AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 January 1928, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

(By Telegraph—Per Press Association. FLINDERS ISLAND REPORT. HOBART, Jan. 27. Flinders Island report anent the missing aviators is amplified by a further report. The police officer in charge of the island states that two men said they had heard the* uiimistakenblo hum of an aeroplane but they could not see Die machine. A few minutes later they heard, a crash and one of them who had been in France with the Expeditionary Force said if (that, is a plane she has fallen. I heard them crash like that in Franco. When it was known that the airmen were missing, a search was instituted, but no trace was found there. Owing to the feeling that the machine crashed in low-lying lagoon country to the oast of Darling Range, which extends for many miles, and is totally uninhabited, search parties are "being organised.

BUTTER IN AUSTRALIA (Received this day at 10 15 a.m.) MELBOURNE. Jan. 27. At a meeting of the Australia:' Butter .Stabilisation Committee a veil serious view was taken of importation into Australia of New Zealand butteand the fact that large quantities had been purchased for forward delive’v up to Alareb and April next. It was stated the ouput of butter over tl..’ main producing States was sufficien this season to meet all requirements in Australia and consequently flic substantial purchases made from New Zealand are considered a menace to the industry because of the defini* • probability of increasing competition from this source. The Committee recommends n'l States to fix their local values on such a basis that encouragement will not be provided for flooding the mark-', with these imported goods. The Committee is desirous of arousing inter est in all factories on this question with a view to each doing all in its power to discountenance the prnlitnLktrnding in New Zealand butter by di--tributors of wholesale or retail.

FEDERAL WAGES. MELBOURNE. Jan. 27

Figures issued by the Trades Hal' Research and information Bureau show, with the exception of Alel bourne and Adelaide, there will lie : n creases in wages in all States. In .Melbourne new rates are operating from first. February and will be £1 9? fid, a decrease of sixpence or a daily rate of 4s sd.

In Adelaide it will be £4 7s fid, a decrease of a shilling. lii Sydney there will be an increase of 2s fid milking the new rate £4 13* wceklv. There will lie an increase o' a shilling weekly in Brisbane making £4 Os fid. An increase of sixpence in Perth makes a new rate of £4 and Is in Hobart makes it £4 4s.

The average for thirty towns in A us- -‘ tralia gives the wage £1 8s weekly or * an increase of a shilling, while for ( the six capital cities the wage is £4 '• 9s, an increase of a shilling. These J rates apply to all awards under the ' Federal Arbitration Court. J I \ORANG I’S PASSENGERS. SUVA, Jan. 27. Sailed.—On Thursday evening. Aorangi from Vancouver fur Auckland. The passengers include Hcin<. I Bonham and Morris, car manufac-tur I

ers. * COAIAIERCIAL. MELBOURNE. Jan. 27. Wheat, quiet, easier tendency. 4'd; buyers parcel business at 5s 4d . flour £l2 IDs. £l3 10s. ; bran, pollard j J 27 3.“si; oats, milling. 4s Id. 4s sd, 1 feed Is. Is 2d; Barley, English, 5s sd. t Cape, 4s fid; potatoes £5, £fi ; onions . £8 10s. < NAVAL NEEDS. , SIR ROBERT HORNE’S VIEWS. . (Received this day at 11.0 a.m.) , MELBOURNE. Jan. 27. Sir Robert Horne, referring to naval ,

armaments at the Overseas Club, said last year in Fnited States the idea was very prevalent that because we failed to come to an agreement with that nation on the question of the number of cruisers to he built, that Britain had some ulterior design and still cherished and desired to have a navy larger than that of any other nation. The controversy between Britain and the United States was over the number of cruisers each should have. America wanted to have a certain number ot ten thousand ton cruisers and wished to limit the number of cruisers which Britain required. Me could not accept their figures and insisted that wo required a much greater number of cruisers than had been stipulated. Me had no aggressive intentions. All we asked was that we should have the number of (misers wo required in accordance with the distance between sections of the Empire. He added : “ America- is self contained and has only one or two near possessions, so she requires fewer ships than Britain, whose possessions are so scattered all through the seas. Further, America requires large cruisers because it has to steam a greater distance to refuel, whereas the Empire possesses a large number of refuelling stations throughout the world. Her cruisers could operate with a much smaller store of fuel, but we require far more of them than America docs. Mo should lia\e been failing in our duty to those portions of the Empire here and overseas if we had failed to maintain the position that nothing less than our absolute necessities should be agreed to. Britain is bound to recognise her own necessities and the needs of the gieat communities which depend on the defence she affords and we did nothing less than our duty in maintaining that position.”