new powders so insanely for mutual destruction as to hand over the leadership to others who would be sensible and wed power with wisdom, making life more abundant for mankind at large? RELIEF FUND. The following additional amounts have been received in response to Rev. Canon Petrie’s appeal for help for distressed families: —Mrs Miles, £l, H. Mclntyre. £1 Is; Mrs Tolley £2; Mrs Smith, os; food from Mrs Bailey and A Friend. ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL. At a meeting of the Feilding Association Football Club last night, votes of thanks were accorded Mr J. Hurn for the presentation of a ball to tne senior team, and to Mr Kempson of Palmerston North, for the gift of a ball to the boys of Lytton Street School. _ The following is the Feilding team to play Athletic at Feilding on Saturday:—L. Wright, W. Hunt, JFordyce, J. Elliot, B. Blunt, G. Cooper, A. Cooper, R. Naylor, B. Pilcher, Millar, J. Lugg, J. Pitman, R. Elliot. All players are requested to be on the ground by 2.30 p.m. MOTOR COLLISION. Arising out of a collision between a “baby” car and a'motor van on the Bunnythorpe-Ashhiirst Road on January 3 last, a civil action was heard in the Feilding Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before Mr R. M. Watson, S. The plaintiffs were Messrs Dustin’s, Ltd., of Wanganui, who claimed £46 16s special and general damages from William Irving Pratt, the driver of the small car. alleging that defendant’s unskilful and negligent driving was the cause of the collision. Defendant counter-claimed for £llß 2s made up by £IOO for the value of the car which was totally destroyed, £2 2s medical expenses, £l3 10s loss of wages through injuries received, £1 10s haulage fee and £1 travelling expenses. Mr _Blennerhassett. of Wanganui, appeared for plaintiffs and Mr J. M. Mason, Feilding, for defendant. The evidence of several witnesses traversed the visibility of the road at the Glaxo factory, at Bunnythorpe, where the collision took place, and also the position of the cars at the time of the collision. After hoaring the evidence, Mr Watson intimated that he would take time to look into the facts of the case, decision being reserved in the meantime. NOTES. The annual meeting of householders at Halcombe was held on Monday evening, with a large attendance of the general public. Mr T. R. Vile was elected to the chair. The balancesheet showed a credit of £4 0s 7d in the No. 1 account, with £2O 4s 9d in the No. 2 account. Mr E. Long, headmaster, submitted his annual report, which showed the average attendance at 81.1, just sufficient to hold the school’s position in grade 3C. To fall below this, would mean the loss of a teacher. The average for last year was 87.2, giving a good start for the current year, the roll number being 88. Average attendance to date was 77.6, this falling off being due to the prevalence of whooping cough among the children. The following committee was elected: Messrs T. R. Vile, W. S. Page, D. Managh, A. Sterne and A. Wishnoksky. Mr I. McLennan congratulated the incoming committee and wished them as successful a year as the previous one. At a later meeting Mr Vile was elected chairman and Mr Page secretary and treasurer.