Untitled

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16454, 5 June 1919, Page 2

One of the most interesting features of the peace treaty is that it opens to international traffic many of the waterways which hitherto have been German preserves. The navigable portions of the Elbe, Oder, and Danube, are to ha under international control and the Rhine is to be made free for commerce. These changes will make it possible for inland countries like Poland, Bohrjnia, and Switzerland to have the access to the sea w'hich has hitherto been denied them. Navigation on the Danube has been on a satisfactory footing for some time past and the only change made by the treaty is that the enemy Powers will cease to bo represented on the Commission of the Danube. In the case of the Rhine the gain is much greater. The river, is free by treaty, but the Germans have .gradually introduced restrictions until they have practically closed it to every Power but the Dutch. Under the new conditions it will bo possible ; for British vessels to pass up the Rhine and Moselle to the Saar and carry goods or coal to Lorraine and receive in exchange iron ore from the Saar mines, which will be under the of France in. future. Cheap water carnage of this sort should prove of great amautago in promoting trade between Britain and trance, and generally the freedom of navigation of the rivers should deprive Germany of some of the commercial advantages from which sho has known how to reap the full benefit.

What is known as the Longton case has excited considerable attention, particularly, of course, among railway officials. On the hitherto published facts Longton certainly appeared to have been a little harshly treated, but the General Manager’s statement, a summary of which we publish elsewhere, places quite a different complexion on the. case. Under ordinary circumstances Longton would have been entitled to pronjotinn, and when this was denied him be appealed to the board whose function it is to hear appeals. This hoard reported that to deprive him of promotion would be to punish him excessively, and that in its opinion the appeal should he allowed. The Minister of Railways, however, no doubt acting upon the advice of the General Manager, vetoed this decision. Hence the appeal to the public through tho press. At this stage it may be well to explain that the Appeal Board consists of a chairman, who must bo a stipendiary magistrate .and two railway employees elected by the staff. Thus it will he seen that while the staff is represented—has actually a majority on the board—tho Department is not represented at all. This fact should not bo lost sight of when reviewing the Board’s decisions. During the last four years only two appeals have been vetoed out of 140 lodged. In both cases vital principles were involved, one relating to drunkenness and the other (Longton’s) to insubordination. In the latter case the hoard departed from its invariable rule of reporting definitely one way or the other “appeal is allowed or “appeal dismissed” and said “we think tho appeal should be allowed,” implying a little doubt and leaving tho final determination to the Minister. No one will question the decision of the Minister in the case where drunkenness was involved, for that is an offense which ought not to be overlooked in the railway services of all services. Insubordination, if persistent, is almost as grave an offence, for strict discipline is vital to the safe carrying out of the railway traffic. In ■Longton’s case his offence was punished only by the withholding of promotion which he would otherwise have received. Ho might have been disrated, or even dismissed, hut apparently ho is in other respects an efficient officer. It need scarcely be added that a man who cannot or will not obey is unfit to command, therefore the more responsible his position the more necessary it is that he should observe, himself that discipline which he has to expect from those below him.

“It is said that a man is too old at sixty—an old fogey,” says Lord Curzon, leader of the House of Lords, “I have reached that unfortunate age. But when I see men like Qemenceau (seventyeight, Mr. Balfour, Marshal Foch. and Mr. Lloyd George—who has only four vears to' go before he becomes useless—the best old fogies leading the Peace Conference, I am consoled.” At a. meeting of the Waikaremoana Hydro-electric' League at Napier on Wednesday it was decided that bodies connected with the league send their delegates as a deputation to wait on the Government and press the district’s claims. Mr. J. V. Brown, M.P.. said that if the deputation failed he would he prepared to move a vote of no con fids ence in the Government.

