AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16338, 22 March 1915, Page 9

AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

(Fbou Oob Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, March . 12. It was on the proposal of the Scaddan (Labour) Ministry" for the imposition of a remarkably stiff Supertax on incomes that the recent general parliamentary elections in Western Australia were decided. It was a drastic enough tax, beginning at £1 upon salaries of £100, and running up fco 13 per cent, on large incomes. The measure, which described the tax as a "war tax," was rejected by the Legislative Council. The appeal to the electors resulted in the majority of the Scaddan party, Which had stood at two to. one, being reduced to a majority of two men. ■Western Australia is very hard up, financially, and the Government feels itself impelled to have another try at an income supertax. The new or revised proposal provides for a beginning with salaries of ■over £3 a week, and increasing with percentages by sections until 8 per cent, is demanded. Compared with the former scheme this proposal is really temperate. The description of "war tax," which was not correct, because the commonwealth, and not the States, has to cover the whole of the Australian military and naval bill, has been dropped, and the plain title of income tax has been substituted. Still the opposition to it remains as keen as before, and the Legislative Council has again shown its hostility ,by a contemptuous rejection of the latest scheme by 19 votes to 4. Mr Scaddan probably foresaw this, but he is in a desperate* plight. His accumulated deficit is well over £1,000,000, and it is essential that he should have money. Loudest amongst the givers of ' advice as to how the situation should be met are critics who tell Mr Scaddan that matters can be put right if the Labour Government will only drop socialistic State undertakings which are proving expensive financial failures.. The Treasury returns show a loss of £50,000 for last month on only two of these State undertakings. BEES.

Bee-keeping is extensively employed as a " side-line"-by many settlers in Victoria. Although the ■ apiarists complain of slowness iri. the decline- of an unmerited prejudice against Australian honey, they have latterly teen getting quite satisfactory returns. Now they are much perturbed by an unusual mortality amongst their bees and the loss of their profits from honey and wax. 'At first it was assumed that this ■was dne to the depredations of indigenous insect-eating birds, arid, as usual, the Government was asked to do something in the way of killing off feathered denizens of the bush. Happily an expert sent out to investigate by the Victorian Government has supplied an authoritative explanation ■which greatly pleases the rapidly-increasing number of people who want to see our native birds saved from unjust extermination. The expert says that the bees are dying because of the . blighting effects of drought upon the flowering trees and shrubs upon which the busy bee depends. The Government cannot stop a drought. It is probably on account of the severity of the fight for existence in the bush that a colony of bees has moved into the town of. Geelong, which with its pretty numerous gardens gives some chance of weathering a. drought. This colony has established itself-under the floor of the typhoid ward of the Geelong Hospital. From the point of view of a prospective human user of the honey this hiving situation leaves a good deal to be desired. But perhaps the bees know this, and count upon it for a long continuation of the immunity which they now enjoy from raiders of their store. A NAME.

Another paragraph may be added to the history of the romance of names in connection with the Orient Line mail steamer Orama ? which has lately gained glory by sinking the armed HamburgAmerika liner Navarra. Jtist before the launching of the Oraraa the London directors of the Orient Company wrote to their Adelaide manager, Mr M. G. Anderson, expressing the hope that the people of South Australia would appreciate the intended compliment of naming the fine new chip after a South Australian town. But Mr Anderson had never heard of Orama, and after extensive inquiries, including the questioning of Grown Lands and Survey Department officials, he replied that the compliment was all right, .but that there •was no South Australian place of the name of Orama. The directors in a. further communication - said they were quite * surprised at Mr Anderson's ignorance, because a map which they sent with the letter to Mr Anderson showed, in very small but still , readable type, "Orama H.S." After a lot more inquiring Mr Anderson discovered that the map-maker, not liking big blank had' filled up by putting in the names of some sheep runs or home stations of sheep runs. This accounted for the mention of the " Orama H.S." away ' Tm he i ? terior to t he north-east of Broken Hill; An Adelaide man who took up country there, borrowed the name given by natives to.a MIL It ought to be 'spelt Oorama, and Mr Anderson pointed this out, but the directors, decided to stick to which they had discovered for / themselves.

