TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Southland Times, Issue 25302, 4 June 1935, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Skilled Workers Scarce. In its report on 1934, the British Ministry of Labour says that one effect of the improvement in the industrial situation was an active demand for certain kinds of workers possessing specialized skill, and employers in some cases were unable readily to secure a sufficient number of workers with the particular qualifications required. Even in trades such as the engineering trade, where there was a considerable amount of unemployment, there were cases in which the more highly skilled operatives could only be found with difficulty for certain key occupations, and a similar position occurred at the busiest period of building activity in regard to certain classes of skilled building-trade operatives. Shortages of labour, often of a local or temporary character, were also reported from time to time in certain other industries. In many cases local shortages were met by bringing suitable 1 workers from other districts.

Employers and Employed. Speaking at a conference in Birmingham of the Institute of Labour Management, Mr R. Lloyd Roberts, chief labour officer of Imperial Chemical Industries, Limited, said employees were no longer content to be meie “hands.” Though the trend of modern industrial organization tended to submerge the individual, that individual was better educated and had a totally different outlook from that which prevailed before the war. These two facts made a readjustment of relations between employer and employed imperative. Industry should be able to offer to the intelligent working man a job in which his self-respect was maintained. Until the question of this relationship was solved there was no adequate defence for the so-called capitalist system, and no satisfying answer to those who turned in despair to a Socialistic conception of industry. Competitors were too near our heels to permit of industrial disputes. Mr Lloyd Roberts thought employers and employed were far too conscious of their apparently conflicting interests and too little aware of the common bond between them. They were in danger of forgetting that both their fortunes were inseparably linked with the wellbeing of their industry. True labour management in the modern sense offered the only means of drawing both parties together in a real co-operative effort to secure the prosperity of the country’s industry.

Delivering the Budget. With the exception of Mr Bonar Law, there has been no Chancellor of the Exchequer during the last half-century who more studiously avoided “frillings ’ in a Budget speech than Mr Neville Chamberlain, writes a London correspondent. Take his one sentence peroration this afternoon—if it deserves the name—and compare it with Lord Snowden’s quotation from Swinburne. Or contrast his matter-of-fact presentation with the oratorical passages and the flashes of humour which always illumined the performances of Mr Winston Churchill. In the latter Victorian and Edwardian days (continues the correspondent), a Chancellor of the Exchequer would have regarded himself as having failed in his duty had his Budget speech been so matter-of-fact as that to which the House listened this year. Gladstone wound up with eloquent, sonorous periods. Goschen, so short-sighted that his words were sometimes lost in the papers he held close to his face, discarded them when he came to wind up, and his final passages were moving appeals in spite of his harsh, guttural enunciation. Even Sir Michael HicksBeach —“Black Michael” —relaxed at the close of his annual financial statement. Then there was Sir William Harcourt, who originated the estate duties. He was ponderous in patches, but too practised a speaker and too astute a politician to be dull for long. His Budgets were always interesting, even entertaining.

Last evening the Dominion Meteorologist issued the following information: An anti-cyclone continues over New Zealand, but pressure is relatively low to the north. Forecast: Winds freshening easterly north of Kawhia and East Cape; elsewhere light to moderate and variable, but mainly from the easterly quarter. Seas in New Zealand waters smooth to moderate but rising north of East Cape. Eastern Tasman Sea: East to south-east winds, fresh 'in the northern portion and light to moderate in the southern; seas smooth to moderate. Weather still fine generally, but cloudy at times on the east coast and in the far north, with some scattered rain from Poverty Bay northwards. A cold night, with inland frost and coastal fog.

The ordinary and special trains to and from Invercargill yesterday carried scores of travellers. Last night’s express which arrived from Dunedin at 9.10 had a large complement of passengers on board.

Advice has been received by the New Zealand office of the Australasian Institute of Secretaries, that the Public Service Commissioner has decided to accept the certificate of an examination pass of the institute for classification purposes in the, public service.

The weekly meeting of the W.E.A. literature class was held at Everybody’s Hall last evening when Mr I. L. Petrie presided over the usual attendance. The three-act pageant-play “Mary, Queen of Scots,” by Gordon Daviot, was read by Mesdames A. D. Francis and M. Acutt, Misses L. McKay, A. M. Finlayson, L. Keane and P. L. Hannah and Messrs W. O’Toole, P. Barlow, A. A. Stead, L. L. Robinson, J. S. Rountree, G. Swift and S. G. August. Next Monday evening “Men in White,” by Sidney Kingsley, will be read.

Called for the statutory annual meeting of the Auckland Transport Board the other day, the members of the authority found that they were excluded from the board room. The reason was that the board room was occupied by the staff now engaged in tracing cases of apparent plural voting in the recent election, and precautions for strict privacy have been made necessary. The board was in the curious position of having to hold its meeting in a small office room while, next door, officials were struggling with the task of determining who would be members of the next board.