A committee of* l la-dies have approached the baud authorities for permission to organise a social in aid of the Bandsman’s Widow Fund, and this has been agreed to. The social will be held in the Good Templar Hall next Wednesday (June 11), and tickets are obtainable from the ladies’ committee. Ah advertisenient appears in another column. “What I have said about the merchants seems to apply to dairy farmers as well,” said Sir Robert Stout during the hearing of a case at the Supremo Court in Wellington on Monday. “It is clear that half the lawsuits are caused by negligence and stupidity.” Mr. P. J. O’Regan suggested that perhaps the caused by the parties trying to save legal expenses nr the first instance.

The Mayor of Whakatane, at the reunion of the Returned Soldiers’ Association on Wednesday night, foreshadowed Whakatane borough loan proposals to the extent of £60,000 to £70,000 for water supply, electricity, drainage, roads and footpaths; and this, with the county loan of £BO,OOO which it is now proposed to borrow, will total about £150,000 for public works in that district.

Several Welsh towns are urging their claims to be selected as the place for the residence of the Prince of Wales in tlie Principality, and a meeting at Llandudno has sent u resolution to the Premier begging him to use his influence in favour of Llandudno. Lord Mostyn has a beautiful residence in Gloduaeth Woods, in Llandudno Bay, which would be placed at the disposal of the Prince if He desired. With a voice that earned her a million sterling, Madame Patti, the everyouthful, although she has just entered her seventy-seventh year, could afford to bo independent. In this connection a retort by her lias become historic. When she was told that even the President of the United States did not receive nearly so much for his services as she demanded for hers, she answered’;

“Very well; get the President of the United States to sing for you.” The Wanganui Agricultural Society is making efforts to promote an annual carnival week in Wanganui, the intention being to hold the Jockey Club and Trotting Club mootings. Autumn Show, regatta sports gathering and competitions, as well as arranging for evening entertainments. On Wednesday night a deputation waited on the Jockey Club with a request that the club should, if possible, fix the. dates of the February meeting a fortnight earlier than usual. The deputation received a most favourable healing. A tablet to the memory of the late Rev. C. H. Garland, who was principal of the Methodist. Theological College, was unveiled in the Pitt Street Methodist Church, Auckland, on Sunday last by the Rev. H. JR. Bellhouse, president of the Methodist Conference. There was a very large attendance, the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. J. H. Gunson, and Mrs. Gunson. members of the Theological College Committee, and representatives of the other Methodist churches in the city, being among those present. The service was conducted by the Rev. C. H. Laws.

Another good attendance favoured tho Kawaroa Park Committee at the euchre party held at the pavilion on Wednesday evening. 23 tables bein£s engaged In play. For the Ladies’ prizes Mrs. Hoskin proved the winner with 131 games, taking olb box of tea; Mrs. M’Pherson winning 12j games an<l taking 251 b bag of flour. Mr. Bugg secured first prize for the men with 14 games, winning 51b box of tea; Mr. 0. ’Tippens being second with 121 games and taking 2olb bag of flour. After the cards supper was served by the ladies’ committee.

The Education Department wishes if possible to improve the teaching of agriculture in primary and secondary schools and for that purpose a conference was called of teachers and representatives from tho Agricultural Department. A large number of papers were to be read and committees we.ro appointed to digest them. These papers generally agree that tho teachers at present arc not prepared for giving instruction in agriculture and in fact that the word is a misnomer anti some ether should he used.—Press Assn.

At a recent meeting of the Wanganui Borough Council, a new councillor raised a strong protest against the excessive amount of “Yankee stuff’’ that is being shown throughout the Dominion at picture shows. Tho Wanganui Herald, in supporting the protest, and suggesting Government/ action, points out that if one were to take tho American war pictures as the last word in rectitude and truth, one might easily believe that America was the only nation in the fight with Germany, and that the Allied Armies were mere small side-shows. Its effect on adults i$ perhaps more or less negligible, but acting on the plastic minds of children, tho American war film is calculated to go some distance in making them into good Yankee patriots.

