NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9620, 28 March 1917, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

It is understood that the new scheme of reduced railway services, which only awitits Ministerial approval, provides for ouo express daily on both Main Trunk lines, and reduction ot suburban trains, leaving only thoso used by workers, and the total elimination of race trains and all other excursion trains. The new time-table will not como into force till May Ist. One of the considerations by that time will be a shortage of coal, which is almost as embarrassing as the need for releasing men.

Of 112 reservists examined at Mastorton by the Medical Board last week only 38 were passed as lit for active service.

An Order-in-Council was published yesterday extending the regulation fixing the, maximuni price of butter to, apply to ship’s stores- . An amending regulation appears in a “Gazette” issued last night relating to the delegation of powers of attorneys and agents under the War Regulations Act.

X telegram has been received by the Now Zealand authorities from tho British Government advising that the matter of prohibiting the importation of fruit to the United Kingdom is still under consideration, but that it has been decided in the meantime to allow tho importation of fruit from oversea for tho Navy, including gifts from tho British Dominions overseas. ,

The new Wairoa Freezing Works are situated on ..the east side of the Wairoa river, and are placed on a site of over twenty acres, the works themselves being close to the bank of the river. There are twenty-eight killing ,-hands for slicop and four for cattle. The six freezing chambers will freeze about 1200 carcases each, and the works have a capacity of 75,000 carcases.

At a sitting of the Military Service Board yesterday, P. Isbister, formerly third officer of the Maitai, and late of another steamer, was granted exemption from military service sine die. It appeared that Isbister went a trip abroad a few weeks ago, with the full knowledge and sanction of tho military authorities, yet during his absence his name was permitted to go before the court, and it was suggested that ho did not recognise his responsibility.

In accordance with previous intimation received by the secretary of the Waterside Workers’ Union (Mr J. GBruce), the charges against tho remaining waterside workers prosecuted for an alleged breach of the War .Regulations, m that they refused to coal tho Maori and the Kittawa, were withdrawn in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. This was done on the application of Mr V. H. Meredith, and it met with the agreement of Mr L. O. Reid, S.M., who was on tho bench, and Mr H. F, O’Leary, who appeared for defendants. “Don’t talk so much,” admonished Mr W. G. Riddell, S.M., to a voluble witness in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, “it’s a very bad habit, for a witness.” The witness in question was a horse-dealer, and frequently wandered far away from the mam facts of the case, and showed a tendency to give details of his horse, selling transactions. He stated ho had been a horse-dealer for 42 years, and he doubted if there were three other dealers in tho Dominion who iiad sold more horses than he. had. No one in court disputed the claim. A witness who appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday leant nonchalantly over the edge of the witness box the while his jaws revolved rigorously with chewing gum. The chewing gum would be temporarily shelved as he gave his evidence in tho vernacular. Counsel viewed the revolving jaws disapprovingly, and asked the witness would he mind taking the chewing gum out of his mouth. Tho magistrate intervened with the remark that the court was no place for chewing gum. The witness jauntily put his hand to his mouth and placed the “chuddy” in his waistcoat pocket. He resurrected the precious morsel immediately he concluded his evidence, and shortly his mouth was working more vigorously than ever.

Thai young women can effectively take the place of men is at present indicated in Timaru by the fact that a young woman is doing her brother’s work (taking orders on a grocer’s round), while the latter is at the war. Prior to leaving, the brother had some difficulty in getting anyone to take hi> place, so li is sister volunteered, and she has been doing the work well ever since.

The five Stewart Island men drawn in the recent ballot have all been turned down, and it is a peculiar circumstance at first blush (states a southern exchange) that every man on the island who has been drawn by the ballot has so far met with similar desserts. On consideration of the circumstances, however, it would appear that it points directly to the fact that all the fit men on the island went voluntarily to oarap. Stolon grapes were responsible for the appearance' of two young boys in the Juvenile Court yesterday. Tim two lads, who have been before the court previously, one on three occasions, had sold the stolen grapes to a Chinese for 7s. They had divided the proceeds of the theft between them. Mr L. O. Reid, S.M., who was on the bench, sentenced each to 12 strokes of tlie birch, warning them that if they came before him again he would send them to an industrial school. With regard to his recent visit to Rouen to inquire as to the cause, of the delay in clearing-up untnreed casualties, Bridgadior-Gejicral Of. S. Richardson states, in a letter to Sir James Allen (Acting-Premier and Minister for Defence), that in his opinion the delay is mainly due to the units concerned, and not to the records system. The fact that some units cleared up their casualties much quicker than others showed, he added, that the delay could bo minimised to a considerable extent.

