LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waipa Post, Volume 45, Issue 3215, 11 August 1932, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

After being at the bottom of the Patea River for 50 years, totara piles used in the old railway bridge were found to be as good as the day they were put in, a reporter was told by a railway official. The bridge is being replaced.

" We hope to get through the coming session of Parliament without having to impose any more taxation, and I assure you that will be welcomed by the Government as much as by anyone else," said the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, in Wellington on Monday

No more emergency legislation will need to be passed by the Government, according to the Prime Minister. He says that with an improved economic outlook the present laws will provide all the powers needed to carry through the Government's reconstruction plan.

A correspondent wants to know if any reader will tell him if they have been paid the bonus which the Co-op-erative Calf Company promised to pay in the last two years. He adds in that he cannot get any satisfaction from the company, and he does not know where their office

"Our social wisdom is lagging far behind the recent advances in scientific knowledge, which are the birthright of every person in the community," said Mr A. M. Hollander, speaking at a meeting of the Canterbury Manufacturers' Association. "It is my opinion that the responsibility of acquiring a greater knowledge of economic facts rests upon the shoulders of every citizen, and more especially on those who are engaged in production."

Mr Ransom's reference at Dannevirke to the growing demand for land is encouraging. Successful and productive land settlement is our principal hope in the present situation. Given the right type of sett ers the main thing is to see that land vames are on a basis that will enable the new farmers to make a success of their ventures. The Minister of Lands told his audience that 2080 Crown sections of a total area of 738,000 acres, had been taken up during the past three years, and that of this acreage 955 holdings were selections. Such achievement during three bad years promises well when confidence returns in fuller measure. The fact, pointed out by Mr Ransom, that financial institutions are prepared to back up the attempts of those who are trying to put men on the land shows that investment capital regards the country as fundamentally sound, and farming propositions worth supporting.

The Pateraiigi Hall was gaily decorated on Tuesday evening for the dance function arranged to augment the fund for the new Church of England it is planned to build there at no distant date. There was a very large attendance, including good representat'on from Ohaupo, Pirongia, Te Awamutu, and Ngahinapouri, and all arrangements for a very happy time had been carefully attended to. Music by the Syncopators was supplemented with enjoyable extras and Mr M. Sexton was master of ceremonies. Monte Carlo competitions were won by Miss C. Teddy and partner and Miss I. Dunwoodie and partner. Non-dancers were invited to play bridge, and several tables were occupied by keen devotees thoroughly enjoy ng the play. An ample and tasty supper was dispensed. Altogether it was one of the nlost successful functions of the kind ' held at Paterangi for a long time.

Unemployed men engaged in treeplanting on the Kaingaroa Plains have refused to work because it is too cold. One snap judgment on this item of news was that it shou'd be too cold to be idle, comments the Dominion, and adds: " People who bestir themselves do not feel the cold. But snap judgments do not always fit the facts. On the high upland known as the Kaingaroa Plains the cold can be Alpine, and is quite capable of paralysing the unacclimatised. City-bred men, com'ng from the milder climes close to sea level, might well become numbed in the rarefied atmosphere beyond Rotorua. Another thing on which critics would need to be informed was how the men were clothed against such conditions. One of the complaints about camps nearer home lis that the men are . not properly 'clothed to face the full, r'gours of the weather. It is a point to which closer attention might well be given by the Unemployment Board and voluntary organisations. These, men are doing trench duty in the egffl|iomie war, and should not suffer ■■. fjSKjack of good boots and thick, waiTfßtclothing. It would be the falsest of false economy if their health were undermined for lack of such elementary provision.

There is to be a reduction of 22 S per cent in the retail price of all primary school books published in New Zealand.

Forfeitures of Crown sections show a marked decrease. The Minister of Lands says that 520 occurred in 1929, 432 in 1930, 404 in 1931, and 275 (or almost half the number in 1929) occurred in 1932. Presumably the totals refer to the official year ending on 31st March.

" One fails to to see in what way the intentions of the Education Department to hold a senior free place examination for all candidates from secondary and technical high schools are any improvement upon the system of recommendation hitherto adopted," stated Mr W. A. Armour, headmaster of Wellington College Board of Governors. Mr Armour reported that the examinations were to be conducted in the schools, and the papers corrected by members of.the school staffs. All scrips were to be signed bv the examiners, and forwarded to the department for scrut : ny. One was puzzled to discover the value of this examination. There could be no uniformity in the marketing, since hundi-eds would be engaged upon it, and there could be no satisfactory system of scaling marks. Besides, attendance at school under present conditions could hardly be withheld from those who did not reach a satisfactory standard.

