LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 785, 7 April 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

. — 6—— It ig understood that the Prime . Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) yvill deliver t policy speech 1 at Winton at the end oi tlio month. Sir Joseph will on that occasion take tho opportunity of disclosing the railway and rovenue returns for the past year. The Government is considering various proposals made by Mr.' Sedgewick in con nection with his scheme for the "plac ing" of . Homo lads in the (.olonies. Mr Sedgewick recently went to Auckland t< interview the Hon. G. .b'owlds (Miiiistc; in chargo of the Department of Immigration) on the subject. It is probable thai the matter will come 'up for considera tion at fin early meeting of Cabinet. Tho commission which has been appointed by the Government to. rcporl npon suitable sites for a military training ground for the. North Island, and another for the South Islam), has jus! held a preliminary meeting m iegar'd : te • r " • V r,Qr to . the appointmeni of tho commission, a number of oilers oj land lor tho pii-'posd wet'Q received In the authorities.-. Most of the applications came from the South Island, wliere there is less suitable Crown land thai •is the_caso.ro tho North Island.- Nothing IS yet known as to the extent 01 nature of tho ii-nd which will be used for tlu training grounds. It is understood, iioweyor, that tho land which i.< selected in jjptli instances will be ii: close proximity to the railway line, am! to an , adequate supply of water. . The commission will probably visit likely sites -CQminencing in the North Island firstat;tho latter end of next week. • One of .the third-class passengers whe had booked to Wellington by the TuraKina, which arrived in port yesterday, was not allowed to land as he was discovered, on inspection,. to be suffering troni a chest complaint. Our Otaki correspondent wires that o gruesome discovery was made whilo repaid were being effected' to a resident at Paraparaumu yesterday. Upon proceeding to conduct repairs between tht ceiling and the roof tho workmen were surprised to_ find a skeleton. ; No furthei particulars in regard tp the discovery art given. .That the escaped prisoner, Joseph Powelka, is in Palmerston most residents firmly believe, writes ! our looal correspondent. He proceeds to say that a young .fellow who knows the man well positively asserts that he saw him in Main Street East about one o'clock yesterday morning, but as he /wis by himself he was afraid to accost him. An excellent muster of members of thf Wellington Highland Rifles paraded at the Garrison Hall last evening for the ! annual meeting of the corps. As certain matters connected with the annual report were not complete, it was decided to adjourn until that night week, consideration of the report, and the meeting resolved into committee to consider the report of tho Shooting Committee. During the course of a recent speed at Invercargill, Sir Joseph Ward, referring to political events in England, re. marked: "Whilst English are striving to solve important problems, tlu people of New Zealand ought not in aiij way to interfere,. whatever their private views on the different questions." Ir this connection it might be recalled thai Sir Joseph was instrumental last session in preventing the dispatch to Mr. LloydGeorge of a cablegram from Radical members of the House with reference'to the (iudget. Thirty-six "assisted" passengers wer« on board the Turakina, which arrived in port Jiesterday morning. They included twenty women, ojie man, ami fifteen chit dnen. Nine of the womeai were domestics, all coming out to'engsagemente, while another nine were wives, who had oome out to join their husbands. Seven adults—domestic servants—also cajne out umder approval of. the High- Commissioner, and 29—14 -adults and 15 children —were nominated by friends in New Zealand. Mr. George Duke, of Duke's Dock, Melbourne, who is visiting Wellington, ha: inspected the dock sito at To Aro. Mr, Duke, who has been concerned in the building of three docks on the Yariu states that lie has no' knowledge of t dock haying been built whero the concrete for tho flooring had to be deposited at so greit depth of water as in Wellington ;40ft.1. The docks in Melbourne in the banks of the Yarra Rivor h;u had to bo excavated out of the solid clay and when that was done a colfer-dam win built so as to keep the working area fi-ee of any great depth of water. That was the general practice throi|gluut tlu world and there was no reispn, to. liii mind, why it should bo departed from When laying wet concrete at tuch s depth as -lOft., tho ongmaer in charge has to rely solely on tho divers', reports He could not perceive how tho floor ol a dock was' to be lqi 1 with any feeling of security by the wet method. ' Tho passenger list by the Mokoia, from Tahiti and Idirotonga, numbered ten nil trld. This is not the South Sea Islam: "season," yet one would have supposed that such a line steamer as the Mokoisi would • have attracted more p-issengers An officer of the ship states tint had il been more generally known that the Mokoia was going to' the Islands, he was quite sure tho passenger-list would have boon heavier. It would not surpriso liin if a good passenger trade was worked during the winter months, when the weather at the South Sea Islands is excellent. The advent of th-o Mikoi, al the Islands was a surprise, and great interest was manifested in the vessel and her equipment both at, Rarotonga and Papeete. j • , Enirios for tho Christchurch competitions closo on Monday. Shampooing, Clipping, Hairdrcsslng, Manicuring, Faco Massage, Treatment of Falling Hair and Dandruff, Combings mado up. Natural Hair-pads. Mrs. Rolleston (over Carroll's), 14 Willis tJWset. 'Phono liSO.—Adifc *