Little doubt could have been felt by any adherent of the Semple school of Socialism present at the Appeal Court yesterday as to the opinions hold by Their Honours the King’s Judges as to tho speeches made by the anti-conscriptionists now in durance vile. Strong remarks were mado by all of tho members of tho Bench as to tho speeches. The tpiestion arose as to what the Empire was fighting for- Mr Justice Chapman said it was for our existence ; hut Sir John Donniston took a more all-ora-brncing view, and said; ‘Tt is for a lot of tilings more important than we. 1 ' '

As a result of the Australian Organiser’s mission to Now Zealand, with a view to closer organisation of meat industry employees, fifty-one delegates representative of all sections of the meat and allied trades assembled at tho Esperanto Hall yesterday mom. ing. Mr John Rigg was elected chairman of the conference. On tho motion of Mr Ogden, seconded by; Mr H. Logan, the following resolution was carried unanimously: ‘.‘That this conference of delegates of the meat and allied industries affirms the desirability of amalgamation.” A conimit- . too was appointed to draft a constitution for presentation to the conference, after which the meeting was adjourned until this morning. Tho Marlborough syndicate which lias secured a lease for an extensive area on the West Coast, sixty miles beyond Orepuki, for sawmilliug purposes, is now (reports a southern exchange) busily engaged on preliminary works, including the construction of a wharf, and also a breakwater. The site of tho mill is on a headland at Mussel beach, To Wacwao Bay, from which all loading into the ships’ holds will ho dono by means of an endless chain, thus dispensing with costly handling. A representative of the company recently visited America, and arrangements have been mad© for employing tho most modern machinery and methods. The country is splendidly timbered, chiefly with red pine, tor which there is a big market in Australia, and the company’s own steamers will convey it thither.

Much quaint and curious legal foro was ventilated in the Appeal Court yesterday during the healing of tho sedition appeals. Those who boliovo in tho sanctions of antiquity will bo pleased to. know, on the authority of the Chief Justice, that conscription is no new thing, even in the tight littlo island of Britain. Sir Robert Stout averred • that conscription in England dated from the Norman Conquest. Reference was made by Mr G. Hutchison, the barrister conducting the case for the appellants, to the Three Estates of the Realm. Sir John Denniston, after consulting Mr Justice Chapman, was able to inform counsel that tho Three Estates in Great Britain comprised tho Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, and tho Commons—but not tho Crown as Mr Hutchison had supposed. The tendency of members ot the Bench to speak too close together prevented Mr Hutchison and the Fourth Estate (the press representatives) from getting the full advantage of the many learned remarks that fell from the Bench.

“I strolled into tho Appeal Court yesterday,” writes a correspondent, signing himself “Kritikus,” “hoping to improve my knowledge of constitutional law —the triumph of human wisdom, according to most, lawyers—by listening to the argument in re the appeals for Semple and his fellows. I oamo away before the honourable court rose, feeling little, if any, more enlightened than when I went in. I know the cases are still under judiciarconsideration, and must not be commented upon, but I may bo allowed, with all respect, to say that I was reminded, on hearing the interjections that flowed like several torrents from the Bench, of Benjamin Franklin’s comparison of the councils of the Red Indian tribes and tho civilised institutions of his day. Franklin said ot the Indians that they had learned, by -experience, to conduct their councils with great decency, decorum, and efficiency. ‘He that would speak rises; the rest observe a profound silence. When the speaker had finished, be was given time to recollect whether he had forgotten anything. Franklin sagely observes: ‘How different is this from the British House of Commons, where scarce a day passes without the Speaker being rendered hoarse calling the members to order, and bow different from tho polite assemblages ot Europe, where you are cut off in the middle of your sentence by the impatient loquacity of those you converse with and never suffered to finish it?’ And bow different —with reverence bo it spoken—from the modern Court of Law, where more than one learned judge tries to speak at once, thereby confusing the issues and darkening counsel by a multitude of words.”

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