LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18345, 10 March 1923, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

BT JiCKRCUTIO.

Greatness is being thrust upon Tauranea. Already famous to a certain Stent for the beauty of its situation and the adornment of its town, for its mount, its fishing, and its lemons, Taiuangn has become the- focus of attention that, if not universal, w ill be directed upon it from all parts of the Empire. It holds the fate of the ,» Government in its hands, and for the next feV weeks its people will bo courted'and cajoled until they will he in danger of forgetting that they are only electors in a democratic country, and not kings in discuise. Whatever the result of the campaign Tauranga will receive an advertisement'that will be the envy of every other electorate in the Dominion.

The To Aroha stablo lad who won a . . 0 { £i by shaking hands with the Prime Minister had a jitter apnrecia- . ' 0 ( M r Massey's urbanity than did V? companion who had to pay un and it ..feasant. If thero was ever a more lichablo Prime Minister than Mr. Ey he would be hard to find. Chilj—n axe supposed to be the infallible indee* wd the - v r,cver havo any heaita " V in making advances to him whon -Zrtunity otters. Mr. Mnssey is himIf the author of the following story, K ,-a ffi ujt therefore be authentic: One Sunday afternoon, in comnany with a rei .;_„. visitor to New Zealand, he was •32* down Sydney Street, Wellingtoward Parliament Buildings. The ♦co' kinsmen approached a gate $n which lwo small loys were swinging. As they j«w level, the urchins, with one voice, trussed : " Hullo, Rill!" "Is that the wav New Zealand children address the Prim* Minister?" asked the visitor. "I un afraid it is," said Mr. Massey.

Tie law societies insist that there is a ahortage of Judges. So there seems to he in proportion to the work to be done by the Supreme Court. There ought 10 be plenty of magistrates, for it is recorded that a South Island County Council, in two years, secured 1757 beaks. Incidentally they were beaks of keas, ■which will now make no more mischief among the sheep.

The Government departments are to me a new design for envelopes —a map of New Zealand within a circle, with the names of the tour chief cities, indicating their whereabouts. A lettered scroll bears the words " Dominion of New |i Zealand." But are the four chief cities %i the Dominion of New Zealand? What mm »b° ut I e blank may be filled with Jrl the name of one's own all-important hamlet. This piecti of tactlessness may cost the Government, the loss of the Treasury Benches. It would have been better to have had a vote, on the proportional representation principle, as to what places should be mentioned.

A small boy at Wellington, having been given an air-gun for a Christmas -resent, sallied forth to shoot at all he saw. Having registered one hit on a moving perambulator containing a childand a fecond on another small boy about to indulge in a bathe, ihe fell foul of the guardians of the law, making a subsequent appearance in the Juvenile Court. An unsympathetic magistrate administered a badly-needed reproof and ordered the weapon to be confiscated. A very satisfactory conclusion too. There is room for just one small doubt. It is risky to venture into the fields of the experts, but what have the new educationalists to say about it! Surely the boy was following his natural impulses, and developing his talents in accordance with his special bent. What light, then, had police or magistral to interfere ? Why should his natural mctoatious be curbed? Why should a boy who wants to shoot be forced to play garbles hardly seems right that the free play to " tho heaven-sent impulse© of tti» child. nafcur* eWtrald" be -encouraged in school, while antedelnvian police and magistrates can bind the shackles round him outside of it. It makes the world so topsy-turvy.

The Power Board is exercised over the Customs Department's decision to charge 20 per cent, on hardwood poles imported from Australia. It appears that the charge, which is quite unexpected in view of the previous free importation of undressed pole*, is due to the board's preference for dressed poles out of respect to the wishes of citizens who like ' tho dressed article." A, well! Civilisation is an expensive thing anyway. This matter of dressing has become a terribly expensive business, and its extension to street poles is just what one would expect. Naturally, to:>, they cost more that way. That the dressing in their case consists in taking covering off does not destroy the analogy; it is quite consistent with the modern method of preEaring for social functions. Intended for high station, these poles must need be in the fashion. Now that the Power Board has yielded to the dictates of the elect, ought not tho Harbour Board to do something with the rfneer legs of Calliope?

|£ The "vicious circle" one hears so much isa about seems to embrace the butter ques--9 tion. The Prime Minister" has been W charged with having, on one occasion, aimed at cheap butter for local consumption to the disadvantage of the farmer. Everyone knows that there has been no really cheap butter for the Dominion and no less for the consumers than for the farmers this has been a good thing. If we were paying half-a-crown a pound to-day, the Dominion would have no financial depression. For the good of every soul in the country it is better that butter should be dear for London parity decides the price. Of course, we do not hear so much about London parity when the London market falls, but that, is merely human nature. Let us rejoice upon every occasion when London parity is shown t<justify a rise hero, for it means a great inflow of wealth.

Many people have said that the achievements of Sir George "Elliot were more than sufficient to earn him the knighthood which he recently had conferred upon him. It has remained for tho British Australasian, that excellent London publication devoted to the affairs of this Dominion and of the Commonwealth, to discover a piece of public service, which will come as a surprise to Sir George himself, just as it will to those wfap lire well conversant with his striking record. After paying tribute to his standing as a banker, and his success as mediator in industrial disputes, the paper adds : " Sir George was sent out by the Government, as a Commissioner to Genoa, where lie greatly distinguished himself." Whether Sir George mils at Genoa as a Red Cross representative, or seconding Mr. Lloyd George during the historic conference of the Allies held in that city, is not explained. Meanwhile, it is permissible to wonder whether this publication, taking a special interest in the affairs of New Zealand, has ever heard of the Dominion's undertakings in Samoa.

Enthusiastic bottlers of fruit have been exchanging ideas in the press. It is a friendly sort of tiling. It shows that there is a kind of freemasonry in the kitchen. And of course it must he encouraging to 'he fruitgrowers Hut Mercutio has a friend who deplores the fruitpreserving industry in his home. "Ihave long passed the fruit-pin stage," he writes. " The only fruit dishes I have any fancy for are' the ones my mother used to make when I was a hungry boy. When I think of the peach pies and gooseberry tarts and apple turnovers of those days' of great eating, I'm almost persuaded that I am hungry, but, alas! it is not so. But my wife insists that fruit is the thing for a man, and when I see the battalions of bottles of fruit she has mobilised against the winter days, my heart quails. Wny encourage her in her craze': Would someone please start a correspondence, urging wives to have fewer side industries in the kitchen. A good turnip will be all the fruit I want W winter."