IN OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 151, 20 March 1908, Page 9

IN OTHER CENTRES.

(DT TELEGRAM—SriCIAr, COItItESrONDENTS.) —4 AUCKLAND. March 19. The Principal of the Auckland Training Collego, in his annual report, states that of tho thirty-sis. students' taking tho reading ccurso in tho group only' one had any idoa of good reading, so this subjcct was made compulsory, although nearly all the students had already satisfied the Department's requirements for the "D" certificate. Not only whs tho enunciation and articulation bad, but tho understanding of ordinary precis of prose was deficient, The. use 'of tho dictionary or encyclopaedias, or such books as .Wlutaker's Almanac or Brewors's Dictionary of Phraso and Fable." for the piirpose -of reference, was quite Unknown, while the knowledge-.of'English literature was little, short, of lamentable. Only one student had read "The Cloister and the Hearth," and the great majority had • not even heard tho name.

Questions for .the Premier. : Three' questions for-the Prime Minister to answer' are thus put by Mr. Samuel Vailn in the " Herald":-—(!) If, as bit Joseph, states, " Customs tariff- had been reduced £405,000," how comes it that, according to tho official reports, Customs 'taxation was increased last year 3s. 6d. per head for overy white inhabitant ? ,(2) If, as ho says, railway rates havo been reduced to the oxteirt of £850,000, how comes it that since he took charge of our railways in 1900 the' average charge for carrying'each and ovory ton of goods over our railways; has increased year by year, till now it was threepence per ton more than it was when he became Minister for Railways? (3) If; as,he says, during tho last ton or twelve years taxation in the shape of Customs . duties* railway rates, postal and telegraph ratesj and sheep tax, amounting altogether to £1,550,000, had' been remitted, bow is it-that-the t«saticn per head is now £1 10s. 4d. more than it was twelve years ago, aiuh railway rates now average 3id. ner ton more than they did twenty years' ago, and • Sir Joseph ■ himself has raised them 3d. ?per ton. Roads Wanted; Included in 'the itinerary of the Prime Minister's 1 -, visit ..to certain districts; in the Auckland province next .month is that great belt of country lying at the back of Kawhia harbour, Which has been poetically described as tho "sunset doorway of Auckland." If the Prime. Minister; is to obtain anything like a comprehensive acquaintance with tho large area of land hidden, away over there, it is unlikely: that ho will be ablo to proceed ,-yery!fa-r in a raptor-car." A bullock sledge would be a more likely conveyance. . For a long timo tho,. settlers _ havo' been vainly striving to obtain decent trnclcs or'roads that .would at least be somethins like roads,' but their voices liayo • scarce , been heard; yct : many a farm out west is loaded with so much per aero for-.,reading; '."Loading'' | of . land is a term which simply expresses tho fact that, in addition to tho ordinary rent, the settler pays so much'towards roads, and at Kawhia ho is .paying'for' roads he does not pet. . How-tho sellers .feel, about it. is oxpressed -in a letter to Mr. G.' W. .Garland, secretary .to:,the Auckland Provincial Execiitiyo of tlvo Farmers' Union,' from, tho'secretary of'the, Awaroa ' branch, Kawhia..,. In tho courso of his : letter he'says: "I should be glad .to hear if tho provincial oxeoutivo has;done.anything, towards--getting us roads. Wo], want '.something move .than the passing of resolutions, and .we hopo! the executive will bringJ weight, to. bear to secure, for us 'tho carrying out of tho Government's sido of the bargain with us oh our leases. Tho settlers on tho.-' Awaroa-Mahop Road are loaded: with 3s. per acre, for roads, on. vhicu we havo,to. pay interest every year, and yet we havo only got part of a six-foot, track. Wo feel this' Very, much this..year, as, on account of tho heavy hush fires .which passed over our fanus, most of us havo 1 to. reduce our flocks, and. when we aro, ready to .restock we : wi|l not bo able to get sheep in on .account of not. haying 'a road. ..Tho ex-, penso -of.-,-re-grassing is heavy .enough without any other, drawbacks.: It is probable that a deputation from the Provincial Executive of the. Farmers' Union will wait, on tho Primo.Minister upon his return- to.Auckland in connection, with this, matter. .