SHIPPING LAWS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21241, 23 January 1931, Page 6

SHIPPING LAWS.

It is absurd, on the face of it, that a foreign vessel, engaged as an intercolonial trading ship, and in that capacity visiting New Zealand ports, should be exempt from the operation of the laws of the Dominion which apply to merchant shipping. . That seems, however, to be the effect of the decision of the Senior Stipendiary Magistrate yesterday in a case in which the master of a Norwegian steamer was charged with having, as was admitted, left Lyttelton for Port Chalmers without the complement of seamen prescribed under New Zealand law. The fact that legislation which affects shipping has a restricted application is due, of course, chiefly to the international character of the shipping trade but also, in some measure, to the variety and, indeed, the complexity of the points that must be covered by the legislation. Even within the Empire there is a distinct lack of uniformity in the legislation on the subject, desirable though uniformity under the same flag may be held to be. -The Imperial Conference has at different times given consideration to the matter of legislation regulating merchant shipping, and the question was one of those that engaged the attention in 1929 of the Conference on the Operation of Dominion Legislation which made to the recent Imperial Conference certain recommendations that are designed to introduce uniformity within the British Commonwealth in so far as that end is practicable. Legislation will be necessary in order to give effect to these and the other recommendations of the Conference in 1929, and when that has been enacted “ the new position will be we quote from the summary of proceedings of the Imperial Conference—“ that each dominion will, amongst its other powers, have full and complete legislative authority over all ships while within its territorial waters or engaged in its coasting trade, and also over its own registered ships both intra-territorially and extraterritorially. Such extra-territorial legislation will, of course, operate subject to local laws while the ship is within another jurisdiction,” The anomaly presented in the existence of immunity on the part of a foreign vessel, while on the New Zealand coast, from the law of the country in respect of provisions framed in the interest of the security of merchant shipping is so glaring as to call for early removal.

Butglar entere<J Mr J * D - Best ’ s mer " eery sho/i® Princes street some time on and stole clothing to the value / f2s> The intruders broke in throng the floor at the rear of the basement/

A,himney fire at 242 Highgate, Maori jjjj/ called for the attention of the Fire jj r /ade at 7.45 a.m. yesterday. No damap was done. During the holiday season the weather as very favourable for angling, and marly all those fishermen who spent their lolidays on the streams of the district had reason to be pleased with the success which attended their angling. Most of the waters were in the best of order for the holidays, and good catches were reported from all quarters. With the return of unsettled conditions, however, many of the streams have suffered. The Shag is now reported to be very low and there is much slimy pond weed in evidence, which causes trouble to the unwary fisherman. A correspondent states that this stream will not be in good fly fishing order until there is a fresh of sufficient strength to clear the water of the weed. A recent report from Kaitangata stated that fishing in that district was poor, but a later letter reports much better results. Many anglers in that district have found the sport good both in the river and in the canal, and trout varying in weight from l|lb to 61b have been taken. ( Ihe trout, which are stated to have been in excellent condition, were practically all caught with natural bait. It is said that fish of about 2lb to 31b are difficult to land. A Waipori correspondent states that the fishing about the dam has been very satisfactory lately. Some of the men working at the dam have caught nice trout, mostly on the worm, the largest being Tib in weight. Good sport has also been available on the river.

Reference was made by the chairman (Mr J. Wallace) at the meeting of the Otago Education Board yesterday morning to the success of country schools in the junior national scholarship examinations. The fact that nine out of the 22 successful candidates came from country schools, said the . chairman, was a testimonial to the good work which was being done by country teachers, and the board should note the figures as showing a substantial gain against the large schools. Two of the scholarships had gone to Kaitangata and two to Flag Swamp, which was a Grade 2 school. This showed that the children were intelligent and that the teacher was very capable. The board passed a resolution congratulating country teachers on the excellent results which the examinations had shown. The Mayor (Mr R. S. Black) expressed his appreciation yesterday of the work of those who had assisted in the Mayor’s relief depot. Mrs Macdonald, he stated, was entitled to special thanks not only for her strenuous work, but for the excellence of her organisation. He also greatly appreciated the generosity of Messrs Speight and Co. in placing their building at the disposal of his committee. Some strong criticism of the unemployed for their apathy concerning matters affecting their own interests was expressed by Mr N. Lee at the meeting in the Queen’s Gardens yesterday. After drawing attention to the fact that only half of the men present were unemployed, he stated that if the unemployed were men at nil they would try to do something for themselves and not leave the work to one or two. They seemed to be afraid. They had no pluck —(Loud applause.) Those who did nothing were the first to'Clamour for jobs when they were found. They waited until their leaders had pulled the chestnuts out of the fire and then wanted to eat them. After another reference to “gamenees,” Mr Lee expressed disappointment regarding the smallness of the attendance at the deputation to the City Council on Wednesday night. Mr P. Neilson, during whose 40-minute speech the crowd dwindled considerably, stated that if the unemployed did not take an interest in their own affairs they could not expect others to do so. He claimed that it was only a sense of shame that had made Cr Mitchell second pro forma Cr Munro’s motion to take steps to raise a loan of £25,000. If the unemployed had not been present the motion would not have been seconded at all. —(“Hear, hear.”)

