GENERAL ITEMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 25 May 1938, Page 4

GENERAL ITEMS

i Extended Hours for Motor Rciiccnsing j With the end of the month less than a week away, many motor vehicles remain unlicensed, and it appears there will be the usual last minute rush. The Nelson Post Office Motor Licensing branch has extended its hours this week to 5 p.m. daliy. including Saturday. On Friday the office will be open until 8 p.m.. for the convenience of owners who have difficulty in getting to the office in normal working hours. The two last days for relicensing will be Monday and Tuesday of next week,

when the office will be open from 9 a.m to 8 p.m. each day.

I One Penny in Tax The Government’ coffers benefited to the extent of one penny when a Christchurch salaried man discovered last week that he had received one shilling interest on £2 invested in the Post Office Savings Bank (says the “StarSun"). He was bound by his declaration of income o’her than salary rr wages, received during- the Governi ment's financial year to reveal this princely sum. The tax on this j interest, which was the only money he j had reveived, apart from his wages, ! amounted to one penny, but the tax i collector's hand was ready to receive it. Burden of Taxation ’That the prospect of any addition to the already too heavy burden of taxation is viewed with great disapproval by the primary producers.” was a remit passed at the annual interprovincial conference of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union at Wellington this week. A Masterton delegate said the farmers had good reason to feel concerned, j "First of all,” he said, "the Prime Mini- | ster announced that the Government i was going to make a start; later he ! stated that the Government was going ! full steam ahead, with the brakes off; ! and finally Mr Savage stated that the ! Government was going to kick over the traces. Now every farmer knows that | when a horse kicks over the traces j there is usually a good old mess-up.'’ I Remits were also carried requesting j the Government to reduce the duty on stock foods and to reduce the uneml ployment tax. A delegate contended ! that the unemployment tax should be j abolished altogether. A Minister had i recently stated that unemployment had ; practically ceased to exist in the Do- ; minion, and if that statement were corj rect there was no need to retain the tax. Besides, plenty of work was of- | fering in the country districts. Farmers were crying out for labour, but the Government was making the cities and towns so attractive for young men that they would not go into the country Guaranteed Price The willingness of the Government to agree to a tribunal representative of all parties and presided over by a Judge of the Supreme Court for the purpose of determining the guaranteed ->nce was expressed by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) when addressing a conference of farmers at Wellington yesterday. In the subsequent discussion it was pointed out that .despite the Prime Minister’s suggestion that the question of a tribunal should be very carefully considered before a decision was made, the whole of the dairy industry had asked lor a tribunal and could not do other than press for its establishment. Another point made was that the compensatory price was a plank of the union’s platform and no decision should be made which would preclude consideration of the scheme by the suggested tribunal. A definite lead should be given as to how the compensatory price should be put into operation. The detailed working out of the guaranteed price had not been discussed with the dairy industry, and care should be taken to see that the principles underlying the compensatory price scheme were generally understood and approved. It was decided that remits and suggestions bearing on the proposed tribunal be redrafted for submission to the conference later. Freeholding of Farms "It is absolutely essential that we as a union should make every endeavour to see that all farmers should have a right to make their farms freehold.” said Mr J. Livingston, of Dannevirke, in his address as chairman of the Farmers’ Union conference at Wellington yesterday. "Any increment that results to the value of the land through intensive farming should be the farmer’s, and be available to mortgage against further improvements. People don’t like to lend money on land at the present time, and most of our farms are deteriorating through lack of capital expenditure. That is where the fault lies rather than in the inefficiency of the farmers.” Wesley Relics in London Among the Wesley relics seen by Mr Herbert Chapman, of Christchurch, during a recent visit to London, were several interesting pieces of furniture in Wesley’s Chapel, and the nearby stables, where the great evangelist kept his horse In an address at the bi-cen-tenary commemoration servise in the Durham Street Methodist Church, Mr Chapman said that the clock, which used to tick out Wesley’s two-hour sermons 200 years ago, was still ticking on the wall. Control of Noxious Weeds The problem of noxious weeds was introduced in a remit from the Waimarino and Waverley branch at the interprovincial conference of the Farmers’ Union at Wellington yesterday. While recognising that the responsibility of clearing land of noxious weeds should be on the occupier, when he was in a position to do so, the remit suggested that the Departments of Public Works and Agriculture be urged to assume the responsibility and to take the necessary action to clear the following lands: Unoccupied Crown land, unoccupied Native land. State forest and reserves, and land in the possession of indigent occupiers. For this it was suggested that sufficient men be made available to carry out the work at the appropriate time, if necessary the men to be taken off public works for a period of from six weeks to two months. The remit was carried, and it was also decided to advocate that the union take the necessary steps to hold a discussion throughout the provinces directed to formulating a national scheme of noxious weed control by county councils, this to bo dependent on the Government accepting responsibility for all Crown. Native and abandoned lands.