ESTABLISHED 1875. Manawatu Daily Times. The Oldest Manawatu Journal. Conducted by E. D. HOBEN, Editor & Proprietor. Published Every Morning. THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1908. THE FURY OF LEVIN.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXV, Issue 371, 19 March 1908, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1875. Manawatu Daily Times. The Oldest Manawatu Journal. Conducted by E. D. HOBEN, Editor & Proprietor. Published Every Morning. THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1908. THE FURY OF LEVIN.

The Press of the Dominion has passed judgment on the selection of the Palmerston S|how< Ground as the Dairy School site and the almost unanimous verdict is that, after all, the best site has been ohosen and that the Ministry has done the best for the great industry affected. In some places there has been an attempt at suggesting political motives, but it is a very half-hearted and a rather unworthy as well as ungenerous attempt, which the writers knew in their hearts to be contradicted by the facts. Feilding, Stratford, Hawera, Hastings, and the rest have taken defeat like sportsmen. Not so Levin. There all is sound and fury. "The Government evidently thought that this constituency was politically safe," said the Mayor at the Levin Council, "but it was time to 6how them that it was not so." Could anything in worse form be said ? The dairy industry to be weighed in the balance as against the Levin seat! Again, we are told that the public meeting to be held on Saturday "Is to discuss the uses to which the State Farm is to be put in the future." Evidently Levin is under the impression that it, and not the Dominion owns the State Farm. When a Levin deputation recently waited on the Minister for Lands one of them told him that if he did not place the Dairy School he had better cut up the farm. Mr McNab retorted that unless they wanted that to happen it would be as well not to press the point, as Mr Buchanan's offer of £6000 was available for the mere moving of the herds and the farm over into the Wairarapa and the Government could sell Weraxoa at such a price as would cover everything. The promptness of the reply silenced that deputation, but now we find Levin, having lost its head, making ready to lose also the State Farm, and seeing these things, the Minister for Lands yesterday gave instructions to postpone the erection of proposed buildings on the farm till the desires of the Levin meeting were known, as it would be possible to accept Mr W. C. Buchanan's offer and sell Weraroa at a profit. Apart from that there is also Mr Lethbridge's offer for an experimental station at Makino, or there could easily befc procured another more suitable State Farm here, or in the Feilding district. Meantime it has transpired, we understand, that the Levin Gto-ope-rative Dairy Company intends to give up making butter and instead send milk to Wellington, thus coming into the area which the Minister for Lands recently referred to as destined to constitute Wellington's source of supply. It iB obvious that as it would then cease to be a butter district the last argument that could have been used in favour of locating a butter and cheese school there will have disappeared. ,