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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9643, 19 January 1903, Page 1

A formei- West Australian Minister for Work*, on his return from England, stated that the loss of confidence m West Australia, by British investors is partly due to legislation against capital. The history of the Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association is a record m l>he co-operative movement. The paid-up capital is £43,500, and the reserve fund is £24,800. The profit, last .year amounted to £12,300, jind the total .amount available for distribution as dividends was £13,400. The turn-over for last year was £400,000. During the past twenty-one years the company has distributed over £80,000 m profits. The Angoi'a goats which the New Zealand Government imported from Soutii Australia tiavc become thoroughly acclimatised m the Wellington district. Many settlers am anxious to secure sonic of .them, but the Government are not dispt,»sed to sell. Angoras thrive on poor Jfe4anv4. They eat scrub readily and do well •■Tin peaces where sheep would starve. The <Hon. .James Can-oil, Native Minister, ~<talks of introducing some Angora, goats into the n_ountainous country of the Ure>v.__a natives, '<lku ilecuc of the goat is of very co.nsidt:rable value, and is wortli more Jhau most *heep wool. The .i'-p-operative aiovement continues to moke i,?niaikable pingress m England, despite the organised opjKwiUon of the Traders 1 Assodjation. The U>U sates of the Co-operative Wholesale bociety duritig the past cpw-ter ,«>oj^«4 & £4,409,588, an increase of J8243,408, or 5i per cent, over the- corre_pon_ing period of last year. From the society s productive works alone supplies aggregatmg £722,159, or an increase of £88,923, have been sent out. Iv St. Ikleus, whea-e the boycott had its geuesis, thece lias been an accession during the past qwter of 148 new members, while the uicre^ vi tne , sales over the- corresponding period .of^st rear amounts to £4250. The Oamaru Mail thus kicks at the 1 ..Defence Department changes : "There is vto be a concentration of military authority m the metropolitan centres, so that all tho strings will be pulled and the postage stamps moistened at these by & -ailitary autocracy. Really our War Oflice is no bettor than that of Great Britain, whose magnuicent inertia and gorgeous .official self-sum- ' ciency would have gosh bur nation its prestige and its .domiwiion m South Africa, bad wiser counsels »x>t prevailed. We are just going to drift .b.a<jk to the •Old state of things military whw jd/spipline by memorandum was wxe ocdw qf tue iday, and when all enthusiasm was .crush-) ed out of willing and able officers ,by tardy responses and snubs from uead.s^uarters."

The champion card-player m Russia, Count Poklevsky-Koaell, has become bankrupt, after a. series of unprecedented losses at the tables. On the first day of November he was still a wealthy landowner, but m the course of one week he lost over one million sterling at baccarat. He sold all his ancestral estates, valued at £500,000, and sacrificed his entire fortune to pay these debts of honor. He is now left absolutely destitute, with considerable debts to tradesmen and others, m consequence of which he has declared himself a bajiklmpt. Ho intends to emigrate, and to begin life afresh m. the United States. The Lyttelton Times, a. strongly Ministerial paper, says:— "The Minister for Public Works, who has just returned from an inspection of the Otwgo Central railway, is not likely to speak with the sanie frankness as the representative of this journal who uccomptuiied him does concerning the prospects of the line. There are several obvious reasons why Mr Hall-Jones should prefer to keep his opinion to himself. We cannot help thinking, however, that he must have wondered, with our representative, why the railway w.is ever started. It lrius already cost m one way and another fully a million of money, and there is no chance of it paying as muck as 2 per cent, upon that huge sum before the rails require to be relaid. Most of the country through which it runs is poor and rugged, sparsely populated, and quite unsuited for close settlement." In an article on fruitgrowing, the Dannev.irke Advocate > says : — It is gratifying to notice that m some parts of the colony farmers are awakening to the fact tliafc money may be made by raising fruit; notably m. the Mamiwutu ' tuul at Hastings. At the latter place the industry is being rapidly developed, and large quantities c*f fruit of every description are being sent each season to Wellington and the West Coast of tliis isla.nd. Hastings, m fact, bids fair to outrival Nelson, as the centre of a fruit-raising district, and already there ai*e many large orchards around that thriving Ha.wke's Bay town, one being as much as 100 acx r es m extent. ' All varieties of fruit are grown by Hastings orchardists, some giving special attention to the production of grapes from which wines are made. As showing the extent to which the business h«s been developed at