About 40 delegates from Maori parishes throughout New Zealand will visit Rotorua towards the end of July to attend a meeting of the Maori Synod, at which the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett. Bishop of Aotearoa, will preside. The synod is expected to sit for some days, during which important discussions will take place.

A laugh was raised at a meeting of the Wanganui Acclimatization Society when the report of the ranger was being read. The ganger, in describing his visits to the various shooting localities, stated that at one lake there was only one shooter. “This was a police constable,” the report read, “and he produced his license without being asked for it.”

Speaking at the complimentary social tendered Mr C. D. /McConnell, ex-Mayor of Mataura, on Saturday night, Mr John G. Sutherland raised much laughter by his reasoning of Mr McConnell’s defeat that he regarded it as a case of “familiarity breeding contempt,” and he marvelled that the majority had not been bigger against, their ex-Mayor. “Why!” Mr Sutherland declared, “I was not in half the time the Mayor was. yet I sustained a much worse defeat.” (Loud laughter.)

An indication of the prolific dairy season experienced in ( the north was given by the chairman, Mr W. Grounds, at the annual meeting of the North Auckland Dairy Conference at Whangarei (reports the Auckland Star). Mr Grounds said that the Auckland grading figures showed that the north’s supply had increased by 5.54 per cent., while there had been a national decrease of 5.81 per cent. The percentage of butter received from the north in relation to the remainder of New Zealand had been 25.05 per cent., compared with 23.03 per cent, last year.

At the fortnightly meeting of the Invercargill branch of the New Zealand Labour Party held in the Trades Hall on Saturday evening, a resolution strongly supporting the action of the Invercargill Headmasters’ Association in connection with that association’s decision not to take part in the parade held in connection with the Empire Jubilee celebrations, was carried. Members who spoke regarding the matter were firmly of the opinion that the explanation given by the Headmasters’ Association and recently published in the Press completely covered the matter and deplored the attitude taken up by the Southland Education Board.

Criticism of the lack of co-operation among dairy farmers was expressed at the annual meeting of the Dairy Farmers’ Union in Palmerston North by Mr W. H. Gimblett. He expressed the opinion that those engaged in the industry could themselves right the problems with regard to pork and bacon quotas. There would be no real need for an outside commission to govern the industry if the farmers themselves would pull together. As matters stood now, he prophesied that in a few years the control of the industry would go out of their hands altogether and be in those of trusts which would tell the industry what was wanted and what was not.

Speaking at Mr McConnell’s complimentary social at Mataura on Saturday evening a humorous incident was narrated by ex-Councillor John G. Sutherland, who was defeated at the recent election. Approached by an elector who admitted not having supported him, Mr Sutherland invoked a scriptural sentence to aid him in his reply. “Well,” asked the elector, “what is it like to be out of the council?” With characteristic promptitude the ex-city father replied, “It’s all in the Scriptures. Did you ever read about Lazarus being 1 licked by the dogs?” But his further explanations to the gathering were lost in the burst of laughter which greeted the retort.

The kokopu, a fish known by some Maoris as the para, has, according to a Taranaki resident, been proved to be susceptible to 'human influences. The attention of Mr L. S. Mackie, of Otakeho, was attracted to the fish in a stream on his property. Since then he has studied the fish and discovered interesting facts about their habits. Mr Mackie says he has found that every winter the fish leave his stream, even though he and his daughter have made constant companions of them and fed them regularly. The fish will eat out of the hands of Mr and Miss Mackie, but will have nothing to do with strangers. The conclusion arrived at is that the kokpu depart every winter to hibernate in the mud. Every spring they reappear, and will come at the splashing of their human friends and eat from their hands again.

An improvement of £1631 in the working profits of the Railways Department is shown by the accounts for the first period of four weeks ended April 27 in the new financial year. The net revenue was £117,691, as against £116,060 in the corresponding period last-year! The gross revenue for the whole system was £532,204, an increase of- £11,628, and the expenses were £414,513, an increase of £9997. The operating profit on the North Island railways was £52,883,. or £782 more than last year, while that in the South Island increased by £2947 to £41,894. In the North Island revenue increased by £8372 to £275,011, and expenses by £7590 to £222,128. In the South Island the revenue of £203,508 was higher by £4679, and the expenses were up by £lO4O to £161,614. Net revenue from other than railway services was £22,914, or £2790 less than last year. The gross revenue was £53,685, and the expenditure £30,771.

