MAIL SUMMARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13226, 11 July 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

MAIL SUMMARY.

'I'"' ' '' f \ " ' OUR LETTER HOME. , ' , ■ , , .".; Tail! funeral of the late Premier (Mr. Soddon), 'which took place at Wellington on .Thursday, June 21, furnished -[ a crowning addition to the, many and widespread marks of esteem, which the death of this 'great'colonial statesman had already called forth. There was a. very large and representative attendance, .residents of all parts of the colony being present, whilst in all ■ the principal town* largely-attended memo! services were also held at the hour . Iked for the funeral. Not only at Wellington, where the dead statesman was laid to rest amid every token of public and personal sorrow, nor in cities like Auckland, where multitudes attended the local memorial services to display the same appreciation, but in every centre, large or small, from end to : end of New Zealand, the people turned out em masse to pay the last tribute to the late ;: Premier, It was not a-public holiday, yet suspensions of business and pleasure have rarely been more complete and the instinct of the people everywhere turned to , the religious ceremonials, which are so seldom associated with colonial functions. The .churches at which the services were held proved all. too small to hold those who flocked to them, and many thousands were usable -to obtain admission. ■■; But their minds were attuned, to the solemnity of '. She occasion/' Solemnly and gravely, in their'churches aiud around their church ' doorfcf, the people of the colony, took part in the burial of their Premier, honouring the office and mourning, the man. .1 - It will be long before .the people of, the colony ■ forget the impressive memorial services that .narked the burial day of Richard John Seddon. The spot chosen for the interment is on the summit of the hill, near the Sydneystreet cemetery, where the observatory formerly stood, this building being removed ; tor the purpose of providing a.last resting ,• place for the deceased statesman. ■.'.. The first session of the 16th Parliament of New Zealand, which in point of brevity ,'iias established a record in the politics of the colony, has been opened: and closed since our last Summary was published. The session, which may be termed a "memorial .sessiottj" was formally opened by commission on June 27. The only business trans- ! ted on that day was the swearing-in of the members of the .uouse of Representatives, and the election of Speaker,#to which office the previous Speaker (Mr. A. R. Guinness, member for Grey) was unanimously re-elected. On the following • day ; Parliament was officially opened by His Excellency the Governor, and the business on that day was practically confined/ to the passing "by both Houses of motions, of con- . dolence in connection with, the 'death of the late Premier. '■ The third day, which was , really the only business day of the session; also saw its 'close. The Government obtained authority for supplies for two - months, and then adjourned. Parliament '"■was subsequently prorogued. A second session—the actual session of the year—will fie opened next month, and it is expected to last till about the end of October. The crisis in the fortunes of the party ,in power which has been brought about '■J- by the death of Mr. Seddon furnishes the explanation of the exceptional nature of the recent short session. The Leader whom the majority, of the members of the House 1 of Representatives were elected to support /having gone, 1 and the colleague who is generally regarded as "the natural, if not the only possible, successor to the Premiership, being absent from the colony, a ';■ most unusual . set of circumstances was created. : On. the death of Mr. Seddon, the Hon. W. Hall-Jones, Acting-Premier, , was (tailed upon by,the Governor to form ', a Ministry, This he did' by" re-appoint-inc> all the old Ministers, the positions of Premier and Colonial' Treasurer being allocated to himself. ' This was the position ;■ in Which Mr. Hall-Jonas met Parliament, hut both prior to'lithe'opening of and dur'ing the, session, he nude it clear that he is holding office only as. a- stop-gap, and •' that- he '. intends,' on ] the return of Sir. Joseph Ward, to hand over to the latter ■■ the reins of power, with all the honours i and responsibilities attaching thereto. The : recent ' session; a3-already 'stated, was a i purely formal one. „ The. Governor's speech, . which was the shortest on record, contained neither any statement' of - policy ; nor, any forecast of the Bills to be placed before' Parliament. Had ; Sir Joseph Ward 'been in, the colony,'of course,, the work of : Parliament would have .been proceeded .With, . but in His absence, the dominant .' party, although it possessed a Premier and notterous Ministers, was admittedly so confused and leaderless that the . whole machinery of Parliament and constitutional procedure has had to be temporarily suspended. It was a well-known fact that, ■the late Mr. Seddon was practically the . Government, and that, outside. Sir Joseph Ward, if even he could be excepted, the subordinate members of the Ministry contented themselves wjmi the routine supers misery f duties •in connection with their re- ■ spective Departments. It is this undesirable state of things that has given rise to the present deadlock. •: It "is anticipated that the personnel of the Ministry. will undergo some important changes when Sir Joseph Ward assumes the position of. head of the Government. , Mr. J. A. Millar, one of the Dunedin - members, and Chairman of Committees in the laiit Parliament, is looked upon as almost certain to fill vacancy now existing, Current report has it that' at least ; two of 'the present Ministers will not" be ' reappointed, but that, ' with the object of strengthening the Ministry, two members •'i of the present -ank and file of the party, will be elevated to Cabinet rank. There ' are a large number of aspirants for the honours to be distributed, but those who ire supposed to be well-informed consider that it is probable that Mr. R. McNab, imember for Mataura, and Mr. G. Fowlds, u>eonber for Grey Lynn, will be selected. The election of a member of the House of Representatives for the Westland district, in succession, to the late Mr. Seddon, is • crating considerable interest. The candidates are Mr. Michel, Mayor of Hokitikat, arid -Mr ;T.. Y. Seddon, second son of the Premier. Mr, Seddon, who is only 22 . years'of age, is a native of' the Westland "district, be having been born at Kumara, .. the town that gave hie father political birth nearly 30 years ago. He was educated at the Kumara State school, the Terrace State school (Wellington), and the' Wellington College (from which he matriculated); > ; He is now a law student at the Victoria Col- , lege at Wellington. - ■ ''•■ ' - ■ The Auckland City Council has, accepted 1 an offer made by the Australian Mutual Provident Society to take up the city water 1 extension loan of £150,000. .;. As this so- ' cietv has also taken up £50,000 of the • •Auckland Harbour Board debentures, this will make £200,000 invested by I them in . local securities. The term of the water loan is 21 years, and the City Council has decided that it shall carry a three-quarter f per .cent, sinking fund. As the loan is free of exchange and commission to the Council, the rate of interest will work out at 4jJ par cent.-per annum. The newly-appointed citv engineer: (Mr. Bush), who "arrived in Auckland from England on June 24, has taken up his new ' Janes, The most deHructive fire that has taken ■place in Auckland for the past two rears . occurred on the evening of Juue 21. when the block of buildings at the corner of '-,Queen arid Victoria Streets, known as the ' City Chambers, was burned. The building was formerly well known as the Theatre , Boral, and later as the City Hall. Some two years aao its use for theatrical pur- ,■ poses' was discontinued, and it was converted into offices. The cause of. the fire is ~ unknown. , * ' Development work in connection with the Taran iki oil fields if steadilv proceeding. taa,d: the', exploration of the oil belt is being conducted in.several directions. On; June 28. the pressure from the nil bore "shot', up , from 601bs to 12Q*,bs to the square inch, and ;, there is every prospect of this high degree of *> pressure being maintained. It. is hoped by the manager. Mr, G. C. Fair, to have tho •'.refinery erected and.in working order about the begin ni.Ui>: of next year. This plant is ■:;'.expected. to treat from 200 to 300 barrels » £jJ* ilk UhM v ' .- . w '■''■'. .