A special meeting of the Harbour Board is to bo held ou Monday afternoon next, to consider questions involving tho method of the conduct of business, and pass bylaws affecting the raising of additional revenue.'

A man was arrested yesterday by Detectives Lewis and Cameron on.a chargo of stealing certain horse-covers, the property of Prank Higgins. One hundred and throe varieties of noxious weeds wore collected by the schoolgirl who won the prize for this exhibit at tho Oxford A. and P. Association's Show. Tho next competitor, a boy, gavo up when he had collected thirty varieties. Our special correspondent at Christchurch wires that the Autumn flight Homewards has begun in real earnest from the "City of the Plains." Every week sees a number of Christchurch residents leaving for a visit to England and tho Continent. Among those who left yesterday or aro going very shortly are:' Mr. John Anderson, head of the firm of Andersons Limited, with his daughter and niece; Mr. I*\ T. Boys, secretary of tho Christchurch Meat Company, who is taking over tho management of the company's London business; Rev. Canon Pascoe, . vicar of Avonside; Air. Joseph Ballantyne, one of the partners in the well-known drapery firm, and his family;. Colo/iel Snow, until lately chief clerk of tho Customs here, and his family; Jlr. P. W. Warren, of the firm of Gould, Beaumont, and Company (president of the Chamber of Commerce), and Mr. W. Menzies Gibb, the artist, who has been tho recipient of a number of presentations on leaving for a year's visit to the Old Country.

A reference was made in yesterday's Dominion to a probable rise in the price of soap. The reference was to common household soap, not the coloured scented \arietiej. Oil inquiry yesterday, it was that the cause of 'the anticipated rise is the increased price of tallow m London, which, of course, is reflected locally, the present price of soap of the quality that is retailed at lOd. a uar is based upon tallow being JE22 10s. per ton in London, while at' the present time it is fetching from =225 to ,£26 per ton. One firm of agents, who are largely interested in soap, states that their instructions at present are not to push t-n nS i ' th S marlcef: appeared to be still hardening, and quotations would have to be readjusted. According to the "Southland Times," a bouthland school teacher, whose worthy intention it- was to makp the visit of his Lxcellency the Governor the subject of loyal suggestion received rather a shock the other , day when, in answer to his question as to who the Governor was, a wee small voice niped out confidently, I lease, sir, Satan." Lord/Plnnket will |>e interested to learn of. his accession to kingly rank.

Interviewed at Invercargill, Mr. D. , said tbat tile message which he was delivering to his i fellow workers was that all the country ijiust copibino together in one grand federation, and that Labour organisation must enter lnlly into every department of pubno activity whether it be educational, 60- ™. industrial, or political. He continued: I am urging'the need for direct Labour representation on all public bodies, and the using of all public institutions to develop and train men and women who shall bo able to take part in public life, and distinctly representing Labour s aims and ideals on broad lines pi policy. From what I have seen and heard throughout tho country, I feel convinced that the coming of a distinct and independent Labour party in Parliament, and, of course, in,the country, is inevitable,' and only requires a littlo more strenuous" work to bring. it into existence. There is more than a feeling throughout New Zealand that a third party politics is coming. That party cannot be merely juggling with 1 the names ot eitner of the old parties. It must be a party with a distinct riaroe, objective, and policy of its own. That I believe only ( tho Labour party, can supply. The movement for creating the one A'ew Zealand l'ederation of Labour is growing rapidly. ■ °

