AUCKLAND NOTES

Hokitika Guardian, 30 January 1932, Page 2

AUCKLAND NOTES

(From Our Correspondent)

.As it, is known that the Communistic element j (i - Auckland is steadily grow, mg, and theit a; number,of these undesirables have arrived from overseas—particularly, from/ 1 Sydney—a police officer'.has been appointed to inspect the passenger lists ,qf overseas steamers While on the stream, and prior to berth at ; (the wharf. -This preeanrior should never have been relaxed, and as it seewis New iSouth Wales is dc termiined pow to get rjd of these ob noxious pests in some way or other i behoves New Zeajand to see that -they are not dumped ovev this side. Considerable interest is being manifested in' the arrival of the magnificent •1,600 ton steam: yacht Nahlin in which the owner, Lady.,Yule arid her daughter, are making p voyage around the world. After spending some time deep sea fishing ‘in. and around the Bay of Islands the (ihtent)on of the owner is to visit Auckland and go on to -Taupe for- trout fishing, in the Tongariro River. Then to go down the Wanganui and rejoin the yacht in A Veiling toil. In the South Island they will visit Mount *Cook, walk over )tlie Te Anau, Mil lord track, then vessel awaiting them in Milford Sou no. It is proposed <to visit Musky and Dotibtful Sounds returning thence to Wellington. The itinerary, which it is Understood was arranged by Lady Yule after, consultation with the head of -the Tourist Department, does not apparently Include a Visit fo the glac'ers of South \Vosiland. A Japanese steamer is at present unloading a cargo of sulphate at one of the Auckland wharves. Why on earth w* require to import sulphur when only a few miles a.wny, at White Island in 'tjie'Bay pf' Plenty we have a sulphur fester ig a 'question that shoujd rec|ive the attention of those who wipli to ooe local industries encouraged and developed. . , Yesterday was the Wafers’dei's’ Picnic'and six overseas 'and one large coastal vessel remained in forced idleness, at ihe wharves. In view of, tile fact {that - m .any thousands of men inclqcjiug waterside workers, are out of employment and. claiyoring for relief vvork.it may be questioned whether, the piaijiclters were .justly ..entitled' tp have their ~ day's work held'for them until ■•. he 'tojlowiiig d4y- ■'. !'• , I ya.s' plypHed "to see-your. Wellingr ton' correspondent refuting . scandajs ibout the .late Mr Seddon- and Sir Joseph .Ward ' which some anonymous 3'eribbler up 1 north is circulating. But! those who . are acquainted with the ■ earlier political history of New Zealand?.know well that charges based ori falsehood, fabrication, and ferocious party:-spleen in the old days had constantly to be investigated : and disproved, sometimes' at considerable expense- to the country. It" is riot only disgusting, .hut disquieting, however, to jindHhat the-same-tactics are'still being pursued, as,, was demonstrated., at last ejection,: . wh«n the “seventy million lie” * was' worked’ for alii it was worth to. discred'it the .Liberal' (now called Ctyited) , paf.ty;. 'The 'scandalous atfeiriptfli to' besmear, the repu'tatjons of two .■•;of 'tl»f.,, greatest • statesmen .* New Zealand eVer produced, ‘ both of whom gave their fives tor their 1 country, must however, react on the slanderers and ' political fatkfon ' ijn'-tfie,'. 'interests of which they are presumably vvorking. ’The news of 'the death of Mr H. t*. Stark, in past years manager of the Bank of New South Wales in Hokitika md iQreymouth ' will be received with deep :regret by a large number of old West Coasters. Mr Stark was in the old days well known and highly popular on the Coast. He iiad since 1912 been ‘manager of 'the bullion department 'of file) bank in Sydney, but- some six months ago retired, and wa s on a visit, accompanied by Mrs Stark, to New Zealand. He developed pneumonia while on a fishing expedition in Mercury Bay, and died in the hospital 'fif/re.

Dr Mars den. Director of the Department of ‘Scientific and Industrial Research, stated in, an address the other evening that in the export of butter Nlew Zealand was not watching its market adequately. Margarine, now a nourishing food with a proper vitamin content, was a more serious competitor than was perhaps realised. In this, N«w Zealaud was confronted again by technical reasons. Margarine could be given flavour and texture to suit, local re quireiuents and had an immediate advantage, New Zealand might yet have to export a dry butter for preparation iu England to suit local demands. Notwithstanding the hard times and shortage of money the hold that the Gilbert, and Sullivan musical comedies retain on the 'public has just been demonstrated here where 'the J, C. Williamson Coy staged thirty-three performances to well filled, sometimes crowded, and invariably enthusiastic houses. The old favourites "Patience,” "Pinafore," "Gondoliers” "Pirates," “Mikado,” aud "Yeoman of the Guard’’ appealed apparently to young and old alike, as was the case half a century ago. One of tho papers referred to the ovuci donee that it tvas fifty years since the "Pirates of Penzance” was first staged in Auckland. The second wool sale of the season have was again very poor ; of the 25,282 bales offered about half passed in unsold. Jn 1927 Die average price per lb. was just over a shilling, and in 1928 one and fourpence. Last year the average dropped to fourpence, and this year toe return is anticipated to

be very little better. The position is said to be iso serious that purchasers of stock are compelled 'to write down their estimate of sheep values to the 'worth of the carcase, allowing only a trifle for the pelt and wool. For some reason, however, the prices obtained down, south are slightly better than those ruling in Auckland. In the correspondence columns of the press some peculiar ideas are ventilated at times. Ati “economic student’’ in the “Herald" has found out that “Capital” can earn its keep, but cannot earn the keep of the capitalist ; it is entitled to “a return,’’ but it cannot earn .interest; and this confusion of ideal is supposed to be the philosophy of Henry George! As however it is not unusual for even professors of teconomics to flatly contradict one another it is hardly surprising that a more “student" should at the outset get hopelessly tangled over matters which should be made clear to every fourth standard schoolboy. One rather noticeable feature just now sis the large number of small private companies being registered. The underlying cause of this, in many eases, is. that the larger businesses and factories, in consequence of the depression ill trad© and the inelasticity of the labour conditions imposed by Arbitration 'Court awards, have had to materially reduce the number of their employees. The more fortunate of ’these ompHoyees who lhave either a little money saved, or who have backing, are launching oult in business for themselves. This is quite commendable, but Unfortunately the prospects for their success are «ot good, A very large number of small workshops and factories with limited equipment and still move limited capital can only, as the Baying is “put one another’s throats’' Jn very many instances, by hard work. Jong houra, pud financial and other worries *.f which as employees they had no experience or conception, the 'owners may make a bare living. But .the end -is generally liquidation or tile bankruptcy court. One thing they learn, however, from practical and bitter experience, and 'that is that no man can receive more than he can earn, and that the conditions under which a living ;cau bo made under competitive industrial conditions are sometimes far worse thap the “wage slavery’’ so glibly talked about by 'the labour agitator.