The Levin Chronicle. TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1918.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 4 June 1918, Page 2

The Levin Chronicle. TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1918.

j It is calculated tliat the absence j of any arrangement between the I exporters of butter ancl the supj pliers of the Dominion market to | equalise the price has resulted in the loss by the latter of at least ! half a million sterling during the . season that has just closed. Comparing the position of the home j suppliers with the cheese makers they make an infinitely worse showing - , and it is already evident tbat the problem of establishing a parity of values will need to be equitably settled before next season if' production is to go oil smoothly. The factories supplying the New Zealand market last year are able to .show that they have been at a. disadvantage of fivepence/per lb as compared with the British market value. The Imperial control price f.o.b. in i New Zealand worked out at lslOd per lb. The local wholesale price was Is 5d per lb. On a consumption of 10,000 tons this discrepancy mounts up to ,£4U(i,yo'G which those factories supplying the Dominion consumers lost on the season's operations. It is also pointed out that the English retail price is 2s (id and tlie wholesale value 2s yd. Pertinent questions are being asked as to who gets the difference. If it is going to the Imperial Government the butterinen are not desirous of objecting', but if on the other hand the profiteers are getting the difference between Is 10d and 2s yd there is a case for enquiry. Those in the trade have an exact idea of the cost of landing butter I in London, and they state that allowing for i lie profits, discounts and charges of transport, handling and insurance, the landed price is 206s per cwt, or Is lOd per lb. There is a promise to divide up half the surplus, but as the Government has made no mention of results, the producers are hoping that the National Government leaders will give the matter prompt attention when tliey are in London. If there is a divisable surplus, the local market supplier will not participate in it. The return from cheese supplied to the Imperial Government last se,ason resulted in an average payment to the producer of 2s per lb for his butterfat. The return to the supplier whose but- !

ter fat went to mate butter for tho New Zealand market was Is ijid, yel, as the Chairman of the Levin Dairy Company recently emphasised, the butter fat was undoubtedly of equal value. The establishment of an equal basis of value is tho problem that must be faced before next, season, for under the conditions of the past one section of the farming community is not receiving the same treatment as the majority of the others. The Canadian Govern- I ment adopted a very simple expedient- to overcome the anomalies of the situation there, and it is surprising that the National Government 'has lici moved on the same lines. Mr R-uddick, Canadian Dairy Commissioner, has written to New Zealand stating that the Dairy Produce Commission which has been making purchases in Canada for the Imperial Government has fixed the price of first-grade cheese at cents per lb. It then proceeded with tliis as a basis to fix prices of other butter fat products—-con-densed milk, butter, cheese. "The object in view," states the Commissioner,. "is to secure /.such ;a parity of prices that no unfair competition will arise between the manufacturers of condensed milk and the manufacturers of i cheese to secure the patronage of dairy farmers."

The fact that drink was urged as an extenuating circumstance in a charge against a native youth in the Supreme Court at Wanganui, led to some trenchant remarks by the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout). His Honor saicl it was evident that drinking was permitted among Maoris and that the native race was doomed to destruction if steps were not. taken to deal with the matter. He did not think the Maoris were now half as numerous as when lie arrived in tlie Dominion. "We are stronger than they to bear their burdens," proceeded his Honor, "but nothing is being done to prevent the Maori race being destroyed by an evil we have brought amongst them."

A reminder "is given of the dance to be held in St. Mark's schoolroom to-morrow evening in aid of the Church Army fund. The charge for admission is Is all round. A slight error was made in reference to the refreshments. They are being provided by tlie ladies who are responsible for the dance and others are not asked to assist as was previously announced.

In response to an appeal received by tlie local Patriotic Society from tlie executive of the National War Orphans' Association of France, the ladies' committee lias decided to devote next Saturday's lied Cross Shop takings to the call. France has more little orphans from this war than any of the -other nations, and she lias less opportunity of caring for them, hence the urgency of this appeal. The ladies of Ivoptuaroa will have charge of the Shop and with the generous support of their Levin friends another record day is anticipated.

The management of Everybody's wish to announce that they have procured the exclusive right to exhibit the latest productions of the famous Fox Film Corporation. Commencing with Charles Dickens's immortal work, "A Tale of Two Cities," on Thursday night, a cycle of Fox Features and Fox super de luxe features will be shown continuously at Everybody's Theatre. They claim that never before has such an extensive range of super features, containing such a diversity of glorious subjects, such a galaxy of star artists been presented by any one single producer in the Dominion. In thanking the public for their esteemed patronage and appreciation in the past tliey record that "tlie best only" is of sufficient merit for Everybody's Theatre.

