Houses for Railwaymen.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 230, 27 August 1938, Page 8

Houses for Railwaymen.

The building of over three hundred houses lor railway staff at various localities throughout New Zealand has been commenced. The work will be spread over two to three years, and will cost approximately £310,000, says the annual statement of the Minister of Railways. Level Crossing Eliminations. The Railway Department is co-oper-ating with the Main Highways Board in a programme of main nighway level crossing elimination. The total expenditure during the current financial year is estimated, at about £400,000, of which amount the- Railway Department will find £7o,ooo.—Extract from the Railways Statement. New Experience for Boys. When the schoolboys visiting the Hutt Valley for the annual primary schools’ Rugby tournament were taken for a motor trip round the Marine Drive, it was found that four members of the Rangitikei team had never seen an aeroplane. Fortunately, the party arrived opposite the Rongotai aerodrome just as a ’plane was leaving the ground, and the four boys had a close view of what was to them a wonderful spectacle. Some of the Rangitikei boys came from schools that contained only a handful of pupils. Ability Impresses.

“My visit to New Zealand has been a great and valuable experience. My impressions have given me so much food for thought that I should like to give them a good deal of consideration befoie expressing any opinions in the articles and lectures I am preparing about the Dominion. The one thing which struck me most is the courage, enterprise and unusual abilities of the people of New Zealand who were able to organise and keep going a country , bigger than Great Britain in spite of their small numbers.” These views were expressed in an interview yesterday by Dr Thomas Greenwood, lecturer in logic at the University of London and a.well-known political -writer.

Motor Tyre Industry. “It was learned recently that consideration was being given to a proposal to establish the manufacture of rubber tyres in New Zealand,” stated the president's "report submitted to the annual conference, of the North Island Motor Union, at Hawera yesterday. “Representations were promptly made to the Minister of. Industries and Commerce, asking that an opportunity be given to the Motor Unions to state the motorists’ case in respect of such a proposal. It lias been demonstrated elsewhere that the establishment of a similar local industry has resulted in restrictions on the-importations of tyres, and the consequent necessity to obtain tyres manufactured locally, winch, in many cases, are considered inferior to those'-imported. No objection is raised to a local industry being established provided that there is no restriction on imports, ;.npv increase in duties on tyres, a:nd that’ the product is competitive in quality and in price with what is otherwise obtainable. That the best anality tyres be available at reasonable prices has an important bearing on the safety problem, too.”

Still in Hospital. Two of the passengers injured in the llatana derailment on March 26 are still inmates of the Wanganui Public Hospital, but arc reported to be improving. The patients are Mr J, D. Gardiner, of Gonville, who received a fractured leg and a severe cut on the leg, and Miss Mary Ellis, of Wanganui East, who received a compound fracture of the leg. Labour and Reserve Bank.

Reference to the legislation by which the Government took control of the Reserve Bank was made by the Leader of the Opposition (Hon. A. Hamilton) in an address at Takapuna. “In my judgment they did not take authority to over-ride the ’ governor of the Reserve Bank,” Mr Hamilton said, in referring to the aims of the Government as socialistic. “In my opinion they stuck at that, and there is a little safeguard there, but the objective is seen.” Domination of Scotland.

“For over 700 years we have been trying to convince the Englishman that our country is our own,” said Mr J. O’Farrell, representing Eire, a member of the United Kingdom delegation to the British Commonwealth Relations Conference, when speaking at the welcome - to some members of the delegation at Parliament Buildings. “Now there is another fight starting in the United Kingdom,” added Mr O’Farrell. “It is a fight by the Englishman to throw off the domination of Scotland —and I think it is likely to be a pretty hopeless fight.” (Laughter).

Training of Nursing Aids. Arising from an acute sliortago of trained nurses, and designed to provide means of skilled attention, more particularly for the chronically sick, a national system for the training of nursing aids is under consideration by the Department of Health and hospital authorities throughout the Dominion. A comprehensive! scheme providing for the registration of this class of nurse after a two years’ course of training has been prepared by the New Zealand Hospital Boards’ Association in consultation with the Nurses and Midwives Registration Board. Wellington’s New Station. The Wellington new station has exceeded the most sanguine expectations of the advocates of a modern transport headquarters at Wellington for the convenience of travellers to and from the capital city, says the Railways Statement. The new' station supplies an outstanding example of the ready response the public make to the pre-sent-day progressive developments of the railways, and it has become virtually a new civic centre. So much have expectations been exceeded that, despite a generous margin in the space provided to 1 allow for future expansion, the statioh is already working to maximum capacity in certain branches, and further extensions will be required to cope with the anticipated traffic of the Centennial year and the normal development which may reasonably be expected to follow later. ■ • ’ Liability of Motorists. “A matter which gave rise to more discussion than any other at meetings during the year was the .proposal of the Minister of Justice to' impose the doctrine of absolute liability agamst motorists in cases where personal injury resulted from motor accidents,” stated the annual report submitted to the conference of the North Island Motor Union, at Hawera yesterday. “Although this union is as keen as any other body to see the number of road accidents reduced and to see that persons injured in road accidents do not suffer it does not believe that the Minister’s proposals were just in achieving the desire at which lie aimed. His proposals had entire disregard for the fact that motorists were in very many cases not primarily • responsible for accidents, but the reasons for the union’s objection to the Minister’s proposal are too many to' enumerate here.”