TOPICS OF THE DAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4318, 29 March 1901, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

APPOINTMENT OF A TRADE COMMISSIONER. The Government has appointed .Mr John G. Gow, of Dunedin, to be an officer of tb. 0 Department of Industries and Commerce. For th® purpose of making New Zealand produce better known, Mr Gow will shortly leave on an' extended tour. After travelling through the colony, he will visit South Africa. It is possible that lie will then o-o to Japan and Great Britain. In his travels ho will collect information which he considers will be of value to New' Zealand producers. Mr Gow has for a considerable tune been chief traveller for Messrs Rattray and Co., merchants, of Dtmedhv.

PAYMENT OF DRIVERS. When the drivers’ dispute comes before the Arbitration Court, information will be put before that tribunal to show that an agreement has been come to between the Drivers’ Union and a large number of the employers concerned. A document setting' out conditions of settlement has been signed by the following employers;—Messrs H. Fiotcber and Co., the Colonial Carrying Company, Mr John Eeir, Mr J. J- Curtis, Messrs F. W. Cotterell and Co., the New Zealand Express Comaiiy, the D.I.C. and the To Aro House Drapery Companv. These employers arc willing to pay £2 10s a week to drivers of two-horse lorries and £2 Bs to drivers of single horses. It has also been arranged with them that instead of double time, with 5s extra, being paid for the driving of picnic parties, the pav shall ho 15s. Another point which has Jielen settled is that when it is a driver's week on ho shall feed ami water his horse or horses between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. The employers named aro also willing to have a joint committee set up to facilitate matters in connection with wharf and other woik. The Drivers’ Union is hopeful of coming to an agreement with some of the other employers in the coprso of a few days. I# aiav be mentioned 1 that the wages jest mentioned aro m advance of those set out in the ‘Conciliation Board’s rccommendations. The City Council, the cca; dealers and the .brickmakers are standing out. According to Mr Allan Orr, the secretary of the Drivers’ ,Uu.on, the main stumbling block to a complete settlement of the dispute is the City Council. , •

> TARANAKI IRONSAND,. Mr E, M. Smith, M.H.R., is enthusiastic on, the subject of his approaching visit to England. In addressing his constituents on Monday night in New Ply- ' mouth, according to tho “Daily j News,” that no man could have done more than himself .to develop the mino- ; ral resources of this district. For tho last thirty years he had striven hard, and had lie succeeded hundreds of thousands of pounds would have been kept in tho colony that had gone out. Last session, however, the. Premier had carried a resolution, and now there was to ho a company. ■ They had a lease of tho Patea, they bad, acquiredr valuable rights at Mokau, and there was millions of pounds of valuable assets awaiting treatmelnt. He was about to leave his homo to serve his district, and it would be tho fault of the people of the district if he failed. When shrewd business men like Mr Cadman took the matter up they ■ might rely on the merits of the mission. He had had men come to him. in tho town and purchase seme of his promoter’s shares ip. order that ho might start with a little nibueji In Ms pockets; When ho showed 1 the people 1 of ’England, as'\ ho would, the iron Sand, the time, the coal, and the beautiful views of the,Mokau, they would go stark staring mad.

THE STBATEORD-WH ANG AMOMONA RAILWAY.

In our preliminary notice regarding I the ceremony of first sod-cutting in connection with the above railway, wa omit, ted to mention coal as among the ar--1 tides that would con tribute to the ■ traffic over the proposed line. Referring to this subject, “Geologist” writes: —“Tho most extensive coalfield in the Southern Hemisphere will be served by this ra I. ; way scheme,' tapping a bed of.coal,-tho first' outcrop within . six miles of Stratford, and extending eastwards to V c hiix a few milesdof the towp of Gisborne, , and northwards from Mokau to faf below the Wanganui river—a coalfield of 1 some 800 square Mies in extent. "The northern outcrop at Mokau is of the newer, of later, formation; but at, or near, Whangamonmna, the centre of this vast coal basin, where pressure has been greater, there is found a superior deposit of coal. lam sending by this j-r-st a small sample you may examine. It is of the same class as th© famous Gaunel coal of Scotland. Put it into a white handkerchief, and you will drrl the coal makes no mark. This test only applies to two classes of coal—first, anthracite, and, secondly, Cannel coal. The coal 'I send yon produces 25 per cent, more gas than the best Westport or Brunner coal. It cakes or clinkers, and also forms high-grade coho. Tho enormous outcrops in tVj Whauganiomona district will enable the coal to .be drawn for many years to come without sinking or any expensive machinery. Such deposits of excellent coal will make this new line one -of the best paying lines in the, colony. I may mention that the Government has recently reserved and withdrawn from ■ disposal soma 25,000 acres in th© centre of this e uil deposit.” Wo have received the sample of coal, which answers to our correspan. dent’s description; and if the coal is proved to exist in-the quantities named, tho deposits should he a great national assert.

