The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1907.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2052, 2 December 1907, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1907.

THE GERMANS AS MEAT EATERS.

The demand on the mart of the •masses in Germany for meat is becoming more Insistent than ever and it seems ito be only a question of time when we shall be sending our mutton, beef and lamb to help to feed flic millions of the Father.!and. In the past the influence of the Agrarian or farming party in the Reichstag, which .is naturally .interested in nunintabiing the present excesive prices for .all farm products, lias been sufficient to resist tho agitation for the free Luporitaiton of foreign meat; tout each year the cry of the working classes becomes ion-1-or and ‘louder. Scarcely had the German parliaanent opened its present session .before Herr Scheidmann, a Socialist, coin,pi lined that the average cost of living had increased during a decade by 33 1-3 per cent. AYheat, he said, had risen 45 per cent in six years, and flour 34 per cent since List year, while beef liad risen 30 per cent and mutton 50 per cent during the decade. The upward movement was •alarming the workers. Herr Sclieidmann urged the removal of duties on imported corn, and the relaxation of the stringent regulations in connection with tho importation of foreign meat. The Government reply to this can scarcely toe said to have toeeen satisfying. The Minister for tho Interior said that the higher wages caused an increased consumption of all commodities and ,a general improvement in the standard of life. Tlio amount of ■meat no-w consumed had nearly, risen to tho British level. Possibly the term meat may' be taken to include horseflesh, which lias for some tune taken a prominent part in the diet of the Gorman laborer, for it is hard to .understand how he is to get as much mutton or heef as his fellow in Britain who receives millions of pounds worth of frozen and chilled moot annually from other countries. The facts of the position are that the population of Germany is increasing very rapidly whilst the number of sheep in the country is growing less each year. Foreign supplies are virtually prohibited, not toy means of a tariff, but toy' provisions in regard to the inspection of imported meat -nut are so drastic as to toe unworkwme .for exporting countries. Thus -tlie masses find themselves faced toy,prices which render meat almost unobtainable, whilst the great sheep and cattle countries of the world are only too anxious to supply their needs at reasonable prices. Such a position is obviously one that cannot continue indefinitely' and tli e time must come German ports will be opened to foreign meat. New Zealand •is naturally deeply concerned in the agitation referred to for the opening up of an additional market to supply the wants of GO,OOO, Gormans would have a most stimulating effect on the frozen meat trade.

At tho complimentary concert to too tendered to Airs. Buekuridgo on Thursday night, that lady will sing, toy special request, “Alas Those Chillies” and “Only l a. Penny.” At the meeting of the_ Behoofs Athletic Association on Saturday, Mr F. J. Rowley suggested that I ram the school sports might grow a toianeh ol the Amateur Athletic Association. The suggestion was woll received, and Mr Woodward proposed that in. oriler to keep boys in t-ho amateur ranks the Association should provide at its spor.ts races for boys iwho have left school. A short sitting of the Police Court was held at tho Police Station on Saturday .morning. John Stephens for drunkenness was sentenced to 14 •days’ imprisonment, this being bis third offence within a short period. —John Godfrey was charged with having stolen two cheques, the xiroperty of Jaimes Wallace, licensee of the Turanganui Hotel. Accused was remanded until December Gth, bail being allowed, self ill ;CSO and one surety in a similar amount.

Air M. Segedin has now in use at Victoria Billiard Saloon an attractive billiard scoring hoard of his own manufacture. It consists ol a marble slab, the indicators running on •brass rods. A dial is also provided for recording the hundreds. The lettering is done in first-class style l , •and it is safe to say that the figures will bo visible from any part of the saloon. The marble slab is elaborately chased in gold, and tho whole presents a very' attractive appearance.