According to Mr. D. JTLaren, M.P., tli< corning Labour part}' will undoubtedly bo inspired with principles of a socialistic character in the sense that tlio 1 party's aims be those for the socialisation of wealth in the interests of the mass of the people.' • Discussing the point with a Southland Times" reporter, ho remarked: —"The Socialism, however, which will guide the party will not be of a ■Wdy insurrectionary charac'ter which lobks for-change by means of violent upheaval, but will take the evolutionary lino of proceeding stage by stage in constructive, work with the clear purpose fhat the end . to be attained is not .the creation, of privato fortunes, but the good of the great miiss of wealth' creators whoso activities and being can only be properly defined under the all-comprehen-sivo word Labour. In the course of this tour I havo addressed about forty meetings so far, and most of these have been very well attended. I have'still a number of. meetings before my return to Wellington, and it is my intention to urge strongly upon the Executive Council Shich sent me out on tliis mission that us organising work must bo kept going all the. : year round, as there is a strong demand for it' throughout, the country. X havo already advised that the next Labour Conference should take the'form ; oi a great Labour Congress at which all the Councils of 'Labour, Trades' Federations, and single . uniojis shall bo represented, There- are indications' that such a congress would devote its attention to placing the whole of . Labour's organised forces in better co-ordination, so tuat all the parts may work ' together lis one united Labour party; which is the purpose X havo in view all the time,-" / Speaking at the banquet to his Excellency tho Governor at Invercargill)- Sir Joseph Ward said that the gift of the Dreadnought had laid the foundation oi tho Defence Act which wjis passed in the last session _of Parliament. Hj had had in reoent times opportunity of visiting different countries, and he 'had seen the evolutions in -progress in tho navies oi some of those countries; he accordingly realised, the necessity of the Empire standing as one united body, determined to remain in undisputed sway of the possessions they had. He was 110 .believer in the decadence of the British Umpire, ivhich people sometimes suggested was the :aso. Jlo believed that in tho statesmen it Home they had men who were determined to make the British 1 Navy se strong and so powerful that a combination of other Powers could do it ne liarm. The spirit of the Defence: Act was to bring home to the young people ol New Zealand not only their loyalty to the lung and .to the . Old Country, but te impress upon them the necessity of placing the defence of their country before my other consideration. • It was the duty jf New Zealand to be ready to co-operate ivitli the Old Laud, and (ilso with Canada, Australia, South Africa, aritl India. Reference was made in an article entitled "Astronomy Among' the Cows," ri'hicli appeared in yesterday's Dominion, :o' the fact that a recent visitor tc Wanganui had found the Observatory oc.ked lip. It ought to be explained thai the Observatory belongs to the Wangaimi Astronomical Society, and not to the nunicipality, It is, however, open to the public tfor a small fee, twico a week, ind at other times tho hon. director (Mi-, f. T. Warel) is always willing as far as possible to oblige visitors to the town. During the gale that took place last rack two men—Messrs. T. Hatton and J iXarris—felling bush on Mr. John Mills's Bright!ands property had a miraculous from death (says tho 'Teloruf jhiardian"). Tho day being wet one itormy, they could not work in the bush, ind stayed in their tent. The nifen were ying in .thoir bunks, but just before 10011 Harris got upland was attending .0 the fire, when, without any warning, 1 huge birch tree crashed through the ent, smashing to atoms the bunk Harris lad just loft. Neither of -tho mon wa.' njural, though the treo fell within a 'ew indies of them; but the tent and nost of its contents were hopelessly vresked. At Mataura Island the other day 1 :art fully loaded with rabbits, was shown :o the Governor as evidence of the fer;ilily of tho district. Their owner (Mr, Hamilton) made an offer to send Home :o tho Governor a case of frozen rabbits jut his Jixcelloncy laughingly deelinci: ;ho gift, saying that there wero plenty if rabbits on his own land In Ireland 'Oh (said Mr. Hamilton) they tell me ;hat in Ireland oho goes to prison foi ihooting rabbits." "That is so (replied ;he Governor), for shooting other people', l ■abhits, but not for shooting your own.' Lnd Mr. Hamilton realised that the Goviruor had ecored over him.