Hastings, it might be mentioned that a competent authority estimates that 57,000 cases of fruit, of every variety, will be sent from thnt towa this season. They take their cricket seriously m Maiiborough. In that province the projected visit of Lord Howke's team is causing great excitement. The Marlborough. Express is deluged with letters from anonymous correspondents, who outvie each other hi the bitterness' of their epithets. Charges of personal spite and "disappointed and mistaken ambition" are frequent and free, and all arising from .letters attacking the Selection Committee for the Marlborough province. One bilious critic, whose pen lfolme, "Excelsior," gives the lie to his . dreary pessimism, denies that Lord Ha,wke's visit will foster cricket. "Allow me to say," he remarks, "it's* the worst thing .that ever happened to our country teams. It's only a case of a. round trip for the English boys, and a win for them at each town by so many wickets ; a Wretched procession for our men. ea«h day, with enough leather-hunting to lust them till next season." He expresses the opinion tba.t "the Australian schoolboys could put an eleven m against our 22J and dish them up just as easily," and concludes with a pious hope that the match may last a day. The following paragraph m a London daily contains a hint regarding political "good form" that whs needed before our last general elect'um: — "Recent events suggest what is known m the slang of the Stock Exchange ".is a 'slump' m Speakers. A few weeks ago Mr Speaker Mason lost' his seat at the general election m Victoria, and now comes news of a similar disaster to Mr Speaker O'Rorke, of New Zealand. In England it is not considered 'good form' to oppose the Speaker, although, the Tories did violate political etiquette by striving their utmost to evict Mr Gully from Carlisle m 1895, shortly after he had been elevated to the chair by a Liberal majority. However, that was an exceptional exhibition of bad taste ; but- m the colonies the sanctity tlm.t surrounds the Speaker's chair at Westminster has not yet hlad time to grow. An ex-Speaker m England is solaced by a peerage and a pension, but these consolations ai'e nob for his colonial brother. He generally gets a knighthood ; but that only partially heals the hurt. He wanders dejectedly, through the lobbies, like a restless spirit through Paradise." By a recent mail the Secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce received the following extract from the British Trade Journal: — "Americana are about to make a bold attempt to capture a larger portion of the Australian trade. The White Star limer, Oregon, of 3235 tons register, which, is* being tilted up as a sample warehouse, will leave Seattle m November, aud after visiting China, Japan, South Africa and other countries will reach Australia about the end of February. Each firm displaying samples pays £400 for a certain space on the Lower deck, and it is anticipated that most of the leading American industries will be represented. Advance agents have been appointed at the various ports of call, and arrangements made for booking orders and supplying samples to likely customers. The vessel wjll anchor iv each, port visited, communication with the shore being maintained by means of steam launches. It is believed that the profits of the expedition will ensure a handsome dividend to its promoters." Contrasting Mr Hall- Jones's boast m having constructed 15 miles of the Cheviot railway m 2_ years over perfectly level country, at a cost of £5000 per mile, the Christ church Press shows, what lias been accomplished m other parts of the world. It says : — We may take an example which we gather from the report of the proceedings at the lust general meeting of the Entro Rios (River Plate) Railway Company, Limited. This company is by no means jji affluent circumstances. The railway was token over by the bondholders tome years ago, m what the chaiirman" described as a "derelict and broken down" condition, from the provincial authorities, as practically the only asset that was available. By means or very 'careful management. * the directors are able to iMiy a dividend of 2 per cent, to the bondholders, and no more. Not long ago they came to the conclusion that they ought to construct a link line of 72 miles, coupling up their station of Vilagua with the port, and (own of Concordia. It was constructed within a year, and at a cos); of £2000 a mile. \Vlmt has Mr HadlJones to say to this? Surely Vlie Government of New Zealand ought to be ashamed of being thus put to the blush by a comparatively weak South American railway company. The difference between the two is that m the. South American case the railway was constructed by business men for business reasons, and therefore it wsus completed as soon as possible, so that the cuuipwiy uiight quickly get the benefit of the traffic returns. The political system m New Zealand is to drag the work out as long as possible, the object being not to get ib finished, but- to keep it on hand as it we-Ve, so as to buy- votes for the Government. ,