NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 137, 7 December 1938, Page 12

NEWS OF THE DAY

"Peace Conference."

"No, this is a peace conference," said one of the assessors jocularly at a sitting of the conciliation council in Wellington, yesterday, to a latecomer who was looking for the meeting, which was held in the Government Buildings. Taking the remark literally, the new arrival promptly withdrew and one of the assessors had to chase him along the corridor. Accommodation Allowance. The conciliation council, sitting at Wellington yesterday to hear a dispute over the wages and conditions of employment for general labourers, instructed the Commissioner (Mr S. Rit.chie) to bring to the notice of the Secretary of Labour the necessity for increasing the accommodation allow- i ance for assessors attending conciliation councils, on the grounds that it was absolutely impossible to obtain accommodation at the present rate of j allowance. It was suggested that £ 1 a day should be paid. Working at Top Pressure. "Regarding the Christchurch telegram that several clothing factories are reducing staffs, the very opposite is our experience in Dunedin at present," said the manager of a large clothing concern there when interviewed yesterday. "We are working at top pressure to cope with our orders. I do not know the position in respect to other factories," he added, "but I do know that any operatives leaving us are snapped up by others." Builders' Profits? "If only you could be forced to pay four of your ten per cent, profits to a reserve fund for use in the event of a depression and be limited to six per cent!" said Mr. P. M. Butler, advocate for various general labourers' unions, during conciliation proceedings &t Wellington yesterday after the employers' representatives had signified their refusal to agree to wage increases. The remark brought an immediate retort from Mr. A. Fletcher, one of the employers' assessors. "If we could get six per cent, on our capital we would be the luckiest people in the world," he said. Mr. Fletcher added that his company had paid no dividend at all for 1938. Last year they paid 2>\ per cent., and the previous year. 2J per lent., and during the depression years, from 1930 onwards, nothing. Work Wanted and Refused. "In today's mail I received three letters—one from a butcher in Switzerland, one from a carpenter in London, and the third from a cabinetmaker in Scotland —inquiring about the possibility of obtaining work in New Zealand," said Mr. P. M. Butler during conciliation proceedings in Wellington yesterday. Miss M. B. Howard, of Christchurch, one of - the employees' assessors, went one better. "I received a letter from Sydney last week from a young man asking how soon a fellow could get on sustenance when he came to New Zealand," she said. The previous stories were capped by the Commissioner (Mr. S. Ritchie). "I have just received a telegram from 16 people who are refusing to work," he said. Timely Agreement. The making of a new trade agreement between Britain and the United States was a step in the right direc- j tion, for, if ever there was a time in the history of the world when the English-speaking peoples should get together, it was the present, said Mr. I Harold Beauchamp, managing director of Kodak (N.Z.), Ltd., who returned! by the Awatea yesterday after visiting America, Britain, and the Con-j tinent;. It was probable that the exist-! ence of the agreement would foster j closer relations between the United! States oh the one hand and Canada and the rest of the British Dominions on the other, said Mr. Beauchamp. The visit of the King and Queen to the United States next year would also help to cement the relations between the two great English-speaking nations. More Room at Victoria College. With over 1000 students to deal with, administration at Victoria College is a big undertaking. Until recently this has been carried out under some difficulty owing to lack of space, but this has now been rectified with the completion of the new administration block. The transfer from the main building- into the new block is now being carried out and will be completed next week. The new building is of three storeys. On the ground floor are the college offices, on the first the principal's office and the council meet-ing-room and the custodian's quarters are on the top floor. The building is of concrete, finished in" red brick to match the other buildings. The new biology block, on which work is proceeding, will not be finished for some time yet.

Belief Workers and Labourers. Reference to what he described as the better conditions of work for men employed on full-time relief work under which general labourers were employed was made by Mr. P. M. Butler at a sitting of the Conciliation Council at Wellington yesterday when advocating payment on a weekly basis for general labourers. "Men working under Scheme 13 for local bodies are paid for wet time, and when Christmas comes along they get their money, he said, "whereas general labourers receive nothing when they don't actually work." In reply to Mr. A. Fletcher's question: "Who is to blame for that?" Mr r Butler said: "It is the fault of society as a whole, and it is our job here to try to put that right. The hourly rate of pay to our fellows is hot good enough, and if we can get away from that we want to." On the same subject, Mr. L. Glover, of Wellington, one of the unions' assessors, said that on relief work today a man can get £4 13s 4d a week, wet or dry, and at Christmas time a fortnight's holiday on full pay. "Who would be a builder's labourer when he can get a better deal somewhere else?" he added. "Labour will flow where the conditions are best."

