The Waipawa Mail Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Saturday, April 11, 1908. NOTES.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5245, 11 April 1908, Page 2

The Waipawa Mail Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Saturday, April 11, 1908. NOTES.

The progress of the Manchester Ship Canal is indirectly of importance to New Zealand, because this waterway enables our frozen meats, butter, and fruit to be brought to the centre of a large body of consumers. The accounts just published of the last halfyear’s operations of this enterprise make interesting reading, working as they do a steady advance towards success. The available prolits wero £101,700 and after payment of charges, a sum of £94,000 was handed over to the Corporation of Manchester in payment of interest on their debentures. For 1907, the Manchester Corporation received the full amount of the interest accrued due. The merchandise traffic using the canal was 5,211,000 tons, an increase of 510,000 tons on the 1906 figures, and during the last ten years the tonnage has doubled.

As soon as a Governor has made himself thoroughly popular, somebody raises the disturbing question whether his term of office is not near its end. As this question has been already asked in respect of His Excellency Lord Plunket, it is (says The Dominion) reassuring to learn, on the authority of the Under-Secrotary for Internal Affairs that a Governor has no lixed term of office. In theory, at least, ho might hold the position for twenty years. The Colonial Office List, which is tho authority on the subject, says : “Every such officer is appointed during liis Majesty’s pleasure, but his term of office is, as a rule, the completion of a period of six years from tho assumption of his duties.” The statement corrects a hazy impression in the public mind that there is a fixed term of fivo years. Lord Plunket assumed his duties on June 20, 1904, and has therefore, not yet held office for four years. Lord Ranfurly was Governor for a little over seven years.

It is remarkable that woolgrowcrs have been satisfied to market their wool, worth on the average about £l4 a bale, in packs made from juto of the poorest quality. As a consequence of the uso of these cheap and inferior packs small bits of bagging and string becomo blended with the wool, and defy tho utmost care of tho sorters to pick them out, and so pass through the different stages of washing, combing, spinning, and weaving. Tho human eye cannot then distinguish them. When, however, the manufactured cloth is dyed, the presenco of the vegetable fibres is at onco detected, because wool, an animal fibre, takes tho dye, whereas tho vegetable libres remain white or nearly so. Tho cloth is in an unmerchantable stato until these defects arc removed. And the process, we are told, is slow, laborious, and costly, for every such fibre must be patiently picked out by the deft fingers of the “burior,” as tho women aro called who do this skillful and patient work. It has now become a heavy annual tax upon tho industry, and it is to bo feared that in the final analysis the cost of “burling” will

come out of tho pockets of tho woolgrowers. But the wool trado is tackling tho problem, and as an outcome of a representative meeting of Australasian woolgrowers, British and Continental consumers, and woolbrokers, held in London last October, a committee was appointed to select an improved pack. Cablos published re-

cently show that they have not boen idle, and three kinds of packs are being sent out for experimental purposes. As wool is such a predominant item of our export it will be a matter for congratulation if tho committee has succeeded in finding a rerrfedy which will obviate the expense and annoyance entailed in “burling.”

An interesting return, showing the estimated wage-earnings of the people on the basis of the census of 1906, his been prepared. Tho number of male wage-earners is given at 227,088, aud of female 63,189 ; the average annual earnings of the male was £94-8, and of the female £42-3; and the aggregate earnings amounted to—males £21,539,900, females £2,671,200, making a total of £24,211,100 Coming to details, it appears that there were 27,596 females described as “domestics,” and they earned on an averago £373 each. No less than 15,316 classed as “ industrial” earned an average of £4o*l, aud 8008 women described as “professional” earned an aggrcgrafco of £538,100, or an average of £67*2. Primary producers numbered 1932, their avorage wage being £22*4. Also there were 3182 women classed as “indefinite” women, who earned an average of £SO.

The largest class of male workers comes under the heading of “ industrial”; they numbered 85,290, and their total earnings wore £8,025,800, or an average of £94*l. “ Agricultural, pastoral, mineral, and other primary producers” come next, with 63,624, earning an average of £73-3, or a total of £4,663,600. Men engaged in transport, numbering 21,224,

earned an average of £IOB 0; “ professional” show an average of £144 8, and “commercial” number 29,003 : with an average of £115*9. “ Inde-

finite” number 4>020, and have an average of £95. It will thus be seen that the highest average of males was £144*8, and of the female £(>7’2 (both professional), while tho lowest for males was £73*3 (primary producers), and of females £22*4 (also primary producers). Tho average annual earnings for all males was £94*B, and of females £42 3.