AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1413, 13 April 1912, Page 15

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Tilt: WAIII.'KCIO,

Sydney, April (J. It is staled that (lie ollicial trials uf the \\arrego, the lii de-trover to' be ''"ill in Aii.ilralia. and the >i?ter ship of the Van-aiuid I'arranialta, have been provisionally lixed to take plate one day next week. The boiler-; are now being tested, and so far everything H reported In be satisiaclorv, but die real lest—24 hours'-hard steaming in the Pacific—upon Ihe results of which will depend the vessel's acceptance as a unit of the Australian fleet, has yet lo be made. This is, naturally, being looked forward fo with flip greatest interest both by the Stale and Commonwealth authorities. The vessel is in charge of the Cunmionwcalth authorities, although it has not. yet been formally handed over. Federal' officers are in command, and already there are to . Australian .lat-k-lnr.s wearing the familiar naval hat and liaise, "11.51.A.,5. \\ arrego," chatting cheek by jowl wilk their fellow-marines from the Admiralty boats. Most of the Warrego's men have been drafted from either the Yarra or tlio Parrainatta, the two ofh?r Australian destroyers, whieh resemble tho Warrego in every important particular, excepting that the latter, being ihe newest vessel, is most lip-to-date in that ever-changing fashion which makes warship-building tho most expensive hobby known. She will carry a complement of 70 men, and on her ocean trip the conditions will be even more rigorous than they would bo in actual war time. Commander Hvde, of the Commonwealth Fleet, will *bo in charge, and, like some athlete stripped to tho waist in contest with an unknown ioe, the arrego will have all her superfluous digging carefully stowed away, and she will ieave Sydney Harbour prepared to undergo a strenucus figlit against the waves, first for 2-1 hours under continuous steam, and afterwards for speed. Admiralty rules will prevail, and if the Warrego responds as it is hoped and believed she will, she will leavo Cockatoo Island, not, as she is now, ail individual warship being built, but an effoctivo link in that chain of defence which may some day be called upon to protect the life and liberty of Australia. SHORTAGE OF LABOUR. The shortage of labour seems to be general, throughout Australia. The New ; South -Wales Government proposes a radical change 'in the immigration system, with a view of overcoming the aciite demand' for' artisans, farm labourers, aliil domestic servants. • ■ The Premier stated yesterday that the Government thought the selection of workmen for whom definite occupations could bo found, without displacing local labour, would bo preferable to the nomination system. In regard to the domestic servant problem, he added, mistresses would be asked to prepay the passage money of the girls, namely, i!G. The girls would come out under agreement, and the money advanced'for their passagewould be deducted from'their wages. "Under tho Government scheme," said the Premier, "a comprehensive system of selection of the classes of labour urgently required will be established. Houses of sufficient di- : mensionS to accommodate the unaccommodated assisted and unassisted immigrants will be established in Sydney. But no > immigrant who has a tendency to reduce • the wage standard will be introduced. No immigrant will be assisted (o the State whoso.qualifications and prospects of employment havo not been carefully inquired ■ into.' But no restrictions will "be placed 1 on the natural tendency of new population to.How into the. State." The Minister ' for.i,]VorkS;(Afr. Griffith), discussing the , .'subject,! said,: v"At, eyerv. turn my Depart-ment-is hampered- faiviKo want of skilled labour., . I ,'am' not overstating the case in saying-',thievery onc of -works now beiligi carried out is •''delayed and hammered, "duo to'tlie want of skilled workmen. Bridge'carpenters are almost' tin- : obtainable."-. The South Australian Com- : mission on Shortage of Labour has : recommended the importation of 630 work- : ers, chiefly women, for various branches of the clothing trade and boot and shoe manufacturing.

COAL TOE THE PHILIPPINES. The War Department of the United States Government is inviting tenders for the supply of 00,000 tons-of coal for the Philippine Islands. This is one of the contracts which prior .to 1909 were invariably supplied by Newcastle. However, it was lost owing to Japanese competition, and the export to the Philippine Islands has fallen from nearly 400,000 tons yearly to an inconsiderable quantity at the present time. Tho fact that the United States Government is again calling for tenders in Australia lends colour to the statements that havo lately been made to tho effect that the Japanese contractors are not giving complete satisfaction. In addition, the relationship between the two countries has not been such as -to ..encourage commercial', reciprocity, ,an'd\for..these;.reasoiis. it is said to be not unlikely that the contract now open may again; be. secured for, Australia. A great deal,.'ofJcourse, depends upon the industrial condition of the Newcastle district, and the feeling of unrest that prevails just now does not improve matters. However, the foreign trade has, since the befinning of the year, shown more briskness than for soijie time past. One„of tho proofs of that is that the shipping returns for tho quarter include 150 more inward vessels than during the same period last year. With the exception of those mines at which strikes are occurring, the collieries are working practically full time. I'or the sake of tho Newcastle and Mainland districts, it is hoped that this contract will not have to be passed as some other contracts have been. Tho quantity specified is 60,000 tons, but as the War Department reserves the right to increase this amount there is little doubt that it would mean tho supply of at least 100,000 tons. This in itself would represent a direct monetary return to the district of over ,£50,000. . NEW ELECTORAL LAW. The forthcoming by-election ifor the Werriwa"seat in the Federal Parliament will ba a most interesting one. inasmuch as it is (he first election to be held under the amended Electoral Act passed by the I-'ederal Government last session. As soon as the writ is issued uewspaper articles dealing with the issues of the election will have to be signed by the (vriters, and t-ho proprietors will have to send in a return subsequent to the election of the amount of matter that has been published by them for payment, in connection with the election. Associations that have incurred expense iu support of a candidate or party in connection with the election will also be compelled to send in a return. It is said that the uew law was specially designed to help Labour candidates. Postal voting, which was intended to servo tho liccessitifs of electors who could not bo in their division on election day, to meet the case of women unable to attend the poll, or cf sit-k or infirrrf persons prevented from leaving their homes, has now been abolished. None of these clas--es of people will he able to vote at all. Every woman who wishes to exercise the franchise will havo personally to attend the polling booth. Electors of either sex, unable through personal infirmities to leave their home, will he entirely disfranched. Tho only concession is in tho case of persons wealthy enough to take a. trip abroad. T'hev, by passing through a complicated official formality, can give their vote before they leave Australia. There will be no polling booths outside tho division, so that an elector away on business in some other part of the State will l;e deprived altogther of his v ole. It is.believed that the abolition of all theso concessions is due to a belief that the majority of the postal and other votes may not be ca't in favour of the Labour candidate. The new law rermires that a polling* day shall be a Saturday.