AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16591, 14 January 1916, Page 3

AUSTRALIA TO-DAY.

(From Oob Own Cobbespondent.) SYIDNEY, January 5. From each of the six States it is reported that sinco tho Christmas holidays there has been a. remarkable spurt in recruiting, reminiscent of the earlier months of the war, and a complete change from tho condition of affairs a few weeks ago, when the general reports told of very slack times at the recruiting depots. Tho number of volunteers who presented themselves at Brisbane on i Tuesday constituted a record at that plaoe. New South Wales load 3 in the present rally, which is consistent with tho record, of which the people of this State are duly proud, of a larger proportion of enlistments in relation to population than any other Stato can show. The present number of men accepted for servioo at the front at tho Sydney depots alone averages 450 a day. and it looks very much as if New South Wales will provide without the employment of any measures of compulsion its quota of the now army of 50,000 men promised to the Imperial authorities by the Federal Government, in addition to "supplying its quota of the reinforcements required for forcos already sent away. It may bo taken for granted that the current gratifying sport in recruiting is in a large measure due to the Prime Minister's special appeal, In connection with which there are being sent to every male of military age in the Commonwealth cards bearing questions that aro of tho nature of a new and directly personal application to each man to consider still more earnestly whether it is not his duty to offer himself for the fighting line. Tho rate at which volunteers are no'w coming foiward, and the proportions of men accepted, with continued insistence upon a pretty severe standard of physical fitness, make the prospect of tho introduction of conscription hero much more remote than during the couple of months before Christmas. FARMLETS FOR SOLDIERS. It is baing proved that returned Australian soldiers, no matter how "citified" they were before they went to tho front, would far sooner have employment out of doors, in roomy spaces, than within the walls of offices or business places. It is also being discovered that there aro extensive possibilities in the matter of providing at small cost opportunities for soldiers to become occupiers of agricultural holdings 'near the markets offered by the larger cities, and holding out possibilities of good returns for steady, intelligent work. A very promising beginning has been made with a scheme for making available for returned soldiers farmlets of about five acres, each suitable for growing supplies of Sydney's needs, only partially satisfied at present, as regards poultry, eggs, fresh vegetables, and fruit. There is being got ready an instalmeat of 37 of such farmlets, handy to Sydney. It is proposed to place these farmlets, readjr foe occupation and cultivation, at the disposal of returned heroes at a rental of about £2 a year. Private citizens aro enthusiastically co-operating with the Government in ' tho matter. All strata of society arc represented in "working bees" that have been putting in spare time in clearing, fenoing, and building. Timber merchants and others aro generously giving material, and there is no lack at all ot enthusiastic and capable workers. In a fine spirit of rivalry sectional " bees" are coming forward. Thus the school teachers, at present enjoying a spell from the task of teaching children, are organising contingents of dealers aid builders who mean tc show that they can teach grown ups a lot too. A party of three dozen bushworkeis is going to spend the greater portion of a " holiday" visit to Sydney by working on soldiers' farmlets, and they vrtll bring with them all their own tools and implements, and provide their own " tucker" and sleeping accommodation. They reokon they will, by their seasoned strength and skill, do things that will make the soft-handed city men gasp with admiration and hopeless envy. FEDERAL POWERS. Foremost amongst the proposals to Le discussed at the forthcoming conierence, in Melbourne, of the interstate conference of tho Australian political Labour leagues is one that the Commonwealth Government be directed to proceed without any delay with the taking of the referendum on the matter of a further extensive transfer of powers in regard to finance, commerce, and industry, from the States to the common-, wealth. Such a referendum has all along* been a prominent item in the Labour programme drawn up by the Political Labour Conference. As you knotw, the Liberal Party made so big a demonstration to protest against the taking of the referendum during the course of the war that the Prime Minister (Mr Hughes) deemed it expedient to enter into a compromise arrangement with tho State Premiers for the powers in question to be handed over to the commonwealth during the term of the war and for 12 months afterwards. But tho States generally have failed to carry out this arrangement, mainly on account of the hostility of tho Legislative Councils and unforeseen local constitutional difficulties. At the same time Mr Hughes has . come in for a lot of strongly adverse criticism from Political Labour Leaguers for having "side-stepped" the orders of the Political Labour Leaguers Conference by taking it upon himself to go into a compromise arrangement without first having obtained the sanction of the conference. There is always a very strong assertive section in the conference which demands consistent recognition by Ministers of the position that it is the conference which shapes the Labour policy, and that it simply remains for Ministers, as the_ servants of the party, to carry the decisions of conference into effect. BETTING TAX. Under new taxation measures passed by the New South Wales Parliament on th<3 last days of sitting before Christinas there has come into effect a tax on betting tickets —a penny on every ticket issued by a bookmaker in the paddock, and a half penny on every ticket issued on any other part of a racecourse. There was at tli-3 last hour such a rush by bookmakers to get tickets stamped that the officials of the Stamps Department had a very strenuous time in what is usually a very slack time for them. In a week there wero sent in to tho department no fewer than 1,205,000 tickets for the new betting tax to bo stamped on them. This gives some idea of tno extent to which betting on racecourses prevails in this State. The bulk of the tickets was for business with small customers, and it can safely bo assumed that in the majority of cases the tickets sent in by bookmakers were for a limited Iperiod only. The bookmakers make no secret of the fact that they are passing the tax on to the betting public. They can easily do so with the monopoly of tho betting business which they enjoy in the absence ,of the totalisator. It is understood that the " bookies" themselves suggested the tax as the alternative to compliance with the increasing demand by. the racegoing public for the legalisation of tho " tote. SILVER. A new departure m money-making has been deoided upon by tho Commonwealth Government. This is in consequence of tho world-wide shortago of silver. When the Commonwealth Government recently applied to Great Britain for £100,000 worth of silver coins, tho reply was received that Great Britain oould not comply, because she had not enough lor her own needs. However, the Imperial authorities agreed to send out the dies to enablo Australia to mint its own silver coins. The dies will shortly arrive hflce. and it is intended to go straight ahead with the minting of £500,000 worth of silver coins. This seems a great deal of money to maike, lbut_ after all, it is only a trifle compared with millions worth of bank notes which the Commonwealth Government lias turned out during tho past year. APPLES. We have far more apples than we know what to do with. Our export markets ior this fruit have been almost crippled by the wax. Germany used to take tho greater portion of our ante bellum heavy shipments of apples to Europe. In addition, American growers, who are ulso bothered by the disturbed condition of affairs in Europe, are sending thousands upon thousands of coses of their apples to Australia, as about the only chanoe left them of getting anything at all for a lot of their fruit. Letters from our soldiers at the front tell us how the men long for fruit. This combination of circumstances has led to tho suggestion, which has been taken up with considerable approbation, that a ertain number—a largo number—of oases erf choice apples should bo earmarked by our growers for Australian troops at the front, the Dcfenco Department to take delivery at a bodroclc prion, and the fruit to be sent direct to tho soldiers, without tho intervention of middlemen. It is not suggested that the growers, -who have, .in any