When Mr S. G. Smith, M.P., last Wednesday advised Wanganui employers to carefully investigate awards under which they might be carrying on their business in order to see if they could take on extra boys, it was suggested by a member of the meeting that an interpretation of the different awards should be obtained and pub.ished through the press. Mr Smith said difficulty would be encountered in numbers as, to. the best of his knowledge, in every occupation in which boys were engaged there were something like 450 awards. In many cases, he said, employers thought they were working under awards when they were not. Others thought they could not take on an extra boy because of an award. He asked the committee working for the emp oyment of boys to keep in close touch with the Inspector of Labour, and watch any cases where boys could be taken on.

A representative delegation of the members of Loyal Te Awamutu Lodge, M.U., 1.0.0. F., visited the Otorohanga brethren last Tuesday evening for a fraternal reunion, and reports to hand indicate that a very happy evening was spent. Te Awamutu members staged a mock wedd ng on similar lines to that arranged in Te Awamutu recently, and after the ceremony a large and beautiful cake was the main feature of the wedding breakfast, when appropriate speeches and toasts were the order. , After dancing was indulged in, to delightful music contributed by Messrs C. Anderson and K. Liddy, supplemented with extras by Miss Roach, of Te Awamutu. A Monte 1 Carlo dance was won by Miss Liddy and partner. The visitors from Te Awamutu all report a very happy time.

" A report which infers that the 10-acre farm scheme has been abandoned in Waikato is quite incorrect," said Mr J. F. Shepherd, of the Department of Agriculture, who is in charge of the project at Hami'ton. " The scheme is definitely going on," emphasised Mr Shepherd. " Quite a number of 10-acre farms and sharemilking agreements have about ai'= rived at the final stage. It is obvious, of course that the who'e of Wa kato is not suitable for the 10-acre scheme. No one, for instance, could expect any to be established on the intensive'yfarmed area between Hamilton and Can.bridge. However, that is not typical of the whole of Waikato. I wiih to make it clear that the 10farm scheme in Waikato has not been abandoned," Mr Shepherd concluded,

The Rev. David Calder, 8.A., New Zealand secretary for the British and Foreign Bible Society wi'l visit Te Awamutu on Sunday next. He will occupy the pulpit at St. John's Anglican Choch in the morning, and will conduct the service at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in the evening. In the afternoon he will address a combined youth meeting in the Methodist Church. Mr Calder has done fine work for the Society in New Zealand during his term of office. He represented the National M'ssionary Counci 1 of New Zea'and at the Jerusalem Missionary Conference in 1928, where fifty-one nations were represented. The British and Foreign Society alone last year, in spite of unpara'leled economic distress and political and social unrest, placed 10.500 000 copies of the Scriptures in the hands of the peoples of the world, and printed the Gospel in eleven new languages, bringing the total number of languages now on the Soc'ety's list up to 655.

Accumulated areas of rent amounting to £1 580,000 are owing to the Government by Crown tenants. That is a very large sum, and, in mentioning the fact, the M nister of Lands did not attempt to minimise its gravity. He also recognised the fuuity of piling up these arrears against the future. If they are to work with a will farmers, like anybody else, must have some prospect of emerg ng from the present long tunnel into economic daylight. No doubt that consideration accounts for the policy of remissions which under five Land Boards now amount to £175,000. In giving Crown tenants what he calls a " fair spin " Mr Ransom has of course to have due regard to the general taxpayer and the national revenue. His s not an easy problem in reconci ing these various interests. Moreover, if he presses the tenants too hard he is open to the charge that his Department is forcing men off the land wh le the Unemployment Board is attempting at considerable expense to place others on it. Obviously it would be impossible to administer his Department according to , Each case must be considered on : ts merits, with a watchful eyevqn beha'f of the taxpayer for the.man who is ready to " ride his hard luck " and a margin of practical sympathy/for the honest "trier." .;■£?>;

A report of the annual meeting of the Girl Guides organisation is unavoidably held over until next issue.