As the result of negotiations with the Council in regard to the extension °'ii u ? fkefrio' lighting to Johusonvme, the Johnsonivillo Conuni&e has re]»rt«d to tli e Town' Board that an arraneeraent is not likely to bo made that will suit the town's immediate requirements. A contract lias accordingly been {"t'i.- 111 - /■ Kell i - f< » thTimmelcnc toini with acety-

011 a destown tramway will probably commence on April 23. It is exE lii A council *all undertake the whole of the work. c i ty J?" 1 complain bitterly because the Government will not lend them money to build trainlines to their doors ought to be made to experience somo of the hardships that have to he endured by settlers in the back country (says the Telorus Guardian"). The case I of a Sounds settler may bo cited:—in order to have liis two children, educated he has undertaken io provide free board au S lodging for two other children. The settler lives two miles from the school, and every morning ho has to pull his boat that distance to take tlie' children to school, and to make the same journey after school to bring them home. 1 The Education Department will not subsidise schools where -there ate fewer than sis scholars, and as only two scholars attends from the bay in which the school is situ| ate the settlor has to pay for the keep of two children belonging to . 'other people so that the. requirements shall be met. • Also, ho has to pay out. of his own. pocket about .£6 per annum towards tli© teacher's salary. Such e state of affairs is inconceivable to our cityfriends, but this is by no means an isolated case. , ' '

We see veiy little Australian news in the rsew Zealand press," remarked' the Hon. J. A. Miliar to a Sydney interviewer. "The Commonwealth and the* Dominion," he continued, "have many interests in common, yet- we get long accounts of _ happenings in America and on the Continent that do not interest the r»e\v Zealand public, and hardly any Australian nejvs at all. A lot of space is devoted to foreign mnrders and the like, which have no immediate bearing on Australasian affairs. The thing the public most wants it doesn't get. I have the same complaint to make respecting New Zealand' news in the Australian press. The Premier of New South Wales (Mr. >\ade) noticed the paucity of Australian news in the New Zealand papers when on his visit to the Dominion, and his strictures were quite justified/' \

A pathway running across the Wanganui racecourse had been used as a convenient route by a number of residents for many years. In-September last,, the trustees of the Wanganui' Jockey Club brought a Supreme Court action against certain of thosp people for trespass, and for damage done to a fence erected across the pathway. The'judge nonsuited the trustees, who yesterday brought tho matter before the Court of Appeal. One of the arguments tendered on behalf of the Wanganui public was that, in the days of provincial government, tho. racecourse reserve was placed "for the purpose of public utility" in the hands of trustees, who themselves became .lessors,, and * the Jockey Club was given power to hold race meetings on certain days of the year. The case will be further argued to-day.' The next case to come before the Court of Appeal is that of James Holt v. John Holt and others, a caso removed from the Supremo Court.

One of tho most popular of the progressive steps taken in connection with State school education has been the introduction of Sloyd wood-work, says the Melbourne. "Age." ■ Mr. ' Tutton, the teacher of wood-work at the Continuation School, Melbourne, has received, as the result of a paper by Mr. Madigan, printed in the January number of the "Education Gazette," a number of letters from country teachers as to the method of introducing the work in country schools, and he has also written to country teachers who are teaching woodwork for information as to the method of training adopted by them. One of the letters he has received from a . teacher/ of Sloyd' work contains some interesting remark's on the effects attending, the introduction of the work in his school. This teacher says:—"The establishment of a class for manual training in Sloyd has decidedly raised the school in the estimation of the public generally. .Many parents who had never' previously been inside' the ■School' building accepted an invitation to see the boys "at work, and then became interested in the school as a whole. Many parents are enthusiastic. Some have provided benches and kits of tools for home use', and are delighted to find their boys becoming 'handy men.' Several boys have remained at school an extra year solely on account of the' Sloyd' class. Much eagerness is shown by boys to be ■ admitted to tjhe class. - Parents share this feeling, and'the result is seen in better attendances, increased attention to ordinary school work, better drawing, neater exercise books, and smarter boys."