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New Zealand Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 3314, 22 December 1897, Page 2

That we had fairly gauged the position in which the Wellington and Mana'.vatu Railway Company had been placed by the conduct of the Government is painfully confirmed by a notice sent to the fitters, carpenters and others in the employ of the Company. These have boon warned that their services may have to be dispensed with at any time, and the directors express their keen regret at having to make the announcement. . Seven men are under notice, and will have to leave the Compan/s employ on Christmas EVo. There blinking the fact that a very Prions state of matters is here disclosed, for it is well known and widely acknowledged that the Company has all along been a large and liberal employer of labour/ If, the prejudicial policy which has been inaugurated by the Government is to continue, then serious harm will be done to a large number of workers as well as 1 to. the and the settlers along the line of railway. We cannot help' expressing the opinion that the action of the Government in placing the Company in ffo serious a position is decidedly iil-Advised. ; That it will react Upon the Ministry there seems no room to doubt, while the people of the colony will feel that, in their name, an injustice has been done. • ■ V . .

There -will be strong sympathy with the senior member for Wellington! Mr j. Hutcheson, in . the stand taken by him against the appointment of any but an experienced shipmaster to have charge,of the business of shipping hands and inspecting vessels which enter, and leave.the port of Wellington. The Premier appears to have quite , misunderstood the argument of those who are anxious that duly qualified men should be appointed at the four chief shipping centres. As a matter, of fact, if a proper system were inaugurated the fees which would necessarily be charged would largely recoup the expenditure, and there would be the additional benefit of security to shipowners and the public from having the Work efficiently done and an effective oversight established. It the statements made as to the condition of vessels and their crews are true, then a state of matters exists which is far from creditable to the authori-_ ties, and it is to remove the feeling of un-’ easiness which exists; as well as to have justice done, to shipowners, sailors and the public alike, that a demand has been made for the appointment of qualified men atthe chief ports.

Our correspondent “ Cudo” writes as a practical man a knowledgo of what has been . accomplished in other countries by the enacting 1 of a law which compels orchard-owners to cope with all manner of pests. What would be the condition of the vignorons of Australia if no: law had existed compelling tho owners of vineyards to destroy, • root and branch, their infected grape vines ? In Tasmania, as our correspondent remarks, it was not until a compulsory law came into force that any headway was made against the codlih moth and othergarden pests. About 2Ayears ago the moth became very destructive, and in a few years from that time it looked as. if 'the celebrated apple orchards of fcher little, island colony would , become worthless. It was of no use appealing to. the orchardista. A few conscientious men endeavoured to' clean ;their. orchards, but their neighbours would do nothing, and the result was that the fruit crops were a failure; year Rafter year. It is well known to- practical men that a person with one miserable apple tree growing in tho backyard can supply enough codlin moth to stock’/all the orchards for miles around. There; is no law which compels such a person to destroy, the tree; nor is there any law compelling an orohardist to keep.his grounds clear of the moth or any other’ pest.' ■*,. -h • ’ v

And what is tho result ? We have few successful orohardists, and in the fruit shops to-day all,. ovetythe colony the prices charged are simply prohibitive. Apples from California are there j tinned fruits frpm the 'same country line tHe' shelves of our stores j evaporated fruit from every outside country, but none of our own; cherries. from . Tasmania and other 7 small fruits from neighbouring colonies are displayed. Instead of this, should we not' be able to have plentiful supplies of fresh-gathered fruit from the orchards of our,settlers? But bo long.as ajselfish and dangerously ignorant, section of the community raises its voice .against any attempt made to clear the orchards of peets, and so long as that section is listened to by a set of 1 politicians who seem incapable of dealing 1 with a clamant evil because, forsooth, an outcry is raised by criminally careless |and. selfish people against the enactment of a proper law, so long shall .we suffer a fruit-famine. If we had an ■" Orohard*and- Garden Pests Act/' properly administered, our people, instead of having to content themselves with a more taste of fruit on rare occasions, would be enabled to furnish forth their tables with healthgiving ■ fruit-foods;? while the intelligent settler would 1 , have a market which would absorb every pound of fruit he could produce: ' .'"f : * _• * * x