TOPICS OF INTEREST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23106, 4 February 1937, Page 3

TOPICS OF INTEREST

OFFICIAL NOTES

A man and his wife were bathing in the sea, when they were joined by a friend of the man, who introduced his Some time afterwards the friend observed the woman sitting opposite him in a tramcar and bowed to her. She looked puzzled for a moment and then exclaimed, " Oh, how do you do? I really did not know you with your clothes on!". It was fortunate that she had to leave the car at the next stop. # * *

The next meeting of the Otago Provincial Council will be held on Thursday, February 25. The Organising Committee will meet the same day immediately prior to the council meeting. The arrangements for the series of lectures throughout Otago by Colonel S. J. E. Closey have now been completed, and particulars have been circulated. Branch secretaries and members of the special branch organising committees are asked to keep the dates of the meetings in their own districts prominently before members, and all others interested, as the matters on which Colonel Closey speaks are ot the most vital interest to all those engaged in primary production, whether they are dairy farmers, sheep farmers or mixed farmers.

At the January meeting of the Southland Provincial Executive, the secretary intimated that he had communicated with all executive members asking them to investigate in their respective districts the position in regard to farm labour. Various members and branch delegates reported on the position as they knew it, some stating that they knew of no acute shortage, but in other districts the reverse was the case. One member reported that, owing to shortage of labour, many employers had resorted to the use of tractors. A shortage of youths for ordinary farm work and the impossibility of procuring labour for dairy farms was reported by a number of members. Owing to the shortage of dependable farm labour in some districts, female labour had been employed with satisfactory results to the employer.

The Clutha branch held its monthly meeting in the Crown Hotel last Saturday evening, when Mr A. Maxwell presided in the absence of Mr A. Anderson (president). • A letter from the Milton branch explaining the proposed scheme for compulsory organisation of primary producers was received. Advice was received from the Minister of Railways that the Kakapuaka level crossing would be improved as desired by the Clutha branch, buUthat the Stirling crossing did not lend itself to similar improvement. It was decided to write the Minister thanking him for agreeing to put in hand the improvement at Kakapuaka and to ask him to instruct his engineers to inspect the Stirling crossing again, as the state of the rails at that point was a grave menace to traffic. In reply to the letter to the Department of Labour an answer was received indicating that the dairy farmers week was of seven days. An interesting and informative letter was received from the Main Highways Board regarding the respective merits and costs of concrete roads and those which have been sealed. A discussion on the amount of labour available for farms showed the unanimous opinion to be that owing to the high wages obtainable on public works jobs it is becoming more difficult to keep men on farms. * * * The following extract from a recent number of the National Farmers' Union Record in regard to Empire collaboration relating to primary produce is of interest:— "In the House of Commons on November 10. Sir Percy Hurd asked the Secretary for Dominion Affairs whether a consultative committee of Empire producers would be set up to consider an Empire policy in relation to primary production and whether he would invite the governments of the dominions to co-operate in the early assembly of such a committee. "Sir Percy based his question, apparently, on the suggestion that the desirability of the establishment of such a committee had been mooted by representatives of the dominion governments in view of the fact that the interests of primary producers of the Homeland and the dominions are now becoming nearly identical. The Dominions Secretary stated in reply that no suggestions of the nature indicated had, in fact, been made to him by representatives of the dominion governments, but if they were put to him he would be prepared to consider them. "As our readers know, the National Farmers' Union has been working at this question of Empire collaboration for a long time past and there can be no doubt but that opinion in favour of action on the lines adumbrated by Sir Percy Hurd is much further advanced than Mr Malcolm MacDonald may realise. Because the matter has been left exclusively to Empire politicians we are faced with the fact that the most notable feature of the Government's long-term policy for the livestock industry is that it will have to be revised at the earliest possible moment in order to make it accord with (1) the Government's pledges and (2) the necessities of the livestock producers of the United Kingdom. A 'liaison' committee of Empire producers could have done better than that, for it is difficult to imagine that representatives of Dominion producers would either adopt the intransigeant attitude of their political representatives or seek to deny to the producers of the Mother Country that same measure of consideration in their own market which their practical experience has taught them to be vitally necessary where Dominion interests are at stake."