NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1073, 11 March 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Our attention has been drawn to a very remarkable state of things in connection with the coal industry of the country. It is known to most people that Newcastle .coal is imported into New Zealand in fairly large quantities, but the full extent of the competition which is going on is not realised by tho general public. According to Shipping and Gammercc no fewer than 210,779 tons of Newcastle coal were imported into the Dominion during tho 28 weeks August 6, 1910, to February 11, 1911. These figures are surprising and no doubt account very largely for the condition of affairs at most of tho West Coast mines. A correspondent writing on tho subject draws a doleful picture. He asks:

"Are yon aware that at the present time the West Coast mines aro all either shut down or working short time owing to the stringency of the market; that this stringency has been brought about by the heavy importation and ttorngo of Newcastle coals; that the Government Railways are the greatest importers; that the Government State mines aro suffering along with others; that the Government Railways impose higher rates for the carriage of New Zealand coals to the West Coast ports for shipment to the New Zenland markets than the Australian coals nay for like distances for shipment at Newcastle; that tho Govsrinnent of New Zealand loses Gd.'a ton royalty on each ton of New Zealand West Coast coal that is excluded frnm the market; that the Harbour Boards of Groyninuf.il and Westport lose Sri a ton royalty "ii all coal similarly excluded; 'hat the State "lires and privnteiy-nwncd minesare - heavy lossrfi by the. failure nf the market, at nresont. a* well .is the miners who . number many hundreds?

We would supr>lcmcnt our cornsnondent's question and ask: Does the Minister for Mines and does the Minister for Railways know of these, things? And:.if'so,, what have they .to say in defence of the attitude of the Government ?.• Why, .for'.instancfc,. should New Zeiliirid'cbals'bs'handicappe'd in the matter of railway freights 1 , Why do the' State Railways Newcastle coal when New Zealand c.oal is available ? Whore are. Me. .Millar's past professions 1

An effort is being made, we aro told; to organise "Labour" for tho coming general elections. Mr. D. M'Laren, M.P., appears to'bo tho most active of those agitating in this direction_ and he has issued a manifesto urging unity of action amongst, trades unionists and a lot of other things. It is not our purpose to dis-, cuss the merits of tho proposals put forward, but there are some really delightfully humorous remarks by Mr. M'Laren about the aggressive "fat man" and the poor meek "worker" that, in the cause of hilarity, arc; worthy of widest circulation.

Parliament (Mr. M'Laren states) is full of representatives of tli© capitalist and landlord class. Local todies nro much the same in personnel and meantime tho workers are quarrelling amongst themselves about formulas, technical rules, abstractions, and quss'tions of priority whilst our country is going to the exploiters and tho fat men are becoming even morn aggressive. I believe this -degraded position labour occupies like a beggar on tho door-step of tho house he has really a right to live in is duo solely to this —- And then Mit. M'Laren goes on to incite "the workers" to ' recognise that thej arc the body and brain of the nation, and so on. AVe wonder sometimes whether such nonsensical, references as "the fat man becoming even more aggressive" and "this degraded position that labour occupies like a beggar on the doorstep" and all the rest, really deceive anyone. Certainly they cannot deceive the intelligent worker. He knows only too well that the socalled "fat man" in Now Zealand has been kicked and trounced in such a variety of ways that ho has had knocked out of him any aggressiveness he may ever have possessed. The intelligent worker knows perfectly well that his position is no more degraded than that of any of his fellow citizens in tho Dominion; and to compare him to "a beggar on tho door-step" is to rise to a height of ludicrousncss that can only be accounted for by Mr. M'Laren's appalling lack of humour. Is it surprising that the workers refuse to unite under leaders who insult their intelligence by . the use of such threadbare rhetoric and hoary catchcries so absurdly inapplicable to conditions as they exist in New Zealand? Instead of furthering the cause of labour such stuff is more likely to make it a laughing-stock and provoke the ridiculo of even its best friends.

Whilst few habitual smokers, whether of cigars or pipe, or the occasional cigarette, would admit that the habit does them any real harm, few would carc to deny that there arc times when tobacco is better left alone. In this connection a recent communication to tho Lancct is worthy of attention. The act of smoking includes the introduction into the mouth of pungent products of combustion, and tho action of these is to excite the flow of saliva. Salivation being the first of a series of digestive actions, oncc the process is started tho whole apparatus follows suit. The sight of food or tho introduction of bitters into the mouth has the Hkc effcct, for either of them will stimulate tho salivary glands and caiiLO the secretion of very activc gastric juice. This action of tobacco, therefore, not only robs tlu after-meal. pipe of any injurious effcct, but is likely to make it. beneficial to those who own what it ofto.i culled a duggieh ljr?.r. Tho only, exception to tho vulo is in catca

of acid dyspepsia, and in such cases smoking should either be postponed until the process of digestion is far advanced, or should be given up altogether. , The heartier the meal the less the inconvenience. The desire fov tobacco after a hearty meal, perhaps not hitherto analysed by most of us, is due to its stimulating influence on gastric secretion, and the comfort that follows indulgence is, in part, duo to the extra fillip given to digestion. Smoking before meals, 011 the other hand, is bad, because the products contained in tobacco smoke dull the appetite —they deprive us of appetite juice, so to speak. It also prevents or retards the due action of saliva on starchy foods. Etjually bad in its effect is smoking just before going to bed. Unless the latter operation follows closo on the heels of a meal, it is very liable to produce insomnia, because the stomach then contains much unneutraligcd juice, which induces irritation and gives a disturbing sense of hunger. To those smokers who habitually _ or frequently suffer from insomnia this last item of advice is worth attention.