King Country Chronicle SATURDAY, SEPT. 28, 1912 LOCAL BODIES CONFERENCE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 504, 28 September 1912, Page 4

King Country Chronicle SATURDAY, SEPT. 28, 1912 LOCAL BODIES CONFERENCE.

—.—.— The conference of local bodies held at Te Kuiti on Wednesday should mark an epoch in the history of one of the most important districts in the Dominion. Situated in the heart of the North Island and covering an enormous area of fertile country the districts represented at the conference may well claim attention as representing the most valuable assets of the State. A striking feature of the conference was the unanimity of the delegates in respect to the various questions which were introduced for discussion. The great question of roading naturally claimed prominence, and the dominating note was the necessity for urgent action on the part of the Government in establishing a settled policy with the " object of developing the country on the best possible lines. Settlers in backblock regions are trammelled in many ways in their efforts to achieve progress, and as was pointed out by various speakers, the lack of a recognised policy in respect to loading matters made the path of backblock local bodies particularly difficult. The suggestion that the remedy for the various evils which exist should be propounded by the people most affected is obviously sound, but the lack of co-operation on the part of backblock settlers in the past has operated against any comprehensive scheme being put forward. The resalt of the present attempt to weld the various interests and act unanimously with a definite object is to be commended in every respect. By such means the united voice of large and important districts should be heard and the attainment of improved conditions is brought within the realm of probability. Manifestly, no Government can afford to neglect the well considered representations of such an important conference, and it is equally certain that no Government desires to operate against the interests of any section of the community. The conference to be held in January next will be looked forward to with interest and the recommendations made as the outcome of the deliberations should be of considerable assistance to the legislature in framing measures to provide adequately for developing the backblocka in the interests of the Dominion at large.

A baseball match will be played by the Australian cricketers during the coming tour of the United States. Gregory proposes that the match be played with cricket bats instead of round baseball clubs, under normal rules, with the exception that the

cricketers shall use their bare hands. The date of the match will probably be October 3rd. It is suggested that the cricketers' opponents shall be a team from the Giants and Brooklyn Clubs.

The opening of the Te Awamutu Bowling Club's green for 1912-13 season will take place on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Te Kuiti Club have been invited to the opening and a good muster of local enthusiasts will probably visit Te Awamutu.

On the 21st inst. the New Zealand Dairy Association, Ltd., distributed amongst its supplierrs £15,943 13s 3d. These payments cover butter fat which was supplied to their several creameries during the month of August. The corresponding payments last year were £13,62 10s sd. Thus the increase for the month as compared with last year is £2316 2s lOd.

An amendment of the Licensing Act so as to allow the chairman of a Licensing Committee to call a meeting of the committee at the most convenient courthouse, instead of the courthouse in the district, is suggested in a question by Mr Witty. He points out that owing to the law compelling these meetings to be held at a courthouse in the district, the committee has often to travel thirty or forty miles to attend meetings that only last a few minutes. The case of the Marseilles Customs officer who assessed an Egyptian mummyas "dried fish," had a parallel a short while since in New York. A naturalist in Africa sent home a case of tropical butterflies and the Customs authorities were perplexed. In the end they taxed them as "poultry," because they had wings As the scientific victim remarked: "They would probably have put a consign- I ment of archangels in the same class for the same reason."

Acording to the latest statistics there are 11,483,876 JeWB in the world, 5,876,299 of whom are in Europe, and 1,880,579 in America. The Russian Empire contains by far the greatest number of Hebrews, it having no fewer than 6,215,80. The United States follows second with 1,800,000, New York City alone having a Jewish population of 905,000. This veritable Jerusalem embraces one-thirteenth of the entire Jewish race—more Jews than ever before being gathered in one city. Between April 30th, 1903, and April of the present, year, there has been an increase of 4,795,600 in the number of stud and flock sheep in New Zealand. At the same time the total to-day is less than in 1910 and in 1911. The 1:310 figures stand as the highest on rec/ord, the tally then being 24,269,620), ai against 23,750,153 as per the latygt Government returns. For chronic chest complaints,

The Commonwealth Government is now paying annually £2,235,168 in old age and invalid pensions, the total being equal to 9a per head of the population. The average old ago pension is 18s lid per fortnight, and the average invalid pension l!)s 5d per fortnight.

"When I was in America I was offered an M.A. and D.D. degree for £l7 105.," confessed Mr leitfc in the House the other day. He modestly added that the offer did not stir his imagination, so ho did not accept it. Country settlers who are enterprising enough to provide themselves with private telephones will appreciate the action of Mr G. W. Russell in asking the Postmaster-General if the Post and Telegraph Department would approve of its telegraph linesmen advising settlers upon the erection of lines. The Hon. R. 11. Rhodes has replied that the department has no objection to linesmen giving advice to those desiring it, but it cannot, of cuurse, be held responsible for the advice given. "Officers of the engineering branch generally" added the Minister, "are at all times ready to advise settlers on matters connected with telephone lines, provided their duties are not interferred with."

Just refer to my monev - saving price-list on page G of this issue. Good for you—Email profits for J. E. Hillary, cash grocer, Te Kuiti.*