CHRISTCHURCH NEWS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19943, 30 October 1934, Page 12

CHRISTCHURCH NEWS

ITEMS FROM THE CITY CHRISTCHURCH, October 29. Personal: Mr W. G. Wohlmann, Commissioner of Police, will arrive in Christchurch to-morrow evening from Dunedin. Sir Walter Stringer, chairman of the War Pensions Appeal Board, left Christchurch this evening for Auckland where the sittings of the board will commence on Wednesday. Mr D. J. McGowan, president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, will arrive in Christchurch to-morrow to attend the Harbours Association and the Chamber of Commerce conferences to be held here this week. Mr R. Boulter, C.M.G., British Trade Commissioner in New Zealand, is visiting Christchurch. He will spend a week in the city, the primary object of his visit being to meet people interested in British trade. On Thursday and Friday Mr Boulter will attend the annual conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand. Three Conciliation Councils: Three conciliation councils will meet hi Christchurch on November 13, 14, and 15, to consider disputes concerning tinsmiths and sheet-metal workers, threshing-mill employees (adjourned), and grocers’ assistants and drivers respectively. Price of Butter: Owing to the recent slight improvement on the London market, the wholesale price of butter was advanced by Id in both Wellington and Dunedin at the end of last week. A reporter was informed to-day that no immediate rise was proposed in Christchurch. Arbitration Court: The Christchurch sitting of the Arbitration Court, which will begin next Saturday, is going to be a fairly full one, and is likely to take some days. Included in its list of fixtures are several cases of importance, and some claims for compensation. The Court will sit in Timaru before coming to Christchurch. Normal Weather Last Week: Though the maximum temperature of 78.7 degrees on Saturday was the highest Christchurch has experienced since April 17, -when 78.9 degrees were recorded at the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory, the temperatures last week were not unusual, the mean for the week, 54.5 degrees, being only a fraction above the normal temperature for this time of the year of 54.1 degrees. The minimum temperature for the week -was 42.9 degrees, registered on Tuesday. There was no rain, although it seemed imminent on several days. The Maui Fomare: With a full complement of passengers, mostly round-trip tourists, the Government motor-ship Maui Pomare arrived at Lyttelton last evening from Apia, via Niue Island. The vessel left Apia on October 18 on completing her loading of 6800 cases of bananas and 10 tons of cocoa beans. She then proceeded to Niue Mand, where she loaded a further 2200 cases for discharge at Lyttelton and Wellington. Fine weather was experienced until Saturday evening, when the vessel was in Cook Strait, where she ran into a strong southerly wind.

Harbours’ Association: Delegates numbering about 50 repreenting nearly every harbour board in New Zealand will attend the 12th conference of the Harbours Association of New Zealand, to be held in Christchurch this week for the first time since the association was formed. The conference, which will last for two days, will be held in the Provincial Council Chambers, and will open on Wednesday morning. The last conference was hold at Auckland in 1929. Should the present session of Parliament finish before Wednesday the conference will be attended by the Minister of Marine (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe), and the secretary to the Marine Department (Mr L. B. Campbell). The Dairy Industry: “The dairy industry can run its own business much more efficiently than is possible by any Government,” stated a prominent business man in touch with conditions. The proposed legislation, he said, would place the dairy industry, and agriculture in general, under the complete domination of the Government. All that was required was that Parliament should give the legislation asked for in 1923, which was an improvement on the Danish system and a thorough efficient organisation would rapidly develop. The farmers would then own and control their own business, and would accept full responsibility. Apart from several errors, the Commission had failed absolutely to re - commend any sound scheme for the relief of the farmer or for the permanent and efficient control of the industry. What had been accomplished thoroughly was to incorporate in the report a doubtful and dangerous experimental scheme for the socialisation of agriculture, presumably prepared by Dr Campbell, and it appeared obvious that the Dairy Commission was appointed with that view. No Evidence of Depression: “If I had not known that there has been a depression in Britain I would not have noticed any difference in employment conditions since my last visit eight years ago,” said Councillor J. W. Beanland, who has just returned to after an 8 months’ tour, at a meeting of the Citizens’ Unemployment Relief Committee this morning. Welcoming Councillor Beanland home, the chairman, Councillor E. H. Andrews, said that the committee would/be interested to hear what impressions the trip had made on Councillor Beanland. There seemed little or no unemployment in England, said Councillor Beanland. In the north and in Manchester there were signs of distress but elsewhere one could not suspect that there were many men out of work. In the coal mining and cotton areas there was some suffering, but the authorities in Britain had an excellent system which made it possible for unemployed men to keep their families from want. In County Durham he had visitei three schools were three quarters of the pupils were children of unemployed men. But they all had shoes and socks and had a general well cared for appearance. Another sign of the excellence of this system was the fact that of some 500 children examined by doctors only 13 were ordered to have special sustaining milk in the morning at school. Government’s Haste Criticised: Further deep concern over the Government’s proposal to hurry through the sweeping legislation embodied in the Agricultural (Emergency Powers) Bill, was expressed in commercial, agricultural and other circles to-day. A reporter’s inquiries showed that keen feeling has been aroused in the business community as a whole. The main attack on the project today was concerned not so much with the details of the Bill itself as with the urgent haste of the Government [to dispose of it It was bitterly com-

of the ratepayers. plained that no opportunity is being given to the country to study the measure before it is put through, and the Government’s attitude was described as unconstitutional. Within the Coalition ranks, it was learned to-day, controversy is raging about the Bill. The proposal to push the legislation through, it was stated, might even imperil the unity of the Reform Party, to say nothing of the Coalition. Representatives of primary production interests here strongly criticised the Government, joining in the general protest. It is possible that a representative meeting will be held tomorrow, for the purpose of producing a strongly-worded resolution on the matter and forwarding it to the Government. It is understood that before the Bill is introduced its contents and the proposal to hurry its passage through the House will be thrashed out in Coalition caucus.