The programmes which were offered by station 4ZB on Wednesday night and last night were seriously marred throughout the evening by interference of a serious nature, and the station was practically inundated with complaints from listeners about the “ Howling ” which was spoiling the reception. The trouble started shortly after 8 o’clock on Wednesday and continued till 11 o'clock, but it was noticed in only one part of the city at a time, and was not general. It is thought that the interference was caused by a. portable transmitting set which was being carried around in a motor car. Last night several listeners went out with portable sets in a fruitless effort to trace the offender. At the instigation of the Auckland Exchange the Stock Exchange Association of New Zealand is moving (says our special correspondent) to have cheques for dividends in Australian companies paid to shareholders in New Zealand made exempt from exchange. The association is approaching the associated banks on the question. A few companies operating in Australia, such as the Union Bank, the Bank of Australasia, the Bank of New South Wales, and Dalgety and Co., Ltd., have New Zealand registers and pay dividends on New Zealand parity. Dividends from shares in companies such as the Australian Glass, British Tobacco, and Huddart, Parker are all subject to exchange. However, at the moment very little business is being transacted by Auckland brokers between New Zealand and Australia. The high exchange rates and the determination of the banks to keep the money in Australia make cross-tasman share transactions very difficult. A poor wheat crop in Canterbury is predicted by Mr 6. Witty, M.L.C., who stated to a representative of the Wellington Post that the phenomenal north-west winds had ruined hundreds of acres of grain. In his opinion, very little indeed would be harvested. He could not say how the crops were faring in North Otago, although he had been told that rough weather had been experienced in that district. “Thousands of acres in Canterbury will never be threshed,” said Mr Witty. “ The nor’-westers have been so severe that wheat which would in ordinary times be cut in a fortnight’s time is now dead. The wind is the worst I have known in the ,57 years I have been in Canterbury, and it has taken all the moisture from the soil. The wheat heads crumble into flakes when rubbed with the hand. Oats have suffered in the same way, but many of the farmers have cut their oats for chaff. Some of ’the wheatgrowers have turned sheep on to their wheat paddocks, but the wheat is so dry that it gives little nourishment to stock.” Mr Witty added that it was obvious that large quantities would have to be imported into the Dominion to yinake up the loss. An aroma, strong and appetising, reminiscent of a general provision store, detected in the vicinity of the Wellington City Council Chamber on Monday afternoon, caused several people accustomed to an air of unarmed neutrality to sniff as they passed along the echoing corridors of the Town Hall (says the Dominion). On inquiry being made by an inquisitive pressman, a very fine fully-ripe 601 b cheese was revealed reposing in front of the chairman’s! place, and upon it lay the typewritten superscription: —“ Presented to the Mayor and Council by his Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe (from his farm in England}.” It was, in short, his Excellency’s New Year gift to the Mayor and members of the City Council. During the afternoon the cheese was divided into 24 parts, one part being presented to the Mayor, members of the City Council, and the heads of departments. By all who tasted this product of Gloucestershire it was pronounced to be good eheeisie.

Stating that the Government had found it necessary, owing to the present financial depression, to exercise the most rigid economy in connection with public expenditure, the Director of Education has advised secondary school boards that the issue of free text books in necessitous cases to pupils of secondary schools will be discontinued after March 31. The grant for incidental expenses has been, from January 1, reduced from £2 10s to £2 per head of roll number, while a reduction in the grant for maintenance of school buildings is likely. The department also relied on boards exercising the utmost economy in all other matters which come under their control.

Masterton, reports the Wellington Post correspondent, is in the curious position that its water supply reservoirs are empty on account of the recent heavy rains. There have been several floods in the Wairarapa district lately, and the rivera were very high on Monday. The borough engineer reported to the council that the flood had blocked the intake of the Upper Plain reservoir, which was practically empty in the evening, and consumers were asked to be extremely sparing in their use of w-ater for the next two days, as it would be impossible, if the river remained high, to clear the intake. In spite of machinery and science there are ‘ still some trades that are practised to-day as they were centuries ago (remarks the Christchurch Times), Along Tuam street paesers-by can see one of them. From a dark workshop comes a regular “tap, tap,” and if you look through the door you will see the cooper making barrels in exactly the same way as the long dead coopers made, the casks in which Captain Cook carried some of his provisions when he reached New Zealand in the eighteenth century. It is true that many containers that were formerly made ,of wood are to-day made of metal, but for tallow nothing has been discovered better than white pine. The art in coopering is in fashioning the many staves so that they make perfect joins when the hoops are hammered on, and shaping the heads and bottoms with the same exactness. Butchers, bakers, ice-cream makers, and one or two. other trades still use barrels or tubs, and churns are another article that give the cooper employment, but the tallow cask is to-day his mainstay. As he goes round the cask with hammer- and driver he reminds us that, he is one of the few workmen left whose job is from first to last entirely a hand-craft.

Roadside harvesters are now busy gathering in the cocksfoot seed (states the Christchurch Times). Their methods suggest a good deal of confidence in human nature. With a sickle they go along cutting the best, which they drop in untied sheaves here and there, leaving it to dry, and then they come along a few days later and thresh it out in a primitive fashion on a sheet of canvas. One man and a boy went along the Southbridge road the other day in a trap into which they loaded up the cut grass, and took it away to dry at home. There is a lot of good seed a.hout the Cashmere Hills, and in many spots the “roadside farmers” can be seen at work.

First-hand information about the aim* and organisation of the League of Nations was given to the teachers at the Summer School at Christchurch by Mr J. V. Wilson, a Christchurch man who has been, for some years, on the secretariat of the League as a member of the personal staff of Sir Eric Drummond, secretary of the League. Mr Wilson is visiting his family in Christchurch On leave from Geneva (statesthe Press). "I know there is an opinion current that the League of Nations was a * stunt ’ started some 10 years ago, which has since been wound up,” said JMr Wilson, putting forward' the argument that oiv) of the strongest points in the League’s favour was that it was still in existence after 10 years. This meant that the nations who had been signatories were still pledged .to:carry out the principles of the Covenant. If, by, any chance, any of the major nations within the League were to withdraw, it would be a diplomatic event of the most serious nature. For countries situated such as Great Britain, was the policy of international co-operation through the League was much more hopeful than that of seeking alliances. In the past 10 years the organisation had been tested and had not been found wanting. .