GOVERNMENT LAND VALUA. ' TfON. ' ' I . Regulations under the Government Valuation of Land Act Amendment i Act, 1900. appear - in this week’s ‘Ga- ; zette.” With, regard to the prepare- > tion of valuation rolls, it is prescribed I that “the cost of, and incidental to, the preparation, revision, or correction : of the district valuation roils shall, in ■ local districts where the local authorities have been supplied with valuation rolls by tbe Valuer-General in terms of the Act, be borne in equal one-third shares by the Land and Income Tax Department, the Government Valuation of Land Department, and the aforesaid local authorities respectively, and the last-mentioned one-third share shall bo

apportioned between the said local authorities in such manner as the Valuer. General determines. No local authority shall be called upon in any year to contribute towards such cost any sum exceeding Is per centum, of the capital value of all the property appearing on its valuation roll, and all 'additional cost (if any) shall ba borne by the two departments aforesaid in equal shares. Each local authority shall pay its share of such cost on receipt of demand from the Valuer-General. In default of payment by any local authority of any costs payable to the Valuer-General, the

amount thereof may bo deducted from any subsidy or other money payable to it by the Crown. Irrespective of the provisions of the last-preceding clause, all foes and costs payablo under the said Act or the regulations from time to time, in force; thereunder arc hereby declared to he debts due to Ids Majesty, and may be recovered accordingly in any Court of competent jurisdiction by the \ ali-.er.Gcnc-ral or any person authorised by him."

VITAL, STATISTICS. According to tho vital statistics for the month of February, which appear in this week’s- ‘‘Gazette," the number of births at tbo four chief centres, including suburbs, was as follows; —Auckland, 79- Wellington, 102; Christchurch, 76; Dunedin, 98; total, 350. Tho births in tile above boroughs‘for January numbered 521, or 166 more than in February. Tho dentils in tho chief centres (including suburbs; and the proportions of deaths per 1000 of population, were as follows: —Auckland, 34 (O.GB per lOUb); Wellington, 44 (0.88 per 1000); Christchurch, 45 (0.93 per 1000); Dunedin, 37 (0.72 per 1000). By excluding tho suburban boroughs the proportions of deaths are as follows:—Auckland, 0.83 per 1000; Wellington, 0.88 per 1000 ; Christchurch, 1.04 nor 1000; Dunedin, 0.62 per 1000. Comparing tho mortality for February with the result for February 1900, there is a substantial diminution in the rate at ail tho centres but Wellington, where the raid last year was 0.61 per 1000, as against 0.88 per 1000 this year. Tho total deaths in February wore ICO, | a decrease of -15 on the number in J<ui«- I ary. Of the total deaths, males contri-j billed RG, iViiiiali'.H 74. Sixty of tho deaths ! were of children under five years of age, j being 37.50 per cent, of tho whole num- ! borj 53 of those wore under one year of age._ There wore 30 deaths of persons of 65 years and upwards. Cancer caused 14 deaths and tubercular diseasds a sinn- ! lar number.

THE MAIN TRUNK LINE. In a reference in its annual report to tlio North Island Main Trunk Railway, the council of tho Wellington Chamber of Commerce says:—During last session of Parliament considerable pressure was brought to. bear upon Ministers, with tho object of hastening the completion of this line, and a promisel was received that it should bo completed within four years. Tho delay that was- allowed to intervene in the construction ol>tho Mnkohinn viaduct is still bearing'fruit, as until this hugef structure is complete the continuation of the lino beyond the ravine is necessarily retarded. The work is, however, being pushed on with energy, and it is hoped that within tho eurrdut year the train will bo able to run through to Mangaweka, a distance of thirty-two. miles from Marton, and 140 miles from Wellington, At tho Manguweka ravine work is already in progress in preparation for the viaduct which will bo required there. The concrete foundations are being made, and much materiid is on the ground, and it is hoped that tho lino will be through to Taihape, a. further distance cf thirteen miles, about eight months after the end of 1901. Beyond Taihape the country is said to bo fairly easy, and a good deal of formation work is already being done. At tlio northern end the lino' is being pushed on from tho Poro-o-tarao tunnel, tho present terminus, to Kawa Knwa, or Qngaruo (about sixty miles from To Awamutu, and 1.00 from Auckland), and it is confidently anticipated that, in accordance with the Minister’s promise' l , the lino will bo laid and tho train running to that point by the month of September next, and continued to Taumaranui. 17-1 miles from Auckland, in the fol-lowing-year.