The Oamaru Mail. MONDAY, MAY 8, 1911.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10761, 8 May 1911, Page 3

The Oamaru Mail. MONDAY, MAY 8, 1911.

We trust with them that this is their last visit in the The Irish Dele- guise of delegates gates. for pecuniary help. This", of course, is but another way of saying that it is right and just that Ireland should be granted the boon of self-government which we now enjoy. That they, want no more than local autonomy under the Crown has been always maintained by them and never so eloquently and convincingly as by their remarkable Parliamentary leader in a recent issue of " T.P.'s Weekly." A pernickety commentator has declared that Ireland can never get as much Home Rule as we enjoy, because we enjoy, he declares, the privilege of secession from the Empire at our pleasure. It is a monstrous subversion of the truth, which is that we have no such right under the Constitution that requires everything to be done in a constitutional manner by Parliament and with the Royal assent, which will never be accorded to any act of secession. This critic —the Evening Post—saves himself by asserting that if we want to separate, the Empire must perforce let us go. It is true on the contrary that though this might have been.the case thirty years ago it is not so now. The Empire would unite now to keep within the federation any member with a tendency to get out of it. We should ourselves, in the event of Australia wanting to go out, do what we did to defeat the designs of the Boer against the Empire. But why this absurd idea. was ever expressed it is difficult to. understand. The Irish certainly want no secession. All they want is the -autonomy we have. And when we have the federation which they have through their representation at Westminster,. the Empire will have nothing left to desire.

Once more we have Mr Massey on the warpath in a vehiMr Massey and the cle without wheels. Taxation. It seems as if these preposterous "excursions" of his with their attendant "alarms" were arranged in cycles. At all events, he is perpetually turning on the same track. It is some time since he paid attention to the mortgage tax; so long is it that we thought he had seriously, repented of that line of reasoning and abandoned it for ever more. But it seems he was only waiting for'his opponents to become lulled in fancied security and for the public to forget how the Liberals had smashed his contention into unrecognisable atoms. At any rate, we have him out once more in the wheelless dobbin oi the mortgage tax, complaining that the mortgagee, poor man! is the only one who is taxed and that he ought not to be touched. This time he lias aggravated his offence with exaggeration, telling his unsuspecting publiV that for every £SOO or £600,0f morigage tax the damages awarded by theTax Department come to some £ls. Of course, the amount on £SOO is :iboui £1 lis 3d, being at the rate of 3d. as is well enough known to all leading politicians, at least, except, apparently, the Leader of the Opposition. .As tn the equity of the tax, has it not been pointed out with a patience quite remarkable that its application means the freedom of the mortgagor from a tax on a debt, and the levying on the mortgagee of a tax on his income—the very same tax laid upon, all whose incomes are above a certain level? Mr Massey has never yet pointed out what reason there is why the mortgagee should receive exceptional treatment. It is, of course, quite right that he should pay and right that the mortgagor should be relieved from payment. But the fact of anything being: right seems to be nothing to this fervid critic whose favorite diversion is to take the political road in a wheelless trap and raise enough dust to be able to persuade people that he' is making pace.

The trade returns for the year ended March 31 are good The Year's Trade, reading, for they show us how large our primary industries bulk in the relations of the Dominion with other countries—chiefly with the headquarters of the Empire. With exports touching £21,453,900 and imports £17,385,066, the volume assumes the stately total of £38,928,966. As the corresponding total for last year was £36,265,630. the reason for gratification is obvious. Had wool not gone down slightly, the result would have gone one million better. But it is good enough as it is to satisfy the most exorbitant _ expectant. It gives zest to many things. For example, to the advice of the Agricultural Minister that the output of the dairy industry can be doubled by proper selection of the stock; to the"great work done by the experimenting stations showing how the turnip that resists pests _ may be grown, how lucerne (the recurring cropper) may be made to flourish, how irrigation may be stimulated by the engagement of experts, how population of the right kind may be got to the right places in the right way—a thing for the Imperial Conference to discuss on the lines of its last resolution; and it makes practical the statement of Mr ; Asquith of the readiness of his Governr ment to co-operate in any thing the I oversea people may ask. The bedrock of this thing is easily stated. We want ten millions of people in the country, and the lever we have in our hand to get them in time_ is the grand total of our exports working on the fulcrum of Imperial co-operation.

