FRIDAY, DECEMBER, 8, 1905.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXI, Issue 8960, 8 December 1905, Page 2

FRIDAY, DECEMBER, 8, 1905.

It is 6tated tliat the friends of the liquor trade have determined to punish Oamaru for voting no-license by opposing at the approacliing poll the proposal to borrow the necessary money to erecf the townhall. .Such action would be childish, and we liave sufficient faith hi the practical nature of our people to feel confident that, however their votes may go on the issue, very few of them will have been influenced

by the Tesult of the local option poll. Drink las ruined many lives, but it has not yet been placed upon record that the want of it has driven a community to commit excesses.

"A Ratepayer" writes:—"On my visit to lhe farmers' saleyaids to-day (Tuesday)

I wae pleased to see the imi>rovement of the to:»(J leading fTom Chelmer 6treet to the main road. The Council must luve gone to a large expenditure in formation, and, it. is pleasing' to note, made a very sit is factory job of it, the gradients being fairly easy. J'nt it is a. pity to see the inferior stone that is being put, down, particularly so when there is such excellent Milestone so near at hand, which m:ist cost very little more than the inferior stone now being used. This would st.md a. considerable amount more wear. If not too late, I would Jike to see the best stone put down—l am sure it would be the cheapest. The International Postal Convention at Rome nest year is an event of consider-

able importance to business men in t«e colonies (says the Wellington Post). .At; the convention the regulations covering international postal arrangements of every description will come up for revision, and many existing anomalies in connection with postcards and the poundage rates for matter will be removed. As the 1906 convention is the first since Federation w;:s consummated in Australia., the occasion v.-:il (says the Sydney Telegraph) be used to )mt forward several proposals in which t!".c Commonwealth as a whok- is interested. It- will also be used to uive New Ze.ilaiid separate representation for the first time. Hitherto New Zealand has liad to sink her identity in that of Australia, but thatstate of things is to end, and she is to be recognised as a separate postal count ty. Kach country sending a delegate to the convention has only one vote, so that the change will really increase the power of Australasia. By pulling together the Commonwealth and New Zealand may hold the balance of power in many divisions on important reforms. Two of tiie Independents, Messrs Laurenson and Poole-, will probably be fou::d voting generally with the Government, so that Mr Seddon will have voting with him 53, and against him 17 (says the Wellington correspondent of the Otago D:;i!y Times). The Maori constituencies, however, are almost certain to add four more to lu's following, so that the numbers will be 62 to 17, or a majority of 45. Th« front row of benches on the Opposition side of the House will hold almost the whole of 'Mr Massey's party, and there will be the unique spectacle of the Government party overflowing on to the benches behind the Opposition. Politicians are already beginning to discuss how Mr ; Seddon is likely to work his unwieldy majority. His difficulty is not lessened through liis being still saddled with MessTs Duncan and Mills as members of his Cabinet, for it is well known, that the backbone of the paTty strongly object to their presence in the Ministry. The abler members of the party who might expect Ministerial rank, such as Messrs Millar, M'Nab, and Fowlds, must be reckoned with. The position i 6 decidely more interesting than if Mr Seddon had come back with a small but compact working majority. All kinds of rumors aTe current as to the possible Tesult6 of "no-license" being carried m Oamaru and, according to the man in the street, the whole of the hotel property in the town is changing hands at figures which, if Mie reports w«e true, would make r.o-lieentse the greatest boon the publicans could have. However, rumor undoubtedly lies, so far as this is concerned at onyrate. The dread penalties which are to fall upon the town like a daTk cunse are recapitulated by » certain section of business men, who see nothing but min ahead; and the transformation' of Oamaru into a' veritable deserted village. The results of the reform will be mado manifest in duo course, and we are confident thatthey will be easily tolerated by the people. Mr X. M'Leod, stationmaster at WaiaTeka. Junction, hits been appointed clerk jn the Dunedin parcels office; and Mr W. Bowling, stationmaster at Pukeuri .Tunc--tion, lias been transferred to a similar position at Waiareka Junction. Interviewed by the Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Times in regard to the local option polling, Mr Isitt said the general results from the Alliance point of view, were very disappointing, especially as their expectation had been ! framed so high. He added that the constituencies still uncertain, jn connection with \7bic-b. No-license is hoped for, aTe InvercargiJlj Bruce, Awarua, Oroua, .and HaweTa (latest wire* indicate that no-li-cense is lost in Brace and Awarua, though reduction is carried). As far as the imperfect Teturns show, Mr Isitt tiiinks that throughout the colony, compared with. 1902, No-license has gained 7000 or 10,000 votes and continuance has gained 2300 to 3000 votes. This gain in No-license is nothing like the gain (42,078) shown by 1902 over the 1899 poll, when the Nolicense votes Tose from 109,449 in 1899 to 151,527 in 1902. Mr Isitt finds the general increase of No-license votes the smaller when it is considered that Ne:6on alone appropriates 1100 of tho increased votes. Furtlier questioned, Mr Isitt said that the Temperance party had turned considerably against reduction this time. He pointed out that in 1902 redaction was earned by Grey Lynn, Napier, • Kaiapoi, Selwyn; Dunedin, Caversbam, Waikouaiti, InvercargiTJ, and-Awarua. This time reduction,

