REQUISTIONING WOOL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2934, 21 November 1916, Page 8

REQUISTIONING WOOL

THE AMENDED OFFER

ANOTHER CONFERENCE TO-MORROW

The conference of wool-growers which inet herd last week w3i be .reassembled in Wellington to-morrow to consider the .amended offer of the.'lmperial Governjnant for the New Zealand wool clip, j.he meeting would have been called •together sooner, but for tho fact.that •.the Minister in-charge of t>h9 negotiations at* this end (the Hon. W. 1). fi. Mac Donald) is awaiting further aire definite advice on some points from Sir. : 3lassey, This advioe he Lopss to iteoive in time to bp aßle lo submit the jnmended proposals to the conference r.f growers' to-morrow. ;■ The Imperial Government is stii! offering a percentage advanco in prowar rates. At the last conference the fanners wished to hare an - offer in plain figures for different classes of wool, holding that the *5 per ccnt .increase for all classes sf v/nol would .hot work out 'fairly. Details of tho inew offer are not yet avaihb'e, tut it•;is possible that the percentage increases •offered may vary for different sorts of jwool. Such an ofl"r would be more ;acceptable than that rejected by the conference last wee.:.

« STOCK STEALING -

.'A meeting of the Southland Farmers' |Union- has been held 'to consider the (question of sheep and cattle stealing. ' | The provincial president (Mr. TV. A. :Cox) presided, and Mr. Wright (stock (inspector) was present by invitation. |Mr. J.' D. Trotter said it was a question whether a public meeting should pot be called to consider the matter. He .moved: "That a request be made'that ..'the radius from which juries are sum- ■ jmoned he extended to 20 miles, in ■lorder to .allow the country districts to -jhave representation." Mr. William '(Ford seconded the motion, and said' that, if it was given effect to, it might .nave a tendency to discourage the of sheep and cattle, which had increased at an alarming rate. It was itery difficult to sheet home a conviction •at present, and farmers were not given ■sufficient opportunities to sit on juries, •on which experienced men were required when such cases were being heard. ,|Mr. AV. A. Cos said that at present ./it was very hard to get a conviction, jand it seemed strange that something (could not be done to prevent the many ■cases that' were happening. Mr. John - M'Queen said he thought' that the "tetter plan would be for judges to decide such cases without the aid of jur■jies. He mored- to that effect", and said' jthat, under the present jury system, injustices were taking place. Mr. Trotter agreed to incorporate Mr. M'Queen's -alternative in his motion, and in that form it was carried, and it was agreed -to refer the resolution to each branch "of the union before taking further action:

A box of strawberries picked .from ; 8 quarter-acre crop—the whole of which jhas been ruined by slugs—was left at •the "Manawatu Standard" office by an JAwapuni grower.. The. hearts of the! ..(berries have been completely eaten out, . leaving only a thin, shell of fruit. The ■ loss is estimated .at £50. It is many -years since , the ravages of slugs and 'snails have been so severely felt in -jPalmerston North, and probably the mildness of the winter accounts for the plague. Experiments demonstrate that lime,-and .any amount of it, is the, best peapon to wage warfare with the nuisance.