' A meeting: of directors of the Oamaru { Woollen Factory Company (Limited) was held this morning, at which • the balance-sheet and accounts for the halfyear ended 30th April, 1911, were presented, when it was resolved' to pay an interim dividend of 4 per cent, on all shares, payable on the 14th June . next. In January last it was reported that Mr Archibald Gillies, of Hampden; purchased at the Waitati show the youns Ayrshire bull Oxhill Jimmy from (Messrs Wright. Stephenson, and Co. Mr Gillies' choice at the time arose solelv out of his ability to judge a rr o qd axijnial, but his action has si„n.c.r ? hccjis

justified by the details of Osiiill Jimmy's breeding, which he has lately received from England,. The bull's pedigree is as follows: Sire Hiudsward Cockayne: sire of sire White Cockade of Nether Craig; dam of sire Miss Gilmour of Hillhouse. Dam Hiudsward Nellie; sire of dam. Full Bloom of Hiudsward; dam of dam Hiudsward Daisy of Hiudsward; dam of dam, Hindsward Daisy V. "White Cockade of Nether Craig, it may be mentioned, .was considered one of the best bulls of his class in England. The committee having in hand - the raising of funds to ouild • a practiceroom for the Waimate Brass Band met on the sth instant, Mr N. Francis in the chair. The secretary reported tlaat with, cash in hand and to come in the Committee would have about £150.' It was decided to have a sale of produce and sundries on June Bth. It was also resolved to put in hand a building to .cost £2OO, with provision on the plana for future extensions which will bring the final cost up to £3OO. .- For some time past there have been rumors that the meat freezing works are to be removed from Oamaru, and those who are specially interested in the retention of these works have been somewhat disconcerted in consequence. It is impossible to announce exactly what are the intentions of the Company in regard to the matter, but we are able to assure our readers, on :th» best authority, that the Company does not intend to adopt any course that will be disadvantageous to the Oamaru district.

The Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister for Railways,' will pass through Oamaru by the first express on Wednesday next. We understand that the Hon. T. Y. Duncan would be glad to introduce to the Minister any farmer, or farmers, who have representations to make i>o Mm in reference to the carriage of stock or feed at reduced rates. Thos<> who have any shortage of feed now, <>r who are likely to have any as the winter proceeds, would do well to take immediate and definite action to' bring the matter before the Minister.

