THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, JULY I6, 1920. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 16 July 1920, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1920. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Sou-staffing. *- , -*£,.ij /Some little time 250 a staiem« ct T i r; " made pnblk- to the effect that a p; 01 - 1 j <-6i22pUatio= of figates bad t " J '' f&jt thai ji£re were SOOQ more fia32| on the* fiiS'Ct-oral roi '" at the time the iast elections **£re held than there v were adults in the Dominion. Further jbsn thb=, Mr John C. Mkissoxt, of _ Auckland, who has gone carefully into ' the subject, estimates that if allowance =5 made for persons in gaol and in mental hospitals, for thpse not naturalised, and those whd decline 'to be enrolled, tiie total cumber of dniaTSJ j electors must approximate 30,000. This estimate may be exaggerated, bat tie evQ is certainly a serious one. and stepa should certainly be taken to detect and severely punish the offender?. Evidently wholesale roD-stirfnng is being perpetrated in some parti of the country. Tixed Prices Pot Milt. The agreement arrived at by the j 3oard of Trade Kith respect to the prices to be charged for milk, after conference with tie 'Wellington Municipal Milk Committee and representatives of tie 'milk suppliers, is a very importaar one, and of special interest

to this district, from whence so large a .. proportion of the city's milk'supply is , t secured. It seems to us tlnit the Board | 1 of Trade" has handled a difficult ques- I i tion tactfully. The city must have ( j milk, and the Board of Trade had to 7 see that the prices fixed were as low as possible, in order that poor people . might not be prohibited from obtaining supplies. At the same time, as we „ pointed out in a recent issue, an in- , creased price to the producer was inevitable, especially during ihe winter months, in view of the inflated values of dairying land, the cost of stock, and ' Ihe disabilities mei with by winter < dairymen. The prices fixed by tin: J Board, to operate until the end of July ! of next year, are considerably in ad- s ranee of those paid in the'past, ami should satisfy the producers, and in- i duce dairy farmers to produce a supply s sufficient for the city's needs next . winter Wellington residents have been grievously short of milk during ( the past two winters. This district, so eminently iitted for winter dairying, should beuelit very largely under ihe new arrangements. The city residents will be called on to pay a slightly increased price, but that was inevitable, and will not. be so much opposed, provided a regular supply of good milk is assured at all seasons of the year. Auckland-Wellington Express Train Stop. One of the matters discussed between members of the Otaki Town Board and the member for the district at a recent conference was the urgent need for one of the Auckland-Welling-ton express trains to stop at Otaki. Under present conditions, residents of the Otaki district are put to a very great inconvenience when they require ! to travel by these express trains. Tra- •' veiling north, in order to join the ; Auckland express at I'nlmerston North', I it is necessary to travel by llie Xi'iv I Plymouth or Napier expresses, and wait from three to tour hours at Palmcrston North, or take the slow mid- i day up-train, which takes two hours and u-hnlf from Otaki ti> Palmcrston I North. This mid-day train has very t little and most uncomfortable passen- | ger accommodation, with no conveniences, and is unfit for ladies, children, I or people who arc not very strung. It people wish to travel by the later ' Auckland express they inns) wait some three hours at Palmcrston North—from i) p.m. till midnight. On the down journey the train service is even inure inconvenient. Passengers arrive by the , early morning express at Palmcrston North at ."..ns a.in., and those for stations south of Levin tnu.-t wait then' ■ until 7 a.m. —very nice waiting three hours before sunrise these wintry mornings, jt' travelling by the later ex- , press they reach Palmcrston North a! 9.