Coal dealers have bi#en notified by. direction of the Minister of Munitions and Supplies that, in consequence of representations made to his Department in regard to the hoarding of coal by certain householders to the detriment of others less fortunately situated in the matter of obtaining supplies, tho Minister desires dealers to immediately report cases of undue accumulation of coal stocks that may come to light, with a view to action being taken against hoarders. A rr.nger's lot is not a happy one, and some unpleasant experiences come his way occasionally during his daily rounds. The Hawera County ranger met. with a rather painful experience the other day, being assaulted by a ' woman, who used a whip with such effect that medical attention was afterwards sought by the ranger. Tho matter was afterwards ventilated in the S.M. Court, the woman being fined £5, 'with two guineas costs. At tho conclusion of a Victoria League lecture in the Auckland Town t Hall, Mr W. J. Napier being stimulator-* in-chief, the following message was cabled to Mr Lloyd George by unanimous resolution: "Hearty Empire Day greetings. We hail you as the Empire's organiser of victory, its only possible leader. The German beasts must be beaten. Falter not! Heed not the purblind Lansdowno, nor Asquith's crude inanities. Root out all traitors. God save the King and united Empire." One of the returned men from the front, who arrived ini Oamaru the other day, tells the story "of a New Zealand gunner who had just arrived at his sector in France, shaken hands with those who would be his mates, and turned to proceed to his quarters when a shell came over and 1 he fourid himself badly wounded —so badly indeed, that after hospital treatment, ho was sent back to New Zealand. He has done fcis bit, but it did not take him long to do it. Such are the misfortunes of -*»r. People who "own motor cars may not be selfish, but they arc sometimes a little thoughtless. They often forget , liow, in their pre-car days, the joy of a; chance motor ride appealed to them. Sir James Wilson has written suggesting that motorists who have a little „ leisure might remember, the wounded soldiers up in the hospital, and contribute to their pleasure and speed up convalescencc by taking them for a ride into the country. By notifying the matron of tho day and, hour each-week, when their cars could be available, suitable arrangement will be made with the doctors, and the patients allowed out, under certain regulations. Here's a chance to use petrol in a good cause.' A New Zealand soldier, writing from Cairo, complains about the length of time mails from the Dominion take to reach Egypt owing to" the practice of sending them via England. He records that a party of twelve nurses reached Cairo on the day he wrote, but no New Zealand mail , arrived with them. The latest mails received in " Egypt were dated December 3, yet the nurses 'ho mentioned did not leave Australia until January 25, showing that advantage ovas not taken of sending a mail via Australia. The practice of sending maus via England -means that letters from New Zealand take three months to reach Egypt. The Californian quail appears to have a fondness for grass-seed, and appar- . . ent-ly acts under the delusion that seed sown on new burns is placed there for its particular benefit. The question of removing the protection from these birds was discussed at the conference of tho Auckland branch of the Farmers' Union. It seemed ridiculous, one speaker said, that the Government should think it necessary to protect them\ In the hill country especially the birds simply ate the grass-seed as soon as it was sown. One of those present stated that a farmer of his acquaintance, who found he had a large following of quail when sowing, had adopted the plan of steeping some seed in a solution of arsenic. Since then, the speaker said, lie had .not been troubled by quails. "And the' Government did not say a word," lie concluded amidst laughter. 1 - The Director-General of Medical Services, General Henderson, who paid a visit to the Medical School at Dunedin, where the Medical Officers' Training Corps is producing a certain number of young doctors for service with the Expeditionary Forces,, is impressed with the importance of this school, and with the loss that New Zealand has suffered on account of a short-sighted policy in the earlier stages of the war. Many of the students, who in the ordinary course of events would have become fiilly qualified doctors, were allowed to enlist. Other-youths who had just entered upon their medical course were drawn in the ballot, exemption being given only to those who had made some progress in their studies. This was a short-sighted policy, for to-day New Zealand !s not training nearly as many doctors as are required, and the outlook for the future is decidedly bad, owing to the lack of fresh students. It is in the interests of the whole country that the Medical' School should be full, even if that means granting exemption to some fit First Division men. The young doctors become available for military service as soon as they have completed their studies. I Referring to the great things science had accomplished, and incidentally how the advanced stage of education had | been and was being Btarved and neglected, Mr T. Forsyth, in a paper on the improvement of our educational system, read before the Central Chamber of Commerce, Wellington, on Tuesday evening, said: "Just think for a moment what science has done for our primary products, particularly in . storage and carriage of frozen meats, etc., and the enormous wealth that has accrued to the Dominion from this, and yet if the Government would rightly handle the matter and grant the necessary- assistance in the scientific development of our industries there is no reason, with our natural resources, why many such important and payable industries could not .be stimulated and •created in our Dominion. It was stated recently by one of our leading educationists that 'where England had si* chemists at work on industrial investigations Germany had 250. The research work which enabled Germany to destroy tho British indigo trade cost £2,000,000.' This is a tremendous indictment against the Old Land, and yet what are we doing to obviate similar state of things in this fail; Dominion?"