ease, b pretty bad time ahead of them, shall give the fruit altogether, but thoy are expected to do without any appreciable profit on these apples for the men who are fighting. It is saidtthatt t under this scheme, the entiro cost of placing tho fruit in Eigypt would bo insido 4s 6d a case. How our boys Would appreciate it! OOT OF HAND. Latest of rcQciit cases ol disorderly outbreaks by mubs of soldiers is something which took place at Perth a few days ago. Backed up by larrikins, tho Boldiers engaged in disorderly marches through the city, made a great deal of noise, and smashed tho windows of six business places kept by persons of foreign nationality or name. In one case looting was added to smashing. Portion of tho contents of a tobacconist's shop was carried off and distributed amongst tho rioters. Tho military and civil police seemed powerless to arrest tho course of tho disturbance, which lasted for hours. When tho polioo mad© attempts to keep the rioters book by physical obstruction thoy were attacked with pickets wrenched from neighbouring fenoes. It can happily be said thrit only a very small proportion of the thousands of soldiers in our camps takes part in such unseemly proceedings. It is i-everthfcicss regrettable that such things happen at all, especially as the in-' jury caused falls to a largo extent upon persons whom not even tho wreckers would wish to hurt. Lieutenant-colonel M'Cay, the now Inspestor-general of tho Australian Foroes, seems to have set his face strongly against unworthy conduct on the part of our soldiery. There is talk of several important changes in commands, with the object of ensuring proper disciplino in and out of tho military cairrps, and the avoidance of happenings likely to impair public admiration for our volunteers.