The C.J.C. Grand National meeting was continued this afternoon at Riccarton in dull weather. The Hunt Cup event was won by (5) Calham, with (4) Peterette second and (2 One of the largest butter factories in the Manawatu has decided to pay a bonus of 1 3-16 d per lb on the full season's supply of butter fat, which entails a distribution of £20,000 to suppliers.

Heavy frosts in the Pukekohe district which supplied the market with early potatoes, have cut most of the early poato crops. It is anticipated that this setback will retard d gging about two weeks.

"Most criminals are full of conceit about themselves and their crimes," said Mr Justice Reed in the Supreme Court at Well ngton on Tuesday. "If it weren't for that you wou dn't discover half the crimes that are committed."

Te Awamutu-trained horses d'd not win such large amounts in the racing season just closed as in previous years. The official figures just published show that the largest stake-winner from this district was Supremacy, with £745, fol.owed by Karapoti, £641. Others were: L'meen £635, Leitrim £570, Marechal £535. Pegaway £470, Protomint £432 10s. Biddy's Boy £375 Miss Lorraine £351, King's Knave £330, and Sea Ruler £2OO.

Information that he had been advised that difficulties had arisen in recent months in connection with the refusal of certain buyers in China to accept goods carried in Japanese ships was received from the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Hon. R. Masters, in a letter read at a meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce ast Tuesday even'ng. Mr Master? said he was not aware of the existence of any eeneral boycott apnlyin," to all goods conveyed in such ships.

" Of recent weeks there has beet a marked note of hope in the columns of the Press," says the official organ of the New Zealand Federation of Drapers, Clothiers and Boot Retailers, discussing future prospects. " Men whose opinions are regarded with respect by the public have expressed their belief in an early revival of trade and better times generally. That this feeling is more or less prevalent in the country is apparent."

The charge against Elspeth Kerr, aged 45, nurse, of having administered poison to her eight-year-old foster-daughter on April 16th last, will not be proceeded with at the present criminal sittings of the AuH-

land Supreme Court. Accused, who is a widow, was brought before Mr Justice Herdman yesterday, and counsel for the Crown said he had been instructed to ask His Honour to allow the case to stand over until next session.

With a population of 1 500,000, New Zealand was spending £5,000,000 annually on unemployment re.ief, said Mr S. G. Smith, M.P., speak ng in Wanganui on Wednesday. The estimate for the revenue of the Unemployment Board had been set down at £3,500,000, he said, and it had been estimated that the amount spent annually by all other social organisations local bodies, semi-local bodies, and others dealing with the problem wou-d reach £1,500,000. A survey of what was be ng done in other countries would probably show that, while not all was being done in New Zealand which could be desired, or aimed at, and a though there might be privation and poverty, no other country in the whole world was doing so much for its unemployed as New Zealand.

Te Awamutu and Pokuru Bible Classes were the guests of Te Kawa Bib.e Class at a small social gathering last week, when a representative number attended. Progressive games were a feature of the evening, and Mr and Mrs A. Stewart were congratu ated for organising the function. In the absence of Rev. A? C. Whitelaw, Mr Stewart welcomed the visitors. Mr A. Bowler replied for Te Awamutu Class, and Mr H. Fear for the Pokuru Class. During the evening Mr Stewart made a presentation to Miss Mutton, who with her brother, Mr H. C. Mutton, is leaving the district. Both have done yeoman service in the Bible Class and Sunday School movement. Musical honours were tendered after which Mss Mutton briefly replied.

A fortn'ght ago South Africa sprang a surprise at Ottawa by declaring her intention of entering the chilled beef business. Now she has produced the goods. Her first commercial consignment arrived on the London market last Thursday, and sold at Id per lb above prices for Argentine chilled beef. There is one point about the cons : gnment that New Zealand producers will note. It is described as " good, clean bright meat." Apparently it has kept that desirable bloom that the New Zealand industry is studying how to retain. Our great handicap is distance. The South African meat was on the hoof on 11th Ju'y. and sold at Sm'thfield only 24 days later. Thus it competes on practically equal terms with the Argentine article. It cannot be doubted however, that sooner or later scientific I'esearch wi'l enable Australia and New Zealand to overcome the geographical disadvantage and raise their beef from the frozen to the chilled class.