LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 58, Issue 4188, 24 May 1939, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Kakepuku Hall is just now looking spick and span, following the application of a coat of paint by members of the Hall Committee and helpers.

The local Borough Council cannot be accused of a lack of consideration to the estimates for the current year. Both the works and the finance committees had given a Jot of time and thought to them, and on Monday evening the whole Council commenced a fresh consideration at 7.10 p.m., and finality was reached at 10.10 p.m.

“All farmers make profits -r- on paper,” declared His Honour, Mr Justice Blair, in the Supreme Court at Invercargill, “but when they go to find a banknote it is not there. I’m a paper farmer myself. You don’t see many millionaire farmers running round in Rolls Royces. If you read the papers you will see it is a liability to be a fanner.”

“I don’t think the human being was made to be a slave to work,” said the Bishop of Waikato, the Rt. Rev. C. A. Cherrington, at the Church ol England Men’s Society conference at New Plymouth. “We have the 40hour week, but the time will come when we will work only three days a week. The 20th century is better than the 19th, but there is a 21st and 22nd century to come.”

Petty thieving still seems to be rife in and about Te Awamutu. Recent publicly was given to the fact that several clothes lines were raided, and a good deal of ladies’ raiment was stolen during a wet , Saturday night. Now comes information that a house was entered and about £8 in cash removed, also that one home bad its letter box stolen from the street frontage. Owners are, of course wrath, but seemingly no trace has been found of the thief.

One of the numbers to be presented by the Royal Auckland Male Choir, in its concert at Te Awamutu on Saturday night, is to be the chorale from Mendelssohn’s “Festgesang,” including the air to the well known hymn,

“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” in which the choir at the Auckland concert last week came in for some criticism. A competent critic present at the Auckland concert averts that the criticism was not all deserved, and recommends the audience on Saturday evening to judge for themselves.

The Alexandra Racing Club holds its seventy-fifth annual race meeting next Boxing Day, and already some steps are being taken with a view to making the occasion a memorable one. In a chat with the secretary, MiJack Scott, he mentioned that he was seeking to compile a complete list of winners of the Alexandra Cup since the race was instituted, and if the effort was successful the table would be published with the official race book for next Boxing Day. Mr Scott has a big task ahead of him, but he stated that one or two of the old settlers have most of the information desired.

For a fruit tree to bear twice in one year is not altogether a common occurrence and is generally attributed to a dry summer, followed by rain. A resident of Mangapiko has a Christmas plum tree which bore in December, and this month has a further crop amounting to about four dozen plums. Asked to comment on the phenomenon, a Hamilton authority said such cases were on record, but this was the first instance connected with plum trees that he had heard this year. It was usually found to occur with plums and apples and sometimes pears. Recently a Tamahere resident experienced it with a peach tree, which had borne in December and in March had another crop.

“There is no better way in which we could help Britain than to be able to help ourselves,” said the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, in a broadcast address on Monday evening. “In this state of things elementary common sense warns us to be ready at any time to defend ourselves with arms. Let no one imagine that if Britain were involved in a general war this country would, or could, stand aloof, enjoying undisturbed neutrality. Any attempt on our part to pursue such a policy would bring us not greater safety, but greater danger. It would merely sever us from our kinsmen and friends without conciliating the aggressors. We could not stand aside with arms folded while our brethren in the British Commonwealth were fighting for their lives. Any such belief would be a dream as idle as it is unworthy of us.”

The raising of the strength of the Territorial Forces of New Zealand to a peace strength of 16,000 volunteers, the creation of a national military reserve register of able-bodied men between 20 and 55 years of age, and an appeal for 250 men for service in a special reserve were announced by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, last Monday evening in a broadcast appeal for men to train themselves for home defence in New Zealand only. “The first call I wish to make is for volunteers to fill the gaps in the regular forces, which are the men responsible for training the Territorial Army, its organisation and equipment. “The second appeal is for our first line of land defence —the Territorial Army,” said Mr Savage in asking for 7000 more volunteers so that the present peacetime establishment of 9000 men could be increased to 16,000 volunteers.

“ The paid agents of the labour unions were great workers for the Labour Government, and these, numbering probably 800, combined with the complete control of the radio and a very full and reliable reporting in the press, gave the present Government a powerful lever that the National Party had not at present, yet the Prime Minister was always proclaiming that the press was damag ing the country’s .cause. He had threatened reprisals time and again, but it should be realised that no previous Prime Minister had such means of reaching the ears of the people. If the newspapers, or some of them, criticised Mr Savage and his colleagues, editorially—well, that was the penalty of public life, and not one that should justify complaints.” —Mr J. Hargest in his address at the Town Hall last evening.

Among the stake-winners at Te Rapa races on Monday a day of wonderful surprises—was Mr M. H. Tims’ Besiege, which ran second in the six furlong open event’ won by Prince Acre. Besiege was one of the outsiders, being twelfth favourite.

It is stated that at least one Te Awamutu patron of the Waikato Racing Club’s meeting on Monday Was one of the lucky ones to get a share of the “century” dividend. Actually only £26 10s was invested on the “win” totalisator on the winner of the race referred to.

The present Government’s financial policy came in for a castigating by Mr J. Hargest, M.P. for Awarua, in his address at the Town Hall on Tuesday evening. The speaker lucidly compared statements and promises of the Labour leaders three or four years ago With their statements in; recent weeks, and similar comparisons respecting the same leaders’ actions in Parliament.

