AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 May 1923, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

ISOI.SIIEA iS.AI IN AUSTRALIA. 1 KITER FROM THE SOVIET GOVERN M ENT. SYDNEY. May 1.1 The Russian Soviet Government is I*l eon -1 aii i eoiuniii'iirutioii with the Coniniunist -eeiion ol tin- Sydney Trades Hall unions. A letter hr. - m-e.i received at the Sydney Trades Halt oil behalf of the Russian Government, "extending greetings to the workers of Australia.” ihe letter stated: ••Your political and industrial life rx a cynosure of deep interest tu trie working class ot all lands. It yom battles carry you into the political arena as class-conscious workers there is no reason for von to he afraid sn long as your union regulations protect your members from the contamination of political chicanery. Tu Russia the workers are organised along t e lines of industry. ■•ln Russia, tlso workers now occupy the palates and mansions that they originally built for the master class. The churches .-still .stand, hut have been stripped of their dominant powers and must of their valuables, which have been used to Iced those who arc Famine stricken. A our alignment in Australia with the Communist Inteiimtioual shows your stability and tic termination in which we wish you the gromest success.” BANKRUPT STATE THEIR PRICES. SYDNEY, May It. Following the announcement that the losses of the Commonwealth Government bine of steamers for the year ended June 30 last is estimated to r. aeli L‘ 1.000.000, comes a statement of losses of the Canadian Government's shipping line. Information has been received in Sydney from Ottawa, Canada, that the annual statements of accounts ol the Canadian Government Merchant Marino, Etd., show a deficit on operations for ihe last financial year of C 170,80.'). The total deficit for the year, .including all charges and depreciation, amounts to CI,SOD,OOO. It Is also stated that a number of the smaller •vessels of the Canadian Government bine Meet are laid up.

DROUGHT BROKEN.. SYDNEY, May 1.1. Unsettled conditions, which have given promise of rain for some weeks, have culminated in a. general rainfall over a large area. Tl ie whole of New South Wales, with the exception of part of the north coast, has received rains of a light to moderate character, and the area affected by the break in the dry spell also includes Victoria, Tasmania, the southern portion of South Australia, and districts of Queensland west of a tine joining Burketowu and Goondiwindi. The whole of the Western division, Riverina, and the wheat holt reported falls varying from a quarter to half an inch, and ranging up to an inch at Watiaaring in the north-west. The rain is the most general experienced since December last, and one of the best features i< that practically every reporting station in the area affected reported some rain. The benefits of the rain to the next wool clip and to the next wheat harvest may he great, but the falls already received are insufficient- in themselves. Tf the present rain is not followed by further falls, it is likely to do harm, as seed mav he germinated only to perish in another dry spell.