',♦ i ' -■ . ■ ■ day. In the meantime, it; in intended to only take off sufficient to supply the market . with crude oil. In the course of a recent [. interview Mr. Fair stated that in his ex- „ ploralion be was sticking close to the coast, where he * believed the oil belt was, but it ? was only a question of ; a short time when i he would be able to determine the width of is the; belt. With reference to the burning (j. oil, he would say, as an expert,: that it , would be equal to anything of its, kind yet '" produced. ;It had one great advantage: in s being free of sulphur,;whereas the Canadian II oil held sulphur, and, therefore, while it - took three barrels of Canadian crude oil to x- produce one of refined oil, about two' bar- , rels and a-quartcr of Taranaki oil would '" suffice, When the refinery was started, 0 benzine could be placedion the market in--1 side two days, and ho better lubricating R oil. than coulil be produced in Taranaki had •- occurred in any of the oil fields of the l world. n The retail price of butter in Auckland . was raised on Monday last from Is 2d to Is 1 3d V per lb. The Teason for the advance, e stated the bead of /a" large retail firm to a t Herald representative, was the shortage of e supply. h The factories had ■ been exporting . Home for a longer period than usual this dairying season, and there was practically 3 ho butter held in store. There being .prac- ' tically no reserve stocks, the trade had to e depend oh winter dairying, arid the winter i supply was likely to be short. Dairy farmn - ers ■ had not taken to 1 ensilage feeding, and there was no real attempt to carry on dairye ing all the year round on a comprehensive f. scale. The' Home prices had been so good f that local / supplies were depleted to fill i orders, and March and /April' butter was l now selling at"; 104s per cwt in London. i- The dairy farmers had to face losses in some ■ cases through the season hot being as good ? as expected, and through mortality amongst 1 the ■ herds.'.:, Many- factories, were shipping I. butter up till May, instead of ceasing the I end of March, as in previous years. .