Mr J. Hargest, M.P. for Awarua, told his auditors at the Town Hali last evening that he was keenly interested in the early history of Te Awamutu, and on a former visit he had gone to. all the historic places of the district where residents frequently passed by without much thought as to how history was made. That was, he thought, a thing to be regretted, but some day those historic spots would be appreciated to the full.

Writing in the Dominion, a correspondent says:—“On Mr P. A. Anderson’s stud Jersey farm, Levin, I saw recently simple, cheap and effective covers for calves. These were made from bran sacks, split open. They were tied across the brisket with the ends 10 td 12 inches open. At the back was a similar tie, about 12 inches beneath she tail. All the covers were sitting the calves well when seen. Mr .Anderson said they gave him very little trouble.”

In the course of his address at the Town Hall last evening Mr J. Hargest, M..P. for Awarua,jsaid he could congratulate the electors of Waikato upon their choice of Mr W. S. Goosman as their Parliamentary representative. Mr Goosman was a young man with a bright, fresh outlook, and his advent to Parliament was being keenly looked forward to, the electorate confidently relying on him to “ make good,” and knowing that he would worthily represent Waikato in and out of Parliament.

In addition to routine maintenance work, said Mr J. W. Civil, at the annual meeting of the Waipa County Council to-day, the following ordinary work had been carried out during the year: Roads formed, surfaced, etc., 2 miles 41 chains; roads surfaced with sand, 3 miles 78 chains; roads surfaced with metal or gravel, 70 chains; roads surfaced with road oil, 8 chains; roads widened and improved, 1 mile 48 chains. Out of roads and bridges loan 11 miles 52 chains of road were surfaced with tar sealing, 2 miles 78 chains were surfaced with road oil, and 12 miles 24 chains were reconstructed and metalled.

The chairman for the public meeting at the Town Hall last evening addressed by Mr J. Hargest, M.P. for Awarua, was Mr J. C. Montefiore, the deputy-Mayor of Te Awamutu, who introduced the speaker and assured him of a hearty welcome to the town, where he was not exactly a stranger, having been an honoured guest of the local Returned Soldiers’ Association at an annual reunion three or four years ago, and again about two years ago when he visited Te Awamutu in the National Party’s interests. Mr Hargest, acknowledging the welcome, said he had been tremendously impressed on the present occasion with the bright prospects of Te Awamutu and its district.

“The present Government is fighting a rearguard action at present,” said Mr J. Hargest (National —Awarua), at the Town Hall on Tuesday evening, when referring to the Government’s earlier promises to improve the lot of the primary producers. He claimed that the Government had wasted its opportunities and failed to fulfil its promises. Now, when the money had been spent, it was trying to win the goodwill of the farming community, which had earned the sterling credits by hard work and thrift. All the Governments actions had been applied towards placing the city worker in a position paramount to the country worker, and thereby driving a wedge between the two essentials to the Dominion’s progress and prosperity.

Mi’ W. S. Goosman, M.P. for 'Waikato, in a few remarks prior to the address at the local Town Hall last evening by Mr J. Hargest, National M.P. for Awarua, expressed disappointment at the evident lack of interest »in public questions, ais was shown by the comparatively small attendance. He said Mr Hargest was a clever and entertaining speaker destined to take a very prominent part in national affairs- Mr Goosman went on to express his own personal appreciation of the friendly welcome accorded him by the people of Te Awamutu and district—a very fine district that was developing rapidly. The speaker had reason, a few minutes later, to revise his comments on the evident lack of interest, for within ten minutes or so several dozen more people entered the hall and listened attentively to a very fine address.

Interesting visitors to Te Awamutu at present are two Sisters from the Mother Mary Aubert Home of Compassion Auckland in the interests of that institution. Reference was made to the appeal at the local Roman Catholic Church on Sunday last by Rev. Father O’Flynn, who said the new building had recently been completed at a cost of something like £23,000. There are approximately 100 babies and very small children in the Home at present, including fifty incurables. To date 140 small children have been discharged as restored to health, and the work of the Home has received high commendation from medical men and social workers. Father O’Flynn pointed out that the Home and its services were not restricted to Catholics; it was open to children of any denomination, and therefore he was appealing to every section of the community to provide needed funds, even if in only small donations.

The fact of the freezing works being full was mentioned as a cause of mobs of cattle being grazed on county roads during discussion dt to-day’s meeting of the Waipa County Council.

“Mr Nash has gone Home to arrange to borrow some money for New Zealand, and I sincerely hope he gets it—and I believe he will get it—but we are in for a very bad time in this country. The Government will have to pull in its belt, to pay for the three years of spending and over-spending. This country will recover, for it is a wonderful country; but recovery is only possible by strict economy and thrift, both nationally and individually,”—Mr J. Hargest (National — Awarua) at the Town Hall on Tuesday evening.

“I have heard Mr Semple say he would be glad to see the capitalists right out of the country, and take their money with them. You have heard him say that too. You and I also have heard Mr Lang'stone say the sweetest music to his ears was to hear the taxpayer squeal. Now both those gentlemen sing a different tune. They won’t allow anyone to take their money out of the : Dominion. It is rather remarkable how the Government’s leading men have changed their tune in recent times. Their policy formerly was to spend and keep on spending: but when they found there was practically nothing left to spend they turn round and preach economy and thrift.” —Mr Hargest, M.P.