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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 10228, 10 December 1904, Page 1

What a wonderful effect it might have if the Premier were to start,farming, the Eltluun Argus hazards. The tiling is not impossible. A Taranaki land agent is on the look-out for a farm properly, ostensibly for one of the Premier's family, "but," says our informant, "I believe it is for the 'Old Man' 'himself." A prominent Parisian banker calculates that over £650,000,000 of Russian bonds and commerciaL securities are now >held m France. Any panic or continued pressure of sales would! liave' far-reach-ing effects m all the money markets of the world. The end) of the war will bring relief to other countries than Japan and Russia. There is said to be a. great glut m tlie Wellington city labor market. The secretary of the Wharf Laborers' Union states that lately there have been many applications for work on the wharves. A large j number of the applicants come from! Auckland, Australia and Westland, the Westlunders being mostly miners out of work. Mr McLaren recognises that the volume" of trade and the resultant demand! for labor are stea<Lily increasing, but the seekers after work have increasedi out of all proportion. He adds tliat what is wanted is a special' wharf labor bureau, and this Mr McLaren says would disclose a sorry state of .things. The prospects are «loomy on account of the excessive number of men seeking employment. The street-widening difficulty m connection with the construction of tramways m narrow streets m the flat boroughs of Dunedin, lias again cropped np. The South Dunedin Council has refused to consent to an amendment of the Vi Order-in-Councili empowering the city to ■H proceed with single lines m its borough, with the result that the City Council' lias instructed its solicitors to take the necessary steps to obtain an- order under "The Tramways Act, 1894." Most Councillors favor street-widening, but it is extremely doubtful if the ratepayers would sanction a further loan of £60,000 or £70,000 for that purpose. The noncompletion of the tramway works m the flat boroughs has already cost the city something like £10,000, and further delay means a very serious loss to the city. Already the submarine is giving scope to the inventive genius of its commander and crew m the matter of tactics. During some recent manoeuvres of the Englisli fleet one commander took m tow an -ompty shell shaped to imitate exactly the -back of a submarine. When well m sight i«f the enemy's vessel, with the certainty •of being discovered, the submarine plunged, leaving the dummy to occupy the attention of the gunners while it made its way to the opposite side of the vessel >to the attack, and succeeded) m successfully delivering its torpedo. During*the French manoeuvres off Cherbourg a number of bottles were left to float m the -•■■;■■: J track of the coming enemy, the necks of Si^^rhich were sliaped to resemble the peri▼scope of a submarine, and from the deck of a ship worn easily mistaken for the real thing. The men-of-war were caught by tho trick, opening fire on the bottles, while the submarine was at work on the other side. It is evident that these little vessels will* put a new and great strain on the crews of warships, who will be obliged to pay the strictest attention to every object near them, no matter how innocent it may appear, for there will be no telling what inoffensive shapes they may not adopt while lying m wait •for tlie enemy. . Mr Bent, -the Victorian Premier, lias been termed) a Sabbatarian by one of the Melbourne newspapers because he cympathjsedl with a deputation that protested against Sunday trains. The Premier said" last week that he was not a rigid Sabbatarian, but he was a strong advocate of the preservation of Sunday as a day of rest for all! classes. Working men, "above all classes, should guard it most jealously. It- was the finest institution they had!. Mr Bent objected to the recent opening of the Public Library and Art Gallery on Sundays, although the majority of his Cabinet sanctioned! it. He is also opposed to the extension of Sunday trains, and) intends to check the £ I Railway Commissioners, who have lately jjgf been arranging attractive Sunday excurfk eions to some of the beauty spots about *' Melbourne. He even goes so far as to question the right of steamers to make trips dowu the bay. His contention is that all these serwcee mean that additional men bare to work. "Looking at religion from the point of view of a Minister of the State," remarked the Premier. "I regardi it a* the best policemau of all. What* the good! of religious instruction m State schools if parents ■won't wud their childi-en to church andi Sunday school on Sunday, but take them out for excursions instead?"