i Building Trade Awards. "Awards made affecting the building trade should not become operative for six months so that builders would have a chance to adjust their costs," ? d Mr. W. J. Mountjoy, employers' advocate, during conciliation proceedings at Wellington yesterday, when a dispute between the general labourers' unions of New Zealand and the employers was being heard. "Suppose a builder takes on a job that is going to last two years and wages increase during that period, where is he?" Toll of the Storm. An example of the fierceness of the gales on Sunday night was given at last night's meeting of the Wellington Rugby Union, when Mr. H. Murphy, of the grounds committee, reported that about twenty yards of the iron fence which runs along the top of the western bank at Athletic Park had been blown right on to the ground. Thick wooden posts had been snapped off, he said, and the fence had scarred the ground where it landed. The iron had smashed about a dozen seats in its flight. "You'd never credit it," said Mr. Murphy referring to the damage done by the wind. The question of repairs was left in the hands of the grounds committee. Science. Congress in 1940. A science congress will be held in Wellington in 1940, probably in May, as part of the Centennia. celebrations. Preliminary arrangements are being made by the Royal Society of New Zealand through the Wellington Philosophical Society, which is its Wellington branch. It is expected that a number of scientists from overseas will be present, as well as all the leading scientists in the Dominion. The congress will embrace the following six sections:—(l) Physical sciences: (a) mathematics, physics, astronomy; (b) chemistry; (2) geological sciences, including geography; (3) biological sciences: (a) botany, (b) zoology; (4) rural sciences, including agriculture and forestry; (5) anthropology and history; and (6) social sciences, including economics. ' ■ I Model of the Dominion Monarch. j Oh display in the offices of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion, Co., Ltd., is a large model of the company's new liner Dominion Monarch. The model, which is constructed to a scale of \ inch to the foot, has a length of 17 feet and, with its mountings, weighs about 23----cwt. It was landed from the Wairaarama yesterday, after it had been on show for several months at the Glasgow Exhibition. Except for one or two slight alterations which were made to the Dominion Monarch after the model had been made, it is a good reproduction of what the ship will look like when she arrives at Wellington next ( year. The Dominion Monarch will be the most powerful motor-ship in the world, and will have tasteful accommodation for 500 first-class passengers. She will be of 27,000 tons gross register, and she has a length of 682 feet and a breadth of 84 feet 6 inches.: Mission Work in China. "The soul-destroying activity of. the war in China has created a spiritual hunger, and this is finding its food in the Christian message," said the Rev. C W. McDouall, a New Zealand missionary who has. been stationed for many years at Peking, in an address to a large audience in the Holy Sepulchre Hall, Auckland, reports the "New Zealand Herald." Mr. McDouall showed how the work of the missionaries had been maintained and developed during the conflict, and he said the Church had grown until it was today: a sister communion to the Church in New Zealand. He suggested that the New Zealand Centennial in 1940 should be regarded as an opportunity to send the additional missionaries which were needed by the Church in China. It would, he said, be a most fitting way of marking the occasion. Main Trunk Rail-cars. Speeds of up to 75 miles per hour were reached over some sections of track, and 60 miles per hour was maintained over fairly long stretches, in a trial run of the new rail-car Toko-1 maru from Wellington to Whangarei and back, said the General Manager of Railways (Mr. G. H. Mackley), who, with his officers, returned to Wellington last night, having covered 1260 miles. The actual running time from Frankton to Wellington was 8 hours 43 minutes, an average of more than 39 miles per hour. Complete satisfaction with the performance of the car was expressed by Mr. Mackley. It had proved its capacity to travel consistently at high speeds, and its climbing capacity was proved on the spiral between Raurimu and National Park, a rise of 100 ft a mile for seven miles, which it did in 15J minutes, compared with the Limited express schedule of 25 minutes. The Department has in view the running of fast daylight railcar trips between Wellington and-Auck-land. It was anticipated that the cars would be able to do the 426-mile trip in 11 hours, or 4 hours faster than the daylight Limited express. Under this time-table passengers could breakfast and dine at terminals, the interesting scenic portions of the route in the centre of the North Island would be passed while the sun was high, and the unique features of railway construction which had been necessary could be appreciated. The Department was considering tenders for three rail-car units seating 150 persons. Smaller parties could be catered for by the Tokomaru type.