so far is known, is earned in Eden Mat kau Taieri, Aawarua, and possibly Oroua stme ( others. (Reduction is also carr'll l e" 1 10S U wheat market has suffered a relapl- During the latter part o last veTaud the beginning of tins a good deal of business was done at an advance of fully a penny a bushel on the prices last reporttAut now buyers will not pay even that fture The fact is that millers have pracUcallv enough, or very nearly enough, to ]l«t "them till the new crop is available Moreover thev are largely governed b> the Australian market, for flour is eelling in Adelaide at £6 15s per ton, and the millers here cannot raise the price o flour ™ proportion to the increased value of wVat for fear of getting the colony swamped with Australian flour. There seems every probability now that, in consequence of the continued fine wither, the .harvest wilt not be nearly so late as expected. The crops are coming , on splendidly, and we have seen some paddocks of velvet which are already in ear and looking very promising indeed Ihsre are however, some paddocks past recovery, and it must not be forgotten, also, that the aTea in wheat is much less tiian usual, owing to the amount of seed -which was spoiled by the wet necessitating resowing with oats. Root crops are looking better than lias been the case for years at this season, especially turnips. Ine props are a picture, every seed almost i:a\m.r come up, and thinning is general throughout the district. It is a good se,iiiun, too, for rape. We learn on the best of authority matthe majority of the publicans in Oamaru hive decided to chaTge £-1 per day lor accommodation, contending that, ire view of no-license, they cannot make the establishments pay unless they increase tne ti-Tiffs materially. Two of the hotelkeepers have not vet been approached, but wi-l probably be "brought into line. The Dunedin Star's Wellington eoirespondent telegraphed yesterday :—"Mr v.. M'Lenn has beaten Mr J. G. W. Ait:;e:i •it last, the seamen' votes having brought about this result.'' Mr McLean's prospects of wresting another seat from the Opposition appear particularly good, but should h<* have already secured the victory, sia-h has not been notified by the Press Association. A message received this a!-r----r-oon gave Mr Aitken a majority of xl votAs "with aljout 30 permit;; to come. The case of the Marquis of Bipon :s tvpieal of a class of difficulties that will embarrass the next Liberal Premier, whoever he may be. For forty-six years, e.ivs Mr Lucv. in the Sydney Morning Her.,l. , Lord Ripon has held office with succeedin" Literal Governments, serving once as Viceroy of India. Will he, as a matter of lone established course, be invited to accept a post in the next Administratis, jr vill he. with some half-dozen others, i.e shelved'on account of age. The soiuuon of that question is one upon winch tae power and stability of the next_ Government will largely depend. It will require a ruthless liand to pass over an ole 00lIca"ue because he has passed the limit of three score years and ten, much harder to shunt an ex-Minister of sixty ire favor of one half his age. LoTd Ripon celebrated [lis seventy-eighth birthday recently Chancinsr to be in the neighborhood of Studley Royal, I heard him respond to a coii'T-itulatory speech offered at the luncheon table. Beyond increasing deafness, he neither intellectually or physically betrays the far advance of years. He cicely follows political events, finding bod Jy recreation with his gun, walking with the best of them through a long day's shoot. Observing tliat I had been lecturing in the neighborhood on "Prime Ministers I hive Known,"' he asked how many they were. I told liim five. -Five !"' he cried. "Why, I liave known ten, beginning with py father, though I confess I was not at tif.it time alive to the circumstance." As Lord Ripon was born in October, 1827, and his father, Viscount Godrich, became Premier on Canning's death hi August of the san.e vear, resigning in the year following, Master George Frederick Samuel's opportunities of studying the situation were naturally limited. The Xaseby correspondent of the Ota go Daiiy Times writes : —"Mount Ida has returned in no uncertain manner the Ministerial candidate, Mr J. A. MacPherscn. When the main returns arrived at Xaseby, and the result was put beyond doubt, both candidates addressed the large gat.h.r-

ing in front of the post office. The spec-.-h of each was marked by the kindly disposition shown, that of the successful candidate, while quite in keeping with the joy which must have possessed him at his success, showing a gratifying consideration for his opoonent, to whom he paid a- mark of liigh esteem. Mr Herdman. continued the line feeling shown, and in a lull and complete manner congratulated his opponent on his success.