STATE BREAD MONOPOLY. Not content with the fame which has come to him as the prime mover in the seizure/by the Government of the whole wheat harvest of New South Wales, the £>tate Attorney-general (Mr: Hall) comes forward with a plan for establishing a Government monopoly in the bread-balfing business. _ He speaks decisively about an early beginning in this direction, but says that the- monopoly; will be effected by evolutionary # stages. The State already has a bread factory of its own, located in the metropolitan suburb of Stanmore,. from rSn a to prisons, asylums, and other Government instituSk?' n towards the monopoly, the bread delivery, businesses within a certam the. present State bakery will be absorbed. Loaves are to to the. public at a ghade cheaper than the price now charged bv private bakers. ; Some of those who wiil be lucky, enough to get /cheaper bread in this way live m Mr Hall's own constitu ency, but some of the bread will be sold - T-v™i J - oimn ? constituency which votes liberal m order, says Mr Hall, to deprive the cheap-loaf scheme of anv political- aspect. Mr Hall also states that there will be no confiscation of existing businesses by the Government, but the acquisitions will be at a fair price. . ' A SAILOR'S WEDDING.

We read a good deal nowadays of hasty weddings of soldiers and sailors on the "eve of departure for foreign service. The experiences of Gilbert Eeardon, naval instructor as told to the Perth Divorce Court the other day, may induce others to be more cautious. Eeardon. was formerly yeoman of signals on H.M.S. Torch. He received sudden orders to join the ship, which sailed for Solomon Islands at midnight. . Katihleen Ann Martin, proprietress of the restaurant at which he stayed when ashore, was engaged to him. She insisted upon being married at the-last hour, and told him that she wanted to obtain a wine license, which only a married woman could get, m order to; increase the business, iiie more money she could make the sooner ■ would her husband be able to settle ashore in comfort. They were married at 8.30 p.m., and the newly-married sailor wenc off to his ship with dreams of the time when he would settle down to snug domes ti-cifcy ashore. He saved all the money he could, sent his wife £5 monthly. But when fie got back his wife had disappeared; He never saw. her again, but found out that his "missus" had gone to Sydney and married another man there. The abandoned sailor man has got his decree nisi for the dissolution of the wasted . wedding. , ; MISSING ISLANDS. In connection with the disappearance of the commonwealth Government's trawler Endeavour, that now probably lies beneath storm-tossed waters somewhere to tihe south of Tasmania, several persons have urged that the search made with the appreciated co-operation of the New Zealand Government should be extended to the Royal Company Islands. It is asserted by some seamen that these islands may be' found 200 or / 300 miles south of Tasmania. But when the Federal authorities went into this suggestion they could not get-any satisfactory evidence of tihe actual existence of the islands named. The Director of Navigation was asked to look into the matter. He states in his report that as the islands <»re not mentioned on the latest Admiralty

charts it may be assumed that there are no such islands. Perhaps some of the seafaring men in New Zealand can help to clear up this matter. THE TOTALISATOR. War or no war, the advocates of the introduction of the totalisator in the two principal States of the commonwealth, New South Wales and Victoria, keep hard at propaganda and organisation effort. It keeps the bookmakers and their supporters busily engaged with the publication of arguments designed to secure the rejection of the machine. In the course of such arguments it is alleged that some of the most enthusiastic supporters of the introduction of the mechanical rival to the " bookie " are pecuniarily interested in thh or that variety of totalisator, and look for ward to the making of a lot of money out of royalties for the use of the machines by racing clubs. Amongst those who pronounce strongly in favour of the totalisator in Victoria is the Australian Natives' Association. This big organisation sent a deputation on the matter to the Chief Secretary, Mr Murray, who is well versed in all that pertains to horse racing. Mr Murray's sympathetic reply raised hopes of early Government action in the direction of the legalisation of the totalisator in Victoria. But there is a pretty strong anti-gambling element in the Victorian Ministry, and it is announced that the matter cannot be introduced as a Government measure. In New South Wales the pro-totalisator campaign, in which the principal daily papers of Sydney co-operate heartily, has been carried to the extent of getting a promise from the Premier, (Mr Holman) for the introduction of a Totalisator Bill in the coming session of the State , Parliament, although Mr Holman says it will not be treated as a Government measure. Those engaged in the campaign declare with confidence that they are going to beat the bookmaker this time in the New South Wale 3 Parliament. POPULARISING CRICKET.

Mention was made in these notes last week of much earnest discussion on the decline of cricket. From the foremost position in Australian national sports that attract the attention and shillings of the many, cricket has fallen away completely, and provokes no enthusiasm except amongst those who actually plav and a comparatively few old devotees. The New South Wales Cricket Association is greatly concerned, and has appointed a special committee to go into the matter. This committee has not yet concluded its work, but it has already nut forward interesting recommendations. These are based on the belief that if the public is to be drawn in any large numbers to matches the game will have to. be " livened up " considerably by the cutting out of old-fashioned dawdling \a,nd time-wasting. The committee recommends that much more actual play be compressed into, a day, that intervals between innings and afternoon tea rests be reduced, and that overs be extended from six balls to eight in order that less time be used "up in changing over. Further, the committee urges that speciai endeavours be made bv means of awards to cultivate cricket in the schools.