LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1915, 25 November 1913, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Olio effect of the present obstruction tactics of tho Opposition in Parliament _ will bo that the clianccs of certain Bills 011 tlio Governmentprogramme becoming law this session will bo seriously jeopardised. Amongst those which will now have only slender clianccs of becoming law will bo the three Labour Bills, Amendments to tho Workers' Compensation Act, the Shops and Offices Act, and tho Industrial Ooncilation and Arbitration. Act. Mr. Ma.ssey has already stated that tho Workers' Compensation Act lias beoti so much amended iu the Labour Bills Committee that it will liavo to bo redrafted, that ho was hopeful of being able to redraft it, and put it 011 the Statute Book. Tho Shops and Offices Bill has proved a difficult measure, and ' Mr. Massey's promise with regard to it was that 110 hoped to bo able to take the important sections out of it and embody thorn in a small Bill for submission to tho House this session, leaving the general amendment of the Act over until next session. About tho Bill to amend tho Arbitration Act he made precisely tho same promise. It is easy to understand that so much loss of time as is going 011 now may make those promises very difficult of fulfilment. It is exceedingly doubtful whether the proposed Licensing Bill will ever como down this session, About this the Prime Minister's Inst word, given before the obstruction com* mciicod, was ihat tlio Bill would possibly como down, but he would not say'that it would or that, it would not.

The telogra.m published on Saturday from Duneuia relative to the pcrcc-ntago of appeals lodged by various officers of tile Post and "Telegraph Department is not correct. The figures as given by the Hon. A. L. Herdman in the House last week show the true position. The percentago of appeals received at th& timo of the first classification of the Post and Telegraph Department in 1891 was 17.24, as against- 8.6 in 1918. There was no reclassification between those dates. The 129 appeals mentioned for the past ten years woro merely appeals against the promotion, etc., o'f other officors, and the position then was in no way analogous to the present one. In any. caso, the average is only 13 per annum, out of a staff of 5000 officers. It is only on tho occasion of a reclassification that officors have an opportunity of making unrestricted appeals.

As from November 17 and during tho present- fishing season the limit of weight of a parcel containing ;i single fresh or smosed trout is raised from 111b. to 201b. The rate of postage is 3d. for tho first pound, ana ljd. for {tfidi succeeding pound up to 111b., and Id. for each pound beyond 111b. up to 201b. It is considered that tljis concession will be appreciated by anglers who may desire to send to their friends at a low rate of postage trout of a weight in excess of the. ordinary parcel post limit of 111b. Tho new building for tho Te Aro branch of tho Bank of New Zealand will probably be opened for business in si week or ten days. Tho following resolution was passed on -Friday last by tho Christ-church branch of the Post and Telegraph Officers' Association:—"All conciliatory moans should bo adopted -to get tho findings of the-conference before tho Commissionaries, even if it menus tho withdrawal of tho preamble."

The Now Zealand Dairy Association, Limited, distributed amongst its suppliers last week tho sum of £64,444 7b. 6d. This payment covered butter-fnt supplied during the month of October. Tho corresponding payment last year was £57,991 Is. Bd. Thus tho increase for the month, as compared with last year, is £6453 ss. 10d, A new picture theatre, which -lias night in Ponsanby Bond, Auckland. It provides seating accommodation on chairs for about 1000 patrons. During tho hearing of a caso at tho Eketahuna Magistrate's Court on Tuesday afternoon last a witness stated that ho had been asked to place a peg at every spot where a green-houso leatred. "And how many pegs did you put in?" asked counsel. "Only 185" was the reply. ' j

For the first, time crno of the life-sav-ing reels 011 tlio Napier beach was made use of on Sunday morning for the purpose of rendering assistance to a swimmer in difficulties. Sorgeant-Major I'ae.kmnn, attached to the Permanent Force, was swimming in the surf just outside tho Municipal Batiss when ho got rather far out, mid on account of the exceptionally strong backwash was unable to got hack to the beach. His cries fof assistance were hoftfd, and tho alarm being given, a number of men rushed out of tlio baths. Mr. Ken. Stevenson attached himself to tho life* saving line, and after some trouble succeeded in bringing the distressed man to itlinfn somiMvfmt. nxlmunted, but otherwise none the wotsa for bis experience.

The Pahjatua Motor Traction Company, which lias secured ,tho mail contract between i'ahiatua and Pongaroa, has accepted tho tender of Mr. J. H. Fitzgerald, of Wellington! for the supply of two Argyll.chassis for tho commencement of its operations. Tho bodies will be buiit locally.

At Lyall Bay on Saturday, the Mayor, Mr. J. P. Luke, officially declared tho surf-bathing season open, and a largo gathering of members of tho Lyall Bay, Maranui, Worser Bay, and Pac-kakariki Surf Clii Sis joined in making the event a success. Speeches were delivered by Councillor Frost, (chairman of tho City Council Reserves Committee), Mr. '!'. Ronayno (president of tho Wellington Swimming Centre), and Mr. J, F. Atkins (chairman of the centre). A number of demonstrations were given on the beach, including ladies' land drill, an exhibition of jiu-jitsu by Mr. Duffy and pupils, mass land drill, reel drjlj (ladies and men) and a tumbling exhibition by members of the Y.M.O.A.

Coal is at a premium in tho country just How. Everywhere there is a tendency to husband supplies, and at some places it is impossiblo to got any at nil. At township's oil the Main Trunk lino, particularly, tho effect of the famine _ is being felt very keenly, so that it is perhaps natural that, when tlio householder looks at his empty scuttle lio is prono to east a. covetous eye on the large stocks stored at tho stations for use on tho railways. Officers of tho Department, according to a contemporary, have found evidence of the fact that tho broach of the Tenth Commandment lias been followed at various stations by the breaking of tho Seventh. In ordor to dissuade others who might bp tempted to do likewise, it was decided that tho heaps of coal should receive a liberal coating of whitewash, tho idea being that if any coal was stolon the thief would leave an easily distinguishable hole in tho heap. At Qhakiine and other places along tl® lino passengers by train have been much in* forested in the white-painted coal.