The Chief Postmaster writes to the Wuimate Times in reference to the comments made bv Major Kc-ddell, S.M., on the refusal of"officials to deliver a a passenger on the express train at Studhojme Junction, that inquiry has shown that- there w;is no refusal to deliver, and had the telegram in Question been correctly addressed', it would doubtless bai'e reached the. addresse at Studholme: as it was, it was re-addressed to Glenavy ;u;d delivered to the guard on the train. Ail telegrams for passengers on trains are delivered or handed to the gunrd for delivery. Speaking after the election, Mr Gray, of L'liiistchurch, said the local option returns showed that 119,561 votes had teen cast for continuance, and 127,624 fo-T r.olicer.se. That gave the prohibitionists a majority over the whole colony of over 8000, as against S0"i8 in 1902. The increase in the 1902 prohibition vote as

against the 1899 vote had been 25.53 per cent., while the 1905 increase, as compared with 1902, was 25.57 per cent. Speaking on the results of the election, the Dunedin Star says :—"lt is now cieai tliat no display of moderation or general virtue could have given anything like victory to a party which the country regards as being non-progressive and unduly capitalistic. It- goes without saying that the result of the elections constitute a great triumph for the Seddon Government, Air Seddon and Sir Joseph WaTd may well be proud of such an unequivocal tribute, though we aTe glad to see that the Premier, speaking last night, admitted tiiat the increased majority adds to his responsibilities. There can be no question tliat £his is so, and the overwhelming extent ot the preponderance may have its peculiar dangers." The Johannesburg correspondent of the London Daily Mail presents this picture of the state of things in the Transvaal : The white workers on the mines carry revolvers; the police are armed with ball cartridges and bayonet; camped yoncer at Auckland Park is a mobile column of mounted men, ready to move against an enemy at a moment's notice; the country folk on the other 6ide of the swelling rise are armed to the teeth, and live at night in barricaded and fortified houses. Nearer still, English unemployed loaf at the street corner. And —45,000 Chinese laborers earned in the first six months of this year a sum of over £300,000. There are no Hair Frames, etc., that can compare with HENDY'S for price and quality. Oamaru Agents: THE ART DEPOT. 124

Extensive preparations for the Christmas trade have been made at Penrose's Drapery Establishment. An exquisite assortment of fancy goods have come out from England and the Continent, and special attention is directed to the stock of lace work, Teneriffe, Taoro, and Irish, which this firm is showing at most reasonable prices. Half-dozen lace table centres, size 18 x 18 inch, with linen centre and heavy lace edging, sell Is lid; 5-dozen, all lace tables centres, size 18 x 18 inch, sell Is 9d; i-dozen table centres, size 18s x 18 inch, with plain linen., centre, and scolloped lace edging, sell 2s 3d; 1.dozen all lace table centres, size 20 x 20 inch, sell 2s 6d ; 20 x 20 inch table centres, with linen centre and fancy luce edging, 6ell 3s; £-dozen lace Duchess cloths, size 12 x 40 inch, eel! 3s 3d; 2 large occasional lace table covers, with linen centre, and scolloped lace edging.— PENROSE'S Drapery Establishment,

A 3-disc Benicia is lighter in draft than a doable-furrow mouldboard plough, you get an extra furrow turned every round. Agsnt, N.O. Farmers' Co-op., Oamaru.

Do bgJ allow that constipation to continue; check it srhile there is yet a chance. Indigestion, flatulence, acjd risings, bad breath all follow in its train. Care the constipation with Dr Grassland's Noxol. 2s at chemists and stores.

"Good gracious, Mary, what a 6allow complexion you have got! For goodness sake take some of Dr Grassland's Noxol, and get your liver right, and you will soon be as rosy lookintr as I mi. I t-"Vjk it." 2s boftles, at chemists and stores.

I b.-rVby cerlify tba: if s\''".'T=rs tr.v.'i Constipation, Indigestion, Liver and Stomach Complaints will take my prescription 89878, known as Noxol, according to the directions, on the bottle, it will cure tjiem.ri*igned, if." Crosslaiid, M,p. .:' SqlA: eyerywheara by aU patent medicine-vendors ■at Jbojtiej "'^'"..^"' : ' : 'C S' ~U