WELLINGTON NOTES,

Hokitika Guardian, 20 August 1923, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES,

EMPIRE EX Hi BIT LON'. NEW ZEALAND’S REPRESENTATION. (Special to '‘Guardian”.) WELLINGTON. Aug. Hi The Department of Industries and Commerce is advertising for applications for the positions of Commissioner, Assistant-Commissioner, Secretary, Accountant, and two information officers to represent New Zealand at tho forthcoming Empire Exhibition in London. It is understood that the salary of the Commissioner will he tit a rate well over Ll.dot) a year, that the As-sistant-Commissioner "ill receive Ll,00;i a year, the Secretary and Accountant each L7oo a year and the information ollieers each LoUO. In addition to these payments the gentlemen appointed to the positions "ill receive allowances varying from ,Cfi to LI LAs a day. People here, interested In the exhibition, do not regard either the salaries nr the allowances in any wav extravagant : indeed they think it may he necessary to pay a little more to secure the right men; hut they feat tho, higher positions may bo filled hv civil servants approaching tho superannuation ago, without any special qualifications for the work, and tho lower ones by more clerks trout (lie same source. They point to this sort of thing having been done in the past by successive Governments and they want some assurance it will not he done on tho present occasion. A BOLD ADVERTISEMENT.

A prominent business man discussing the matter to-day gave it ns his •■'pinieu that tin' 1 New Zealand section ■.I tExhibition might la* made the biggest ad vet i i seme 11 1 the Dominion cr had received. But to secure iho i .-si results the main purposes of the “great show” to commend British lands and British products to British people, must be kept constantly in view

V- Xew Zealand's representatives. This work could not he done by men without, a good working knowledge of Now Zealand's rum! industries, manufactures, land seltlemont provisions an - labour conditions. No matter what literature our representatives max have to offer to inquirers at Heine they must he able to supplement it from their own stock of information and experience. The exhibits would show tvhei the Dominion can do, hut the intending immigrant with a little money to invest and a family to settle would want to know how ii is done. 'I he gisi of all this was. of course, that practical men of all’airs, readv to meet objection* and criticism, a.s well as to present facts, are required to represent New Zealand at I lie exhibition and to make the expenditure ol the .0100,000 or so. not only worth while, hut also a good investment. THE BUTTER INDUSTRY. The “Dominion” in untieing tho animal report of the Department of Agriculture laid on the (able of the House this week again emphasises the need of maintaining the quality ot New Zealand butter. "There is still. ’ it says, after referring to the good results obtained from herd-testing, "a great deal

to he done in the way of improving our dairying herds. Many larmers have not yet fully realised what they have to gain by eliminating the scrub hull and the cull cow; hut the wolk of educating them is going on steadily. In connection wirh the quality el our dairy produce, the flavour and make during the past season is regarded hy the Department as having lieon satisfactory, and the reporl s from Britain and the United States have keen very sal isfaelor;.'. in some eases, however, ill. re Las been tendency to exceed the water content limit, and. a number of boxes have I ecu debarred from examt oil His account. One thing above all others that mu-I he insisted on i« that (!■•> (lUidily of our butter must be up to s'ceilleat i-'li. We have got a in; me for qualit v t hat is worth too much to it- to inn any risks of losing it." The prospect of till keener coin-j pet it ion in the London market during 'ln- approaching season makes the repetition of those home truths more than merely desirable. STATE COAL. The Mines Sialenient laid mi the table ol tlie House on Monday shows lb - Stale's coal mining and i ratling in a rather better light than Inis been the eas. f,;r sum,, vxr-s past. I, appears that the profit at the Slate real mines durio-: 1 <):>_• was and at tie deli ds DL-'H !. making a tola! of CIO.GBG. Out of tills su,.| L!,uV-’ wa.s applied lo Sinking Fund ArcouiU and L'G.lfi! was carrie,l forward. 'Die. reporl states that tln-re wax k eu competition in the sale of coal during the year, owing mainly to large importations of con! by private enterprise from Australia, hut apparently il;o State still was able to under-sell the oilier dealers and show a profit ai its depots. The gross capital expenditure upon the State undertaking up to .March .'II hist was Lo.’lfblo2, the amount written oil' for depreciation, itichiding, presumably, the amount involved in the exhaust ion of mines.

was it iit I tie 11<-I jint 1 !! ; Irmn the inception :.l' the uudertakiue: iiji to M"areh til lasi, i'lol.! w >L The enmula’ul nl' private onl ci ;>;'i- o is 11 ■mt M illie I! e State nnrlcrsolls its rivals it nays neitlici' ineome tax imr Infill rat os.