Our correspondent "telephones as follows :—At the present time the Ngapara rlistrict appears to great advantage owing to the recent rain, followed by warm days. The rain has been doubly beneficial; having revived the grass and completely exterminated the potato worm. There are soino paddocks of potatoes comparatively free from the pest. One larger grower of potatoes, Mr J. Kydd, has a very heavy crop, which runs from 8 to 10 tons per acre., which has practically escaped the worm, owing probably to the fact that the crop was sown on high ground. At the monthly meeting of the North Otago Beekeepers' Association on Saturday afternoon, the President (Mr J. Allan) read an instructive paper entitled "Bee People; or the Honey Bee and some of its Peculiar Features." The paper evoked considerable discussion. Mr and Mrs Headland expressed their thanks by letter for the Association's gift of a framed photograph. _ At Waimato on Saturday, Mr p. Danes, organiser of the Farmers' Political League, addressed a meeting of farmers. There was a good attendance, and Mr Garland (president of the local branch of the Farmers' Union) presided. At the end of the address, Mr J. Talbot (Timaru) spoke in opposition to the proposal, contending that the Political League 'was being run on party lines and should not lit- supported. Both speakers received a good hearing, but the only resolution carried was one of thanks. ' An unusual sight was witnessed in. Invercargill on Thursday morning at 7.30 (says the News), when forty fullgrown bulls, ranging in age' fromjhree years upwards, were driven through Dee street, Mr R. Russell being in charge of the drovers. These animals were en route to the Ocean Beach Freezing "Works, where they will be converted into beef, there to be frozen and shipped to London. It is understood that this class of beef goes to fill' Army contracts, and is probably one o£ the items of Tomj my Atkins' bill-of-fare. As a matter of fact, it is said that one of the conditions of the Army meat supply contracts is that' a third, of the supply may consist of bull beef. Mr R. Russell has done a large trade in this class of animal this season, and to date has put through the works over two hundred head. Some of these have been exceptionally heavyweights, and one kuled the other day weighed over 10001b, and two others in the same draft tipped the beam at over 9001b. Old bulls have hitherto been a drug on the market, but owino- to the demand from Britain prices in excess of £6 per head have e WAI)r>ELL AND. CO.'S Grand Opportunity Sale.—The whole of our wellknown high-class stock of Men's Furnishings, at and under cost price, bee bills and note the astonishing reducThe attention of Major-General Godley. Commandant of the New Zealand Defence Forces, was drawn by the Auckland correspondent of the Wellington Post to the protest raised by the Highland Rifle Corps throughout the Dominion to the ruling of the Defence Department that in future the individualism of uniform must cease, I have, said General Godley, "every regard torkilts, and like to see men m them, but the whole question of full dress presents difficulties which will have to be gone into in the future. The Government at present will not provide full dress. Personally I should be very pad to see all units with full dress, but 1 am afraid the question of £ s. d. prevents su°"» happy consummation at present. All our energies have first to be devoted to providing the new citizen army with a serviceable khaki dress of a uniform pattern. Until we have done that the question of full-dress will have to stand °Up late last night? Dull, heavy headache this morning? Don't worry, taks Stearns' Headache Cure—one wafer—-one swallow of water —relief >n . a minute.

H.M.S. Cambrian conveyed from Sydney to Wellington last week a huge case containing a trophy in the shape of the figure head of H.M.S. Virago, which was serving on the Australian station between the years 185/ and .1871. She was a six-gun sloop launched in 1842. The package will be taken to Auckland, the trophy having been sent, at the request of Archdeacon Walsh, by the Admiralty authorities tor the use of the Auckland museum.

For Children's Hacking Cough at night, Woods' Great Peppermint CureIs 6d, 2s 6d.

Mr Lomas, Secretary for Labor told a story about a Chinaman at the farewell to the Chinese Consul m Wellington. "John," who was.living on the Otago goldfields, was asked by Father Walsh, a well-known priest, if he liked the EhgEsh. He Teplied, "No, too proud." "Do you like the .Scotch r "No; too!mean." "The Insh?" Yeswelly good. Alee same Chinese. Mr Hwang, when his turn came t<> re P& said, mtK. a happy smile, that he did not know whether the story was meant as a compliment to the Chinese or to the Irish". It makes one anxious— any loss o£= weight. PHOSPHOL will rebuild a constitution. Large bottles sold by all , chemists.

Mr J. SWINDLEY Surgeon Dentist, will visit Kurow on Thursday next, lltji instant, and may be consulted at Spiers' Hotel. 47 ° Boys' Knitted. Jersey's, 2s and 2s 6d each—just half-price; Boys' Stockings, fancv tops, all sizes, Is 9d a pair; Boys' Reefers and Overcoats at nair marked prices—at WADDELL AND CO.'S Alteration Sale.

Sale of Bargains.—Now on at H. Grenfcll's. See the Tweed Trousers at 3s lid. See the Shirts, Singlets, and Pants at\2s lid. Biggest and beat bargains procurable.