THE LATE MR. E. M. SMITH.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2056, 29 April 1907, Page 1

THE LATE MR. E. M. SMITH.

There was no more familiar figure within tho precincts of Parliament tlian K. M. Smith, who, rarely without liis frock coat and white waistcoat and a large buttonhole, was thoroughly popular with everyone. He . was a great talker in his . best days—"great” in the sense that he was always an entertaining speaker; the light comedian—if one may respectfully apply fhe term—of the House. He was a consistent Liberal. Sprung from the ranks, his voice was often heard ip defence of the rights of the people, and in this advocacy he was genuinely sincere, for he had "gone through the mill” of daily toil. From borough lamplighter and turncock he attained to the position of a Parliamentary representative, and • this he could not have done without possessing the confidence of his fellow men. People' laughed when New Plymouth first sent him to Parliament, but lie won his political spurs as a member by sheer hard work for his constituents. Mr. Smith was a most amusing spca'ker; lie liad—a good sense of humor, and this he used occasionally with excellent effect in bantering the Opposition when they took up tlieir bludgeons. Nothing annoyed the Opposition more than to find that E. M. Smith was put up to reply to an important speaker, but this was a way the late Sir. Setldon had when he desired to' belittle the Opposition at times when “barrack” was deemed the most suitable weapon. Mr. Smith loved his Taranaki —"the garden of New Zealand,” lie often told us —with its ironsand, its oil, and its grand scenery. He labored diligently in his desire to bring the wealth of that district before the notice of the outside world. "Come and see my sho wof Taranaki iron and steel,” be said to the writer at the time of the Hawcra Exhibition, some years ago. And there, ill a large stall, be exhibited with pride a great quantity of material manufactured from the local deposits, and he spoke of the tremendous mine ot wealth which lay there undeveloped. One day some good will result from his persistent advertising of Taranaki’s resources, He was popular with his fellow-members in Parliament—none, perhaps, more so. They

will miss the Hashes of poetry with which lie invariably interlarded and concluded bis speeches, and they will extend their warmest sympathies to his widow and children. Taranaki lias lost a useful citizen and Parliament an interesting figure.—N.Z. 'l’inies.

The Dunedin Star status that the i Labor Department is quite imaldc tr 1 cope with the (ioniuiul for men exist- | iug throughout Llio colony. This has special reference to bilshmen ami | roadmakors, of whom they cannot secure enough, although wages are Os per day for 8 hours. The demand for these chiefly e,omes from the North Island, the demands of flic Hawke’s Hay, Wellington, Taranaki and Wanganui districts being greatest. Offers of '“£2 a week and found” for busbmen remain unapplied for. Mr. Northcroft, S.M., when dealing with a ease under the Noxious Woods Act, at the Cambridge Court, I remarked that some prominent, officials of the Bank of New Zealand I had recently been through the Waikato, and were much impressed with the good land all round, hut held that the one thing necessary was, as In. the South, to carry out a general system of high class farming. The Magistrate remarked, that that was not possible while people allowed half their farms to become over-run with briars and blackberries. It was thought in some quarters that the Stock Department was unusually severe, hut lie thought they were not nearly severe enough to bring about the high class farming mentioned. A.particularly skilful theft was committed in Coldwator’s pawnshop, Victoria street, Auckland, the other evening. A young man asked to he shown some diamond rings. One valued at £OS was shown him. After he had carefully handled and scrutinised it, the young fellow went outside, informng the proprietor that lie was going to bring a friend in. The friend never came and Coldwntev’s suspicions were aroused. Ho looked at the case containing the ring last the visitor, and found that the valuable ring was missing, and another ring, valued at about £l, had boon subtitutod. Tbe police were informed, and the detectives arrested Hubert Black, alias Lewis, on a charge of stealing the ring. The ring was not in his possession at the time,hut it was subsequently recovered by the police. A protest has been made against the. practice of some school teachers of canvassing for the personal influence of education Hoard members and school committeemen to secure

ipfioiiitinrtnt.s. With the object of becking this practice the I nglewood

School Committee l wrote to the Tara, nnki Education Hoard asking it to include' the following provision in its regulations: “That personal canvassing by applicants for positions as teachers in schools under-the Board’s control ho considered sufficient reason for the disqualification of any applicant so offering.’.’: The Board did not entertain the proposal seriously. One member said be doubted

whether tile Hoard bad power to make such a regulation. Another said committees made the final selection and Vould reject a candidate who had resorted to canvassing. Dr. Findlay says that, although the Native Land Commission have been in existence for only a few months; they have . got through a stupendous quantity of work. They have submitted two important reports to the Government, and the third is being prepared. The reports not only contain the Commission’s recommendations in regard to the settlement of the Maori Lands, but also give a very masterly survey of the Maori land legislation of the past. Two of the reports are in the hands of the Government Printer and the third will he submitted shortly. Asked if steps would be taken at once to arrange for the opening up of the land, Dr. Findlay replied: “We can do nothing until Parliament meets. The House will then have an opportunity of passing an Act to immediately make • the land available for settlement by Europeans.” -Just a year ago there was something of a sensation in Christchurch connected with the telephone service, some 700 subscribers being “nut off” on account of their failure to attend to the many demands made on them for their subscriptions. On April 18th' (says the Lyttelton Times), the cutting-off process was repeated, subscribers having been previously warned that they must pay before April Kith. The officer in charge of the Telegraph Department, Mr. Tb N. Martin, informed a reporter that he bad bad to disconnect 290 subscribers who bad omitted to make tlieir payments. In many cases the omission to pay was a matter of forgetfulness, and when their attention was forcibly drawn to the omission subscribers wore ready to pay. The other day (says the North Otago Times) a swarm of bees took possession of a chemist’s shop in Onmaru. and although the proprietor did bis best to “shoo” them out, they would’nt go, and the consequence was that his customers bad to make their wants known from the footpath, and the chemist had to brace bis nerves to the sticking point, and run the gaunlet of the busy bees, who were prepared with their implements of warfare to defend the position they bad taken up. An offshot of the. same hive obtained ingress to a bank, and buzzed about as if they intended to make a fixed deposit with every official in the place. Anyvtlier hive settled on the stock of a confectioner, and Imre they were at peace with all! the world but those who molested them in their vigorous onslaught on flic sugar.