LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 43, 16 September 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The monthly meeting of the Stratford County Council will bo held at the County Office, Stratford, on Saturday next, at 11 a.m.

The mail train this morning carried south on their way to camp several Taranaki men who have been up on

their final leave

At the King's Cinema to-night sonic snapshots of the departure from Stratford of the 43rd Reinforcements will he screened.

The annual meeting of the To Popo Dairy Company was held on Saturday,'the chairman (Mr G. C. Knox) presiding. The annual report as follows was adopted :—The payments for hutterfat have been at the rate of Is 6d per lb, and the £415 Is lid to credit of the working account will ~-ivo anothe/ 2&d, making Is 7*d, a satisfactory result of the season's working, adequate allowance having been made for depreciation of buildings and plant. Cheese-making: Ins milk, 9-14,524 ; test, '3.92; lbs fat, 37,076; lbs cheese factory weight, 00 808' lbs milk to lib cheese, 10.18; lbs cheese to lib butterfat, 2.51. The retiring director Mr W. M. Knox, was re-elected as was also Mr G. Knox (chairman). Mr A. Coleman was reappointed auditor. It was decided to I donate C 5 to the Red Cross Country Copper Trail Fund.

At the Patriotic Rooms on Saturday the takings were as under:— Shop, £8 10s 9d; Tea-rooms, £'9 ss. The Women's National Reserve monthly tea tor mothers and wives of j soldiers takes place in the Town Hall I to-moivovv (Tuesday) afternoon. The dust nuisance has been' making itself felt during the last few days, and the borough water-cart is again in action, being kept fully occupied resisting the latest counter-attacks of the enemy. Weather forecast:—The indications are for westerly winds to gale. The weather will probably prove squally find changeable. Weather clouding over, rain later. Barometer falling.— Bates, Wellington. , It is understood .the secretary of the Borough Copper Trail movement (Mr H. T. Cooper) has received another offer of a donation of £-50. It is to be hoped that others will come forward with similar sums, to make" up the total to £3OO, a.s the amounts offered are conditional on the sum stated being readied. Contrasting a t Wellington last week the case of a farmer appellant with a number of brothers, with that of other men in a similar position, Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M. (Chairman of the Second Wellington Military Service Board), remarked upon the very indifferent spirit in which certain families seemed to regard their war obligations. Some families, he said, 'were willing to sacrifice everything, but the reservist's family, apparently, would not make any sacrifice at all, though they had been in the country 60 years and had a fairly big stake in it to defend. In one case that came before the Board, that of a family named Murphy, out of nine j brothers eighT had gone to the front, and the youngest hoy, who was tinder age, had enlisted and gone into camp. In another case, two brothers had gone to the front and been killed, and the Board would have let off the third and only surviving son, but the parents wanted him to go, as he was very keen. In the case now before the Board it wa s true that the ' reservist was the only fit.man in the family, bu£ that seemed all the more reason why the others should mako an effort to let him go. In the Board's opinion it was a bad case of endeavouring not to do their duty, and tho appeal would be dismissed.

"I enjoy living on the surface of the earth again, after being cooped up in a monastry. There are plenty of the native inhabitants going about; one greasy-looking, one-eyed gentleman from Bethlehem had one of o ur fellows arrested the other day for stealing, and he came up before me for orderly room," writes a nephew of Mr G. W. Murray (Remuora), who i s soldiering in Palestine. In a review of the proceedings the letter goes on to state: "Through an interpreter the gentleman explained thas the .soldier, who had been drinking some native-fire-water, had met him returning from shopping, taken 40 piastres' worth of tobacco out of his hand, giving him only two piastres for. it, and had walked off. The soldier's story wa s that the native stood with a lot of things- in his arms, which he, the soldier,' took to be proffered for sale. he thought two piastres the full value, and took the toba'ceo. I asked the Christian Syrian if he, being a Christian, would accept the tobacco back if the soldier Christian from Glasgow would make an apology, and so have the charge withdrawn. He at once agreed, so 1 handed him back the tobacco, and told the man a dour young miner, to apologise. He did not know what t o say, so held out his hand. The Syrian seized it with both hands and then kissed the Scotsman on both cheeks. Sensation in Court. The Jock's face was a study, and so i daresay was my own when the dark man essayed to treat nio to a like exhibition."

What does the elector ask for if lie signs the Liquor Trade’s Petition? Ostensibly he requests a poll on three issues t—f National Continuance, National Ownership and National Prohibition. But read the Liquor Trade’s Petition carefully and it will bo found that it asks that these issues are not only to be decided on a bare majority vote but the cleetqr is to vote for one issue only, and, still more important, that no issue is to l>c carried unless it secures a majority of the total votes cast on the three issues. Just what this delightfully undemocratic measure involves is best seen by- noting how it might work out at an elect ion. Suppose National Continuance, secures a majority—plainly The Trade wins. Suppose National Ownership secures a majority, who wins? The Trade, as will be clearly seen when its price is made known. But suppose none of the three issues secures a majority, who wins? The Trade, once more scores for there would be no change. In short. Liquor demands a three-to-one chance. Not had odds, is it?—for.. Liquor. Contrast this with the Alliance Petition. The National Efficiency Board investigated the Liquor Traffic with impartiality. After hearing the arguments of all sides and classes. It came to the conclusion, that the Liquor Traffic is one of New Zealand’s greatest enemies to efficiency. In the interests of the people if. therefore proposed to secure National Prohibition at once—provided a majority of electors were in favour of that course. I The Alliance Monster Petition asks ; Parliament to grant a poll on the basis of the Board’s report. , Sign the N.Z. Alliance Petition and refuse to sign that on behalf of 1 Liquor. If you have signed the lati ter under a misapprehension, ask your ; M.P. to have your name removed or , send word to the N.Z. Alliance representative at once. 05