NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 56, 4 May 1928, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

KOTES FROM ALL PARTS. yHE DOMINION DAT BY DAY. ; Arapuni Trout. Ninety-seven trout were caught in Lake Arapuni last >veek by tone angler trolling from a launch, according to a report received hy the ; Auckland Acclimatisation Society (reports our correspondent). Such wholesale slaughter is viewed wtih alarm, as it would be impossible to keep this fine sheet of water stocked against such depredations. It is probable, therefore, that the society will frame regulations to limit the day's catch by trolling before the next fishing season opens. * * Football hy Electric Light The practice of holding sports meetings under electric light is growing in popularity in New Zealand, and is rapidly spreading from one form of sport to another. Although Rugby footballers hav e practised t and in some places played, under artificial light for a considerable time, no attempt has yet been made in Wellington to supplement the natural daylight. On the Eastbourne ground on Saturday, however, when the local team was pitted against Athletic, floodlights about the ground were switched on as the daylight began to fail, and the gams wag? finished with the playing area illuminated.

f> * Gifts to Charity. Donations of £2OOO each to the Auckland Play and Recreation Association and the Salvation Army Congress Hall Fund were announced at the annual meeting of trustees of the Auckland Savings. Bank last week (states the New Zealand Herald). Th e president of the bank, Mr E. Anderson, said the.trustees had given due consideration to the undenominational character of the services rendered by each body, which carried out work of value to the whole community. The decision to contribute the sums was based upon the personal' knowledge of the trustees that service was being rendered in each case entirely without regard for denomiantion, colour, or creed. The donation to the Play Association was to assist in the purchase Of a community club building. Each donation would be subject to the approval of the Governor-Gen-eral-in-Council. m • Roading the Backblocks. Criticism of the Liberal" Government on its land .settlement policy between 1908 and 1911 was indulged i n by the Minister of Lands (the Hon. A. D. McLeod) in the course of a speech at Ihuraua last" week. Between the years mentioned, said Mr. McLeod, the Government threw on the market three million acres of Crown lands, which had "not even' a wood-hen track." Much of the deterioration that had gone on had been due to the inefficient roading to those properties and the present Government had'had to undertake a roading policy on lands that should never have been placed on the market before road access had been provided. This had meant the expenditure of millions of pounds. During the last six years th e Government had had a continuous fight to keep the people on the land, but this struggle would not have been necessary had the lands been roaded before settlement. The Minister paid a tribute to the roading policy laid down by Mr C'oates when he wa s Minister of Public Works, saying that h e had put road development on a proper basis and that the people in the back country were now reaping the benefit. :w * Labour programme. Delegates to the annual conference of the New Zealand Labour Party did not favour a proposal that the party should issue a special election manifesto. A motion urging that the party should announce an election policy containing only those proposals' which could be brought into effect by a Labour Government in the course of a single Parliament was defeated by 54 votes to 49. In supporting th e motion, Mr W..(E. Barnard (Kaipara) expressed the view that the electors were not so much interested in ideal s as in what a Labour Government would do if it were elected to power. If a policy were drafted with half-a-dozen planks on pre-sent-day issues, and of daily concern to the people, the Labour Party would receive a greater hearing than had been the case in the past. In opposing the motion, Mr W. E. Parry, M.P., for .Auckland Central, said the proposal would tie the hands of the Lahour Party when it reached office. A free hand to fight the other parties during the election was desirable. The motion was defeated, and after some further discussion it was decided that a committee consisting of members of the central executive committee, together with the leader, deputy-lead-er, and secretary of the Parliamentary Party, should compile a statement for use at the election