NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24410, 23 September 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

r PHE thirty-third anniversary of the declaration of New Zealand as a Dominion will be celebrated to-day by the observance of Dominion Day. Prior to 1907 New Zealand's status was that of a Crown colony, but in that year, after he had paid a visit to England, Sir Joseph Ward, then Premier, announced' the change that had been made. This announcement was followed by a formal Order-in-Couneil issued by King Edward VII on September 26. The anniversary is now celebrated on the fourth Monday in September each year. It will be observed as a. holiday to-day by the banks and the Dunedin Stock Exchange.

Mornington School Advice has been received by Mr F Neilson, M.P., from the Minister ol Education (Mr H. G. R. Mason) that he has approved of a grant to cover tIW cost of providing more adequate accommodation for the staff at the Mornington School.

Teachers and Army Training When the question of granting leave to men teachers for territorial training from October 1 to December 31 came before the Wanganui Education Board the senior inspector, Mr B. N. T. Blake, reported that he would have difficulty in finding teachers to take their places, but the general opinion of board members was that the defence of New Zealand was the paramount consideration, even if it came to a question of closing the schools. The board decided to deal with each application on its merits.

Tithe System for Churches The adoption of the tithe system for church finance was advocated by the Rev. L. B. Neale, president of the Methodist Conference, addressing a meeting in Gisborne, when he suggested a contribution of 2s in the £ 1 for the Church. " Christian democracy is at the crossroads," said Mr Neale, " and you cannot run a church on threepenny bits and bazaars. It is no good giving something that does not cost you something. If you are earning £3 a week, then 6s belongs to God, and if you are not giving it to Him you are robbing God. The Church needs men who will give money before they are dead. Pyjama prayers are not enough. The tithe system is commended and almost commanded throughout all the books in the Bible " Fire Hazards

Examples of defective hearths and chimneys contained in a report on the subject presented to a meeting of the Wellington Fire Board included a fireplace without a chimney and a chimney which penetrated the ceiling of a house but not the iron roof. "When I called for this report," said the chairman (Mr S. S. Dean), "I knew the position was bad, but I did not think it was so shockingly bad as this." In a letter which accompanied the report the brigade superintendent (Mr C. A. Woolley) said that the report was in no way critical of the inspection work of the Wellington City Council's building department, but was brought before the board with a view to drawing public attention to the danger arising from the improvisation of fireplaces by unqualified individuals without the supervision of the local authority. It was decided to send copies of the report to the Wellington City Council and the Underwriters' Association.

The English Channel " What stopped Napoleon? The English Channel. There is an almost complete parallel with what will happen to the plans of Hitler, too," said Mr R. M. Algie, during an address to the Auckland Creditmen's Association. "It was, and always will be, called the 'English' Channel, and when you sing 'There'll Always Be An England,' you include in that the Channel. That is significant."

Radio Messages to Troops In reply to a suggestion made by a Hamilton resident, the Minister of Defence (Mr F. Jones) stated that complete arrangements have been made for the i - eceipt of broadcast messages from Egypt as soon as. practicable. There were many difficulties in the way, but the co-operation of all services in the Empire had been received, and he hoped that broadcasts would be accomplished. Mr Jones added that the Government was using its best endeavours to improve and maintain communication between the troops overseas and relatives and friends in New Zealand. He mentioned the New Zealand news broadcast daily.

Museum Air Raid Shelters Although it was considered unlikely that New Zealand would ever be bombed by the enemy, the members of the council of the War Memorial Museum Institute recently decided to take no chances of having the most valuable of its exhibits destroyed. It was reported at a meeting of the council that three " shelters" were to be excavated, each 6ft by 4ft by 4ft. They would have cement walls, protected by sandbags, and the doors would be of steel. At the first suggestion of a possible air raid the most valuable exhibits in the fnuseum would be collected and placed in the " shelters."

Recognising Aircraft New Zealand trlbops in England are becoming experts in recognising various types of British and enemy aeroplanes, according to an Auckland member of the Second Echelon in a letter just received by his parents. At his camp a remarkable variety of aircraft was to be seen overhead, and at times it was impossible to hear oneself speak owing to the noise of huge bombers in which crews were being trained, he said. Among enemy aircraft which had become well known was the Junkers 88, " although he has not done us any harm." The soldier referred to enemy damage up to the time of writing, August 26, but indicated that there was another side to the picture with the remark: "Piles of scrap iron and piles of Messerschmitts and Junkers quite spoil the effect of the downlands."

Tax on Stock Characterised by one speaker as a capital levy on farmers, the Auckland provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union discussed the effects of a recent amendment in taxation legislation governing the valuation of stock for social security and income tax. It was stated that farmers were required to show returns of stock held at March 31 last at approximate market value. Where this value exceeded, as it would in most cases, the standard conservative values used from vear to year previously, taxation at Is 9d in the £ would be payable on the difference between this year's valuation and that of last year. Speakers strongly criticised the measure, which they characterised as a means of extorting money from a section of the community which had been hardest hit by rising costs and was working longer hours than any other section.

Coffee for breakfast. Order from your grocer a tin of " Bourbon." the coffee of duality Instructions in pverv tin Prepared bv Durie's. Coffee Specialists. 32 Octagon. Dunedin - Advt , • ~ For ring<=. watches and jewellery try Di>k jewellers. 59 Prince? street. Dunedin.—Advt. ■,