A story intended to illustrate the sympathy of a good confessor was told by the Hon. W. Hayward, M.L.C., speaking at a gathering to bid farewell to Father S. O’Connor, S.M., at St. Mary’s Church hall, Manchester street, Christchurch, on Wednesday evening (states the Press). It was the story, said, Mr Hayward, of an unfortunate man who had committed a murder, and who felt the necessity of confessing his crime. He had gone to a clergyman, not a Roman Catholic, to confess; but as soon as the clergyman had heard the word “murder” he had taken flight, afraid that he might be another victim. Then the man had gone to a kindly priest and stated his offence, waiting fearfully to see what the effect might be. But the priest, hearing that he had committed murder, simply said: “Very good, my child. How often?” Mr Hayward added that this was a story which he was accustomed to tell only to a Catholic audience,'as it knew just what to take out of it.

A young female black-faced kangaroo, which has been a mascot on the Bank Line' motor-ship Elmbank, was presented to the Auckland Zoological Park by the master, Captain V. Harper, before the vessel left Auckland recently. The kangaroo, which was officially named Lulu, but was popularly known by the ship’s company as the Roo, joined the vessel at Bunbury, Western Australia, several months-ago. It soon became an excellent sailor and was a great favourite on board, being remarkably tame. As it was possible that the Elmbank might shortly have to visit countries with colder climates, unsuitable for the animal, Captain Harper decided it would be better to leave it at Auckland. The black-faced kangaroo is a fairly rare species, and is very graceful both in its limbs and movements. The animal from the vessel is an excellent specimen in perfect health and condition, so that the offer was gladly accepted by the zoo authorities. The kangaroo is being kept in quarantine at the zoo for a short period.

A baby born in Masterton recently can claim, in the matter of ancestors, what is regarded to be a record for New Zealand. The infant has 10 living ancestors, all of whom were born in New Zealand. First there is the father and mother, then come two grandmothers and two grandfathers, three great-grandmothers, arid lastly one great-great-grandmother.

With a loud explosion, pieces of coal flew from an open fireplace in the luggage room at the Ashburton railway station the other day, and further pieces were thrown far out into the room as a series of minor explosions took place over the next few minutes. Two railwaymen who were near the fire were struck on the face by pieces of coal, and, fearing that soirie explosive had found its way into the fire among the coal, they beat a hasty retreat behind a pile of luggage. Investigation showed that a piece of rock in the fire had blown to pieces.

Sportsmen sometimes display considerable powers of description, and some examples were provided at Wednesday night’s meeting of the North Canterbury Acclimatization Society (states the Press). At one stage a member said of another: “He knows no more about shooting ducks than catching them in a saleyard'.” When one member suggested restrictions on the use of power-boats on the ground that ducks were disturbed, another retorted: “They will soon want duck-shooters to shoot with blank cartridges, and fishermen to use hooks without barbs.”

On Friday last the seismological instruments at the Dominion Observatory, Kelburn, recorded at 5.17 p.m. a long-distance earthquake. It was one of moderate intensity compared with some world shakes of recent years and it probably originated near the surface. It was estimated to be distant from Wellington about 4700 miles, apparently due east or due west.' A cable message has just been received from the Apia Observatory, Samoa, giving details of the record that the same earthquake made there, it being estimated to have been distant from Samoa about 4600 miles. As yet there has been no cable news to indicate that any inhabited portion of the globe was rudely shaken on Friday last, but a severe earthquake has since been reported from Formosa. Very few local earthquakes have been recorded at Kelburn lately.

When the New Plymouth Canary and Cage Bird Club drew up its schedule for its third annual show it made provision for a talking-parrot class. Two entries were received, one a green parrot and the other a cockatoo. The stage was set for the contest, and the stewards, the judge, and a bevy of people gathered round (states the Taranaki Daily News). However, the contest early gave indications of becoming one of dumb show. The cockatoo resolutely kept silent, and any amount of coaxing and feeding had little effect. The green parrot was obviously interested in the crowd, but was apparently not on talking terms with the judge. Finally a casual “Hullo” by a young man as he passed the cage terminated the deadlock. The parrot immediately replied, and the two, man and bird, total strangers to one another, chatted away in friendly style. The cockatoo had nothing to say when the parrot was awarded the prize.

The most' international business in New Zealand is the Post Office, and the staff of the G.P.O. is consequently well equipped to deal with all language complications which arise in connection with world-wide activities (states the Dominion). There al's lingual experts in the Post Office capable of translating most modern languages, and the office translates correspondence for many other Government departments in languages which they may not be able to translate for themselves. An interesting feature of the work of the translating staff is concerned with postal packages which have been sent abroad and not delivered, the superinscription often giving the reason for returning them to the sender, and on one recent occasion this information was written in Polish. But the excellent resources of the office fa’iled to deal with o.ne emergency because this involved the translation of Hebrew. The difficulty was overcome by temporarily co-opting a friendly expert from outside.

Attention is directed to a notice by the Railway Department calling tenders for the purchase of Railway Cottage No. 159, Gore.—Advt.

