The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, December 18, 1913. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1186, 18 December 1913, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, December 18, 1913. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The result of the Lyttelton byelection resulted, as was anticipated, in the return of the Social Democrat candidate, Mr McCoombs. Mr McCoombs had made two previous bids for Parliamentary honours. In 1908 he unsuccessfully contested Christchurch East against Mr T. H. Davey, and was deleated in the second ballot for the Avon seat at the general election in 1911 by Mr G. W. Russell. Mr McCoombs was elected to a seat in the City Council, representing the Linwood Ward, at the last municipal elections. He is one of the foremost men in the ranks of the Prohibition Parly, and has contributed much to its literature. He was a personal friend of the late Mr T. E. Taylor, from whom he drew a good deal of inspiration. Although he fought under the banner of the Red Feds, in fairness to Mr McCoombs we must say that he is head and shoulders above the meu who are leading this revolutionary party, and they will be keenly disappointed if they imagine he will advocate their revolutionary extremes. He will follow the plan laid down by his late friend, Tom Taylor, in respeat to uplifting Labour. It will be found that he will arrange himself alongside Mr Veitcb, of Wanganui. The Government candidate, Mr Miller, polled remarkably well. The lesson of the election clearly indicates the crumbling of the once powerful Liberal Paity.

Speaking at Wellington before the shareholders ot the Farmers’ Cooperative Association, Mr J. G. Wilson said that last season was very satisfactory for the farmer —both for sheep and catile —in spite of the slaughtermen’s strike. This year they seemed to have even brighter prospects. Wool was down a little. The trouble was that too much fine wool was grown through going into the freezing trade so deeply and the Romney breed. The coarser wool of the Lincoln sheep was wanted —there was little of it. Finer wool was not going to get the price, they were told, it had in the past. The numbers of the merino were decreasing very rapidly, which was a great pity, as the merino was excellent for crossing. This season there was a great demand for stock, and there was a great prospect for the lamb trade. Prices were remarkable for sheep. For the agriculturalist he might say there was a marked decrease in the area under crop, and unless the harvest was great there would not be enough wheat. The reason in New Zealand for the reduction in the area under wheat was the difficulty of labour, and no doubt it paid better to go in for root crops and stock. It was going to be a record season for the dairying industry, though the prices were not so good. Cheese had, however, improved lately. The dairy industry was more threatened. They could not expect that trade was going to be so good in England as it had been in previous years, and this might effect New Zealand’s trade. However, they had every reason to be thankful for the past, and the prospects for the future were bright enough with the opening of the American market under the new tariff. He hoped the next year would be as successful for the company as the past season.