LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 206, 26 May 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Minister of Education (the Hon. C. J. Pari - ) yesterday paid a visit to two of the Salvation Army’s institutions, the home for boys at Island Bay, and the home fox - girls in Oxven Street. An in-, vitation to inspect these homes had been extended to the Minister by Commissioner Hodder, of the Salvation Army, in consequence of recent discussions concerning theghancJling of orphan and destitute children in institutions.

The automatic telephone sub-station in Upland Road, Kelburn, which has been erected for some time, has now teen fitted with racks for the automatic connections, and part of the plant has already arrived. It may, ’however, be months before the final instalment comes to hand. Arrangements are being made to endeavour to get a section of the substation (which is a 2660-line station) x'cady before the end of the year, there are at present 400 people, awaiting telephone connection in 'Wellington, and the sooner the Kelburn station operates the sooner will the Department be able to supply telephones to those in need of them.

Progress was being made with the construction of the Pipitea Wharf, the Harbour Board engineer reported' to tho board last night, but the difficulty was M obtain on adequate supply of gravel for the concrete. Mr. M. W. Welch asked tho chairman whether the board would/ be prepared to establish its own crushing plant for the treatment of gravel from the Hutt River. Ihe chaiin.an said that in his opinion the board would set up such a, plant if it. could not get gravel otherwise, but it did not wish to do so. It was tho business of the Hutt ifiver Board- to make the gravel available. The engineer explained that since he had prepared his report prospective supplies had improved. One of the jurors in applying for exemption at .the Christchurch Supreme Court said' that his attendance at his office was urgently required, as one of the clerks had left hurriedly, and it was expected that defalcations ranging from .£l5O to .£2OO would be discovered. Exemption was granted by His Honour. At the meeting of the Philosophical Society last night Mr. A. Gibbs mentioned a curious phenomenon in New Zealand during an auroral display some 15 years ago. The lines between Christchurch and Greymouth were interrupted by peculiar disturbances, and were rendered inoperative. After a while it was noticed that a steady natural current was flowing along one of the lines. Although this line was an "artificial” one, and not a natural one, messages were sent along it for an hour, after which period tho waves again became very variable. So far as was known, this was the only instance of a natural current being used for the transmission of messages for such a lengthy period.

Had Diogenes gone with his lantern to last night's meeting of the Wellington Harbour Board he might have read wjtlf pleasure tho following notice on the order paper:—"Tlte accountant has received the sum of 10s. (refund of wages overpaid in error) from a correspondent signing himsr’.f 'Casual Employee. To agree with- the Imperial Boy Scout regulations, and in accordance with the suggestion made at the special general meeting, it has been decided that the age-limit for enrolment of Scouts (except Rover Scouts) is 11 to 18 years. This rule does not imply that a Scout, when he reaches the age of 18, must leave a troop. A junior Scout must be over eight and under 12 years of age but may lie promoted to Sccut at 11. Assistant scoutmasters must bo over 18 years of age, and scoutmasters must bo over 20 years of age.

Tho special course of instruction given Io n.c.o.'s from all the secondary schools of the Dominion ternvinated. at Trentham yesterday. A sample of some of the work done during the course was given at the demonstration held under the auspices of the Defence League on luesday night. Another course will begin to-dav. It will be attended by about 100 n.c.o.’s from Territorial and Senior Cadet. units outside the secondary schools.

Sir James Wilson, in the course of a letter apologising for his .absence from the conference of the Farmers’ Union at Masterton, referred to tho advantageous effects of the conference, inasmuch as the discussions and decisions arrived at largely- influenced the Dominion Conference in its ultimate decisions. Sir James Wilson pointed out that the farmers were up against bard times, but were sure to face the ordeal as courageously as possible. He hoped the good fellowship that existed between employer and employee would continue, and that farmers would endeavour to retain their hands even though times were hard.

Many New Zealand Congregationalists are not at all satisfied’ in regard to the methods being adopted in seeking to effect union with the Presbyterians, states the Christchurch “Sun.” Tho. last quarterly meeting of the Linwood Congregational Churcli resolved to call upon fne sister churches of the Canterbury district to review the whole position in its present aspect, to weigh all available evidence pro and con, and to record by means of a plebiscite the vote of all church members in the. matter. Congregationalism’s liberty for the individual from dogma and from external ecclesiastical authority is likely to prove a. thorn in the flesh of organised and orthodox Presbyterianism.

In the course of an address on "Protection.” given by Mr. J. A. Fros’ick, in Christchurch, the speaker made reference to the country's financial position and the employment problem. Some people said that the root cause of our trouble was the craze which set in after the armistice for foreign-made goods. Forty millions sterling in value were imported more than the country needed, and the money was not here to pay for the goods, without serious financial disturbance. The farmer was intensely interested in the position, because the money which would have been available for 'development work was now locked up in bonded stores.

Galvanised iron is comparatively cheap now in New states the Dunedin “Star.” The peak price during the war was over £lOO per ton. Good brands can now be bought in Dunedin at £56. In regard to hardware generally, prices have eased somewhat, but without justification in cost. New Zealand firms, though paying as much as ever, have reduced places to. ease their big .stocks. Stabilisation is an urgent necessity in this trade. Some of the reductions are apparently traceable to an expectation of Belgian competition. In that connection, artls ihe “Star.” it is significant to note that the first of the Belgian goods have come to hand in the shape of fencing wire, and that, as it proves to be not up to the standard in quality, buyers nre now shy about ordering from Belgium till they know for certain what the quality is to be. A recommendation from the Finance Committee that as the collection of 2s. fid. in the £ income tax on debenture interest preiudices the sale of debentures to small investors, the Municipal Corporations Association lie asked to urge the Government to rescind tho legislation bearing on that matter, has been adopted by the Mount Eden Borough Council. The exmmittee further recommended that tne Rating Act. 1908, should be amended so that accounts for rates may be kept bv ledgers on a commercial system. The council agreed io the recommendations.

The observance of Anzac Day was discussed at the annual conference of the Canterbury Returned Soldiers’ Association. Mr. M. T. Reese, a Timaru de egate said everyone would agree that the intention of Parliament was that the day should be obs-rved as a Sunday. Through faulty wording of the Act this had not been secured. On his motion, ihe conference adopted a remit for the Dominion conference, recommending that the Government should be urged to amend the Act to provide for a compulsory statutory holiday for all classes ot business.

The suggestion that, the Stale should extend its activities by absorbing the existing orphanages received no support at tho meeting of the Council of Churches at Christchurch on Monday. Jhe matter was introduced by Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael (Salvation Army), who moved the- following motion, which was carried —"That, in the opinion of the meeting, a committee representative of the Council of Churches in Christchurch should be set up to make full investigation concerning the Government s intentions regarding tho taking over of illegitimate. orphap, and destitute children as wards of the State; the committee to make a full report to the Council of Churches.” He said that a great and good work was being done among from 500 to 600 children that the Army alone had, and they, should strongly resent any State interference. Ho criticised the suggested scheme laid down b.r > Beck, who was in charge of the Welfare of Children branch of the Education Department. The nationalisation scheme would rob the children of the care and attention that a good institution provided.