DRY SPELL BROKEN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17472, 22 January 1931, Page 7

DRY SPELL BROKEN

WELCOME RAIN WHOLE DISTRICT REJOICES Welcome rain fell in Gisjborhe and surrounding districts today, and the occasion was one for great on the part of farmers and townspeople alike. The district'has been without rain for nearly five weeks, except for a very light fall on the morning of New Year's. Eve, when .sin. was recorded in Gisborne. Prior to that, the last rain tell on December.. 19, but again-the reading was low, showing only .Sin. On December 3 .20in. was recorded, and on the following day only .2in. fell. Then there was no further rain until December 16, when' .3in. was registered in Uisbovne, and on tho next ,day .12in. tell. The total rainfall in Gisoorne for the .month of December was .47in. Light rain set in shortly before 3 o'clock this morning, and continued steadily until 8 o clock, when,it cleared, but resumed after about half-an-hour It rained almost continuously through out the remainder of the momingi. At 9 o'clock .ZOin. had been recorded in Gisborne. Although this morning's rain has not been sufficiently heavy" to effect any material chance iii the condition of the. browned pastures, it bus been greatly appreciated fry everyone; ; particularly those in the eouniry. The whole countryside is,badly in need of.moisture,, and steady iaiip would be a piece of good fortune to the 'distfict generally, j HEAVY FALL IN HAWSE'S BAY (Per Fri«sn Association.) WAIPLKIKAI.', last night. Following it temperature of 92.70 degrees in the shade yesterday, a prolonged spell of dry weather was broken this afternoon. Heavy and steady rain fell. The whole countryside was brown and the ground parched and cracked. The Inst measurable rainfall recorded was on November 26. There has been insufficient rain.since September and .wells and creeks have gone dry, the first time for many years. There is general rejoicing at the present rainfall, which will do incalculable good throughout Central U'awke 's Bay. MEASURES FOR GOVERNMENT "Besides these necessary ■ adjustments in private business and industry, there are certain measures which the Government itself should adopt. It is agreed that the budget must be maflo to balance, but' it is certainly not desirable/ at such a time, that any anticipated deficit should be made up by rdstorting to increased taxation. i''he Government runs* do what fanners, business men and private pc-sons are now obliged to do— they, mllst balance their budget by decreasing expenditure. The fact that taxation has been.so heavily increased since the Government assumed office is one of the contributing causes of the present difficulty. "With regard to railway construction, the Reform Party urges that there should be an immediate review of the whole .question] in the light of tho present financial position and also with reference to the continued expansion of road transport. I commend to the Government the adoption of the following principles:"That work on all new lines should be stopped except in any case where it cau be proved' (a) that the new line, when complete, will bo economically sound, or (b) that the annual loss, if the line were finished, would be less than the annual loss if construction ceased. Now we believe it imperative also that the operating railwavs should be removed entirely from political influence by vesting their control in a non-political directorate. A board of directors should be chosen to |represont the various parts of the Dominion and the various classes of railway users. The executive management of the railways, as distinct from their direction, would not bo affected. "Finally, we of the Reform Party, regard it as essential that the Government should at once abandon tho principle of paying the full standard wages to single* men engaged on purely relief works. I make this statement now in elaboration of a brief statement which I'inade a few davs ago when, following a special conference of the Reform Party, I declared that I and my party still adhered to our original offer made to the United Government when it first assumed office, namely, that we were prepared to assist the Government in passing anv measures which "»ere in the real interests of tne community as a whole. The Government can rely upon our support if it will now initiate these urgently necessary measures." INDEPENDENT TRIBUNAL TO HELP FARMERS CANTERBURY SUGGESTION (Per Pr« 88 Assentation.) OHRLSTCHUROII, lust night. The setting up of an independent tribunal, to which farmers in financial difficulties could appeal, will be urged at a conference in Wellington shortly when representatives of all rural interests will place the position of the country before the Prime Minister. The following resolution was adopted bv the North Canterbury Provincial executive of the Farmers' Union this afternoon: "That this meeting recommends to the forthcoming conference that the necessary legislation be secured to protect farmers from foreclosure, farmers in difficulties to have the right to appeal to an Independent tribunal to be set up, the tribunal to have power to mfik,e reasonable adjustments in order to secure equality of sacrifice between all parties' interested, the first charge on the income of any farm to bo the reasonable living cost of the man working the farm." The motion caused considerable discussion, mainly along the lines that farmers were 'facing the hardest of times. A reduction of Government expenditure, especially in the civil service, was advocated.