A perfect blend. DEWAR’S WHISKY. Advt.

Ladies >ave your winter coat, costume, day or evening frock made at MISS NOBLE’S, The Tiby Shop, Dee Street. Your own material made up at reasonable prices.—Advt.

Insist on knowing the contents of every remedy you give to baby. Nyal Baby Cough Syrup is free from opiates and can be given with absolute safety. It brings quick relief too! Brown’s Pharmacy. Geprge H. Brown, Chemist. —Advt. !

To-day—See our Special Display of Beautyform Corsets and Wrap Ons. We are Southland’s only agents.—Wicks’ Ltd., Dee Street.—Advt.

Newest 'Suits and Overcoats at big reductions at Carter’s Rebuilding Sale. All makes of Blankets at Bargain prices. Stock has to go to make room for builders. (Advt.)

Chiffon Finished Worrel Dyed fast pile Velveteen, 36 inches wide is selling at Thomson & Beattie for 5/11 Yard. This is the usual 7/6 quality and the colour range is as follows: Nigger, Malacca, Burgundy, Vintage,- Cruise Blue, Cornflower, Empire, Evening Blue, Clear Pink, Flag Red, Dusty Green, Coral and Ivory. Send for samples if you cannot call.—Advt.

Don’t let baby’s cough get a ' firm hold. “Nip it in the bud” by administering Nyal Baby Cough Syrup to the tittle patient. Nyal is the safest and best remedy for baby’s cough. George H. Brown, Chemist.—Advt.

Any lady who is contemplating a New Fur Coat this Winter, would be well advised to inspect our range of the finest quality Fur Coats in Southland. All classes of skins at prices that are truly the lowest in the trade for the high quality of the goods offered. We make up on the premises to your own style, any class of coat at no extra cost. Your own choice of linings, etc. Satisfaction guaranteed. Inspection invited. - THE MUTUAL FUR COY, Manufacturing Furriers, Tay Street,— Advt. ' For WINTER PHOTOGRAPHY. Make sure of GOOD NEGATIVES by using only the better fiIms—SELOCHROME. VERICHROME OR ISOCHROMEthen make sure of GOOD PICTURES by leaving your films at STEWART’S PHARMACY for DEVELOPING and PRINTING—Advt REWARD FOR PROMPT ACTION. In times of danger—when colds and influenza threaten—act promptly with Baxter’s Lung Preserver. Instant relief and absolute safety will be your reward. “Baxter’s” is quick, “Baxter’s” is safe, “Baxter’s” is certain. A wonderful friend in every home, “Baxter"s” is best for old and young alike. That is because “Baxter’s” is a pure, safe and pleasant remedy best for all coughs colds, and chest complaints. 1/6, 2/6 and 4/6. Insist on Baxter’s. —Advt

The aeroplane landing ground at the Hermitage, Mount Cook, which has been under construction for some time past, will probably be completed in the spring. The recent heavy fall of snow has held up the work for a while, but construction will be continued as soon as possible. Mr R. L. Wigley, managing director of the Mount Cook Tourist Company, stated recently that the company had been granted a license to operate one machine in Canterbury, Otago and Westland, with permission to made flights from Wellington.

Referring to the Anti-War League in Japan, Dr Kagawa in his address at the Opera House, Wanganui, told how he had addressed a meeting of this organization in Tokio. Outside the building, and on the streets were displayed posters: “Kill Kagawa—an enemy of his country.” The police, however, had.taken measures to protect Dr Kagawa, and when the meeting commenced there were 400 policemen in the hall, all of them facing the audience. “It was funny to think of 400 men to protect one man —me,” said the speaker.

Figures supplied by the Unemployment Board show that registrations of unemployed as at May 11 totalled 52,061, an, increase of 1318 on the figure recorded in April. The number of part-time employment under scheme 5, or on sustenance in lieu of relief work as at May 11 was 35,253, compared with 34,963 on May 12, 1934, an increase of 290. The number in fulltime employment, but assisted by wages subsidies from the Unemployment Fund, was 16,808 on the same date, compared with 26,921 a ' year ago, a decrease of 10,113. This makes the total number who are a charge on the Unemployment Fund, 52,061, as compared with 61,884 a year ago, a reduction of 9823.

“The long spell of dry weather in the summer considerably affected the quantity and quality of the honey , produced in South Auckland,” stated the executive of the South Auckland branch of the National Bee-keepers’ Association in its report at the annual meeting. The 'executive stated that while some progress had been made in improving marketing conditions there was still need for more unity among bee-keepers in developing their marketing arrangements to the mutual advantage of all concerned. Subscriptions had been slow in arriving, and as a result the credit balance had been much reduced. Many members, however, had since paid their amounts. It was reported that there had been an increase in the depredations of the wax moth, and bee-keepers were urged to do all they could to prevent the spread of the pest.