LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22398, 20 April 1936, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Air Mall on Wednesday The Wanganella is due at Auckland from Sydney on Wednesday morning with Australian mail, including Empire air mail which was despatched from London on April 5, for New Zealand. The amount of mail on board for Auckland is 145 bags.

Legal Vacation Ends After their extended Easter vacation, legal and sharebroking offices will recommence business this morning. Some years ago, members of various professions observed the long holiday, but in recent times it has been confined to lawyers and sharebrokers.

Buildings at Tauranga A marked increase in building activity occurred in the Tauranga County in the past year. Buildings valued at £16,362 and drainage to a value of £750 were completed, increases of £9474 and £574 respectively on the figures lor the previous year, ihe buildings on the whole are of a much improved typo.

Department Blamed When nominations for the school committee elections closed on Wednesday no names had been submitted for tho Whangarei School Committee, the position now being similar to that of Otahuhu. The chairman, Mr. C. V. Stringer, said on Saturday that no notification regarding nominations for .the election had been received from the Education Board, which had resulted in the present position. Ambulances Busy

St. John ambulances travelled more than 600 miles in responding to calls at the week-end. There were 45 runs, including seven to country districts, and 50 patients were carried. The majority of the cases were victims of illness, only two trips being made to accidents. In addition to the city running, machines were sent to Opaheke, Tuakau, Kumeu, Silverdale, Glen Eden, Pukekohe, Clevedon and Devonport. A Road to Success Tho fact that the Prime Minister, Mr. Savage, and several members of his Cabinet were at one time students of W.E.A. classes was referred to more than once at the meeting on Saturday evening in celebration of the coming of age of the association here. The Minister of Education, the Hon. P. Eraser, who was the principal speaker, made a neat point when he remarked that it might not bo a bad thing for their opponents if they were to go to W.E.A. classes now. "It might be a very dangerous thing for us if they did," he added. "Perhaps we should lay down a condition for a subsidy that you will not admit any ex-Cabinet Ministers." Convention with Czechoslovakia The conventions which have existed between the United Kingdom and Czechoslovakia since November, 1924. respecting legal proceedings in civil and commercial matters have now been extended to the Dominion of New Zealand, and took effect as from March 8 last. .The the conventions is to facilitate in the countries concerned the conduct of legal proceedings between them in civil and commercial matters and also non-conten-tious matters. The terms of the agreement, which are set out in full in the latest Gazette, are to remain in force for three years, and thereafter until one party or the other gives six months' notice of their termination. Hardy Swimmers

Spartan powers of endurance were displayed by tho five youths taking part in a swimming race of about 1000 yards held from Lady's Bay to St. Heliers yesterday afternoon by the Eastern Suburbs Amateur Swimming and Life-saving Club. The weather caused a swim to have no appeal to most people, but in spite of having to battle through a cold and rough sea the contestants all covered the course, and, except for being a little chilled, seemed to have enjoyed the experience of being upward of 20 minutes in the water. The winner was I. McChesney, of St. Heliers, an adept open-water swimmer. About 300 people gathered on the foreshore at St. Heliers to watch the finish. Primrose Day

The fifty-fifth anniversary of the death of Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beaconsfield, the favourite Minister of Queen Victoria, occurred yesterday. The day has long been known as "Primrose Day" in his honour. As a statesman he is probably best remembered for tho courageous opportunism with which he obtained possession of Suez Canal shares for England, thus doing much at one stroke to consolidate British power in the East. During his remarkable career as a political leader he not only held Conservatism, together, but secured for it a new lease of prosperity by making it a popular rather than a restrictive cause. To solve the fascinating mystery of his personality many attempts have been made, but his personal integrity is no longer doubted

Free Library Proposed A suggestion that the Patoa Public Library should be changed into a free institution for ratepayers of the Patea borough, and of the Patea county also if the County Council joins in the scheme, has been made by the town clerk of Patea, Mr. L. W. Austin. So far as is known, it is stated, there is no free library in the North Island, and only one in the South Island, at Dunedin. There are 181 subscribers to the Patea Libarary, 130 in the borough and 51 in the county. Tho former have paid £62 in subscriptions during the year and tho latter £29. The cost of maintaining the library is now borne by the Patea Borough Council, less tho amount received from subscriptions, so that the county residents have been receiving tho benefit of something for which they did not pay anything other than subscriptions. Dole for Immigrants

Stressing tho importance of hn increased population if New Zealand is to make the most of her wonderful future, Comnijssioner J. Barnard Turner, of the Salvation Army, said in Napier that ho believed that the solution of tho problems of the lack of population in New Zealand and surplus population and unemployment iu Great Britain, lay in immigration to New Zealand. He suggested a novel method of giving tho immigrants a fair start in their new life —namely, to continue to pay them the English dole until such time as they were in a sufficiently strong position to support themselves. This method would benefit both countries, as it meant that Great Britain would no longer have to support her surplus citizens, while New Zealand would gain a number of good citizens, for whom she would have ample work.