Tho Auckland Herald reports that a trip from Auckland to Russell was made on Saturday by one of tho seaplanes attached to the New Zealand Flying School at Kohiinarania. Mr. A'. B. Williams, of Waipiro Bay, who desired to visit Russell, having missed the steamer on Friday evening, decided to undertake the journey by air. Having made, arrangements with tho proprietors of tho flying school, a start was made at 11, a.m. in a 125 horse-power machine, piloted by Mr. G. Bolt. A report received later in tho day from Mr. Bolt stated that the machine had a successful non-stop run to Russell, which was reached in _ under three hours. Tho distance is about 145 miles. A heavy head wind was encountered. tho route followed being approximately that taken by the coastal steamers'

Air. 'William P. Doeg, 622 Devon Street east, who has had a long experience in pianoforte and organ tuning, advertises that he. is prepared to undertake tuning, orders for which may bo left at Air. T. Avery’s, Devon Street. President Wilson has evidently been reading about Taranaki women lifting the world into higher ideals by means of “Golden Rule” Soap, “Golden Rule” Candles, “Golden Rule” Writing Tablets, “Golden Rule” School • Rulers, “Thinker’s” Pictorial Penny Notebooks and the famous “No Rubbing” Laundry Help.

A telegram from the Secretary of Marine to the Collector of Customs says: “Advise shipmasters that the cable buoys mentioned* in my telegram of the 2nd inst. have all been removed, as work finished.”

Mr. R. Semple, M.P., mentioned in the course of his address in New Plymouth on Wednesday that on the Wellington wharf on a. particular occasion he saw a group of highly developed, prosperous-looking men who were “that greasy that if your eyes looked at them they slipped off them.” They were A voice: “Wharf labourers !”

The proposal of the Taranaki County Council to adopt a new by-law empowering it to collect an annual license fee from all vehicles which travel over the county leads is creating a considerable amount of adverse criticism. Owners of vehicles are, wondering what the position would be if all the local bodies of Taranaki decided to follow the same course of action.

The Marakopa, correspondent of the Te Kuiti Chronicle says; Two large mobs of fat cattle Jiave travelled by road to the Waitara works during the last month, the majority of the cattle coming from the properties of Messrs. All. Haylock, William Jones, the Marakopa. Milling Company, and others. The. cattle were a superb lot, and elicited much admiration. They were undoubtedly a good advertisement for the district.

In the opinion of Bishop Sadlier one of the most irksome duties a padre has to perform on board ship is the censoring of letters. In an address to Senior Cadets at Nelson the Bishop said that at times, especially when nearing a port, the number of letters to be dealt with sometimes reached as many as 900 per day, and required an augmented staff. Speaking generally, ne said that fully 80 per cent of the letters might have been written by a Sixth Standard schoolboy, and it was surprising how many times a small “i” was used instead of the capital letter. Of the large number of letters censored only four had to be destroyed. Sir Douglas Mawson, who has returned to the Adelaide University after doing war work in Britain, states in a letter to Dr. J. Allan Thomson, Director of the Dominion Museum, that he intends to visit New Zealand- shortly for the purpose of studying ice formations among the glaciers of the Southern Alps. Sir Douglas Mawson was a member of Sir Ernest Sbaekleton’s first Antarctic Expedition in 1907-09, and he was one of the throe men who marched to the South Magnetic Pole •i 1908. Professor Davis was on© of his companions on that journey. Later Sir Douglas Mawson led an Australian Antarctic expedition to Victoria Land, where he examined an important section of the Antarctic coast.

The annual meeting of the Westown Progressive Association was held on Wednesday evening, Mr. J. D. Sole (president) presiding over a fair attendance. The annual report, dealing with various matters which had occupied tlie attention of the association during the past year, was adopted, and officers -were elected as follows tor the ensuing twelve months: President, Mr. J. D. Sole; vicepresidents, Messrs. Johns and Duff; secretary and treasurer, Air. R. Reid; committee, Alessrs. Garcia, Broome, Coad, Smith, Haddrell, Bennett and Bary. After discussion, it was* agreed that a deputation wait on the Borough Council to deal with (1) streets, (2) lights, and* (3) tramway extensions. The meeting expressed its approval of the action of the Borough Council in agreeing to the proposed exchange of lands for a new school sit© for the West End School.