NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25673, 23 October 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

“ rpHE social problems created in JL regard to children as the result of both parents working threatens to assume major proportions,” states the annual report of the New Zealand Employers’ Federation. “It is perhaps pertinent to point out that where a mother as well as a father is required to be absent from home during almost the entire part of the working day the same meed of care and attention cannot be accorded the children of such a family and they suffer both in regard to discipline and character formation. As these children are to be the workers to to-morrow, this problem is one which demands of employers more than mere passing interest or comment. Teachers of standing have also during the past year drawn attention to the very inferior type of lunch provided for children whose parents are working, and, while on the surface this might be irrelevant to the present report, nevertheless the basic factor demands the attention of employers to some extent. It follows that no restriction should be placed in the way of a mother who wishes to work shorter hours or to stagger these hours in order to cope with the above problems.” Quality of Milk

When the question of the keeping qualities of milk arose during the hearing of milk roundsmen’s claims before the Arbitration Court at Auckland, Mr Justice Tyndall remarked that it depended on the vendor. “If you buy it from the Wellington City Council it does not keep very long, unless it is put in a refrigerator,” he added. “I know that from personal experience." Settlers’ Request

An unusual request was verbally presented to the Wanganui Education Board on behalf of the settlers in the Upper Waitotara Valley. They asked for permission to close the school on occasions during the week and hold classes on Saturday, to enable teachers and parents to visit town for shopping, dental treatment, etc. The settlers are 27 miles up the valley from the railhead at Waitotara, and another 20 miles from Wanganui, their main shopping centre. Board members were sympathetic, and asked the chairman, the secretary, and the senior inspector to furnish a full report on the circumstances. Girls in Industry

Some misunderstanding has arisen in connection with the discussion at the Dominion conference of the National Council of Women on Friday on the question of the rehabilitation of woihen who have been directed to work in essential industries. The conference decided, on the motion of Mrs Forde (Wellington), seconded by Mrs W. K. Cameron (Dunedin), that the Government be asked to appoint a woman officer to the National Development Committee and to set up women’s committees to deal with the return to normal occupations of women directed into essential work in war-time. “ Woman’s Best Vocation ”

The question whether women employed in one of the departments of the North Canterbury Hospital Board could be compelled to remain with the department when their husbands returned from overseas or when they married men back from overseas was briefly discussed at a recent sitting in Christchurch of the No. 10 Armed Forces Appeal Board. When one member questioned whether the women could be released to set up home, the medical superintendent (Dr A. D. Nelson) gave it as his opinion that it would be better for them if they did that. “After all,” he said, “that is a woman’s best vocation.”

Factory Work “Parents feel that they do not wish their daughters! to work among noise, dust, and vibration, to be for ever standing or sitting at a job and to have no variety of occupation and no definite training,” stated a report which was received at a meeting of the Auckland Vocational Guidance Advisory Council. The report was prepared by Miss W. McNaughton, of the local centre. “In the case of some factory work this is only prejudice, since firms have done all they can to offset any disadvantages. In other Cases, nothing has been done, and until such conditions are remedied these firms will always have a certain difficulty in recruiting employees.” Protection of Opossums A report in favour of the continuation of the protection of opossums has been approved by the council of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society. The chairman, Mr D. J. Gibbs, said that, if the protection were removed, men would be deprived of their seasonal occupation, as inexperienced persons \yould trap in the summer, when the fur was of little value. Last year the Government received in licences and fees the sum of £5416. It would be an advantage to extend the season, and if the society was given a full share of the opossum revenues it could employ expert trappers permanently to trap infested properties. There would not then be any necessity to lift the protection, and a valuable industry would be retained. Basis of Valuation

Whether a garage which was built with a house should be valued as a separate unit was a question discussed by the Urban Land Sales Committee at Christchurch. Mr A. M. Hamlin, who valued a property for the Crown, gave it as his opinion that a large builder would not undertake the building of a solitary garage unless he had plenty of labour available. A small builder might undertake such a job, but his price would probably be higher. The chairman (Mr K. G. Archer) pointed out that the garage was built with the house and that the work would be done by a big builder at a cheaper price in these circumstances. “We are considering the replacement value and I think it is necessary to dissect the property and value the garage separately,” said Mr G. T. Weston, appearing for the vendor. “ The whole basis on which we value is by dissecting the various units of a property.” Deduction-free Wages What he termed a “ widespread popular misconception” as to the assessment of the social security contribution to be handed over by employers to the fund on account of deduction-free wages paid to employees, was referred to by counsel for the Socigl Security Department when explaining one of the charges against a defendant in the Magistrate’s Court at Lower Hutt. In the particular case, in which Waiwhetu Bakery (Dixon Brothers), Ltd., wer.e the defendants, the employee was paid £9 a week without the deduction, counsel said. The firm had been paying nine halfcrowns to the fund. The deductions, however, were established by law as part of the wages. The employee’s wages therefore worked out at £lO 5s 9d, and the tax payable was £1 5s 9d, and not £1 2s 6d, which the firm had been paying. The defendant company pleaded guilty through its counsel, Mr N. P. Gillespie, who said the offence was due, as counsel for the prosecution had stated, to a misconception of the position. The magistrate imposed a nominal penalty.

Health in Industry Dr J. M. Davidson, medical inspector cf factories for the Home Office, London, who is on loan to the Health Department to make a survey of hygiene in New Zealand factories, addressed the Wellington Manufacturers’ Association at its annual meeting. “The leading principle in the application of industrial hygiene is that every workman is entitled to good ventilation, lighting, warmth, and comfort, cleanliness and freedom from harmful gases, dust, fumes, or the ill-effects of radiations,” he said. The causation of occupational diseases and absences from work through illness was environal as well as biological, said Dr Davidson. The realisation of this in England had resulted in factories being supervised and inspected by specialists in industrial medicine, engineering, chemistry, and so on. The work of this Home Office inspectorate of specialists was not that of “ policing ” factories, but mainly supervisory and advisory, sometimes in a consultative capacity. Apart from the more obvious hygienic considerations, the inspectorate was also interested in the aesthetic standards of factories, as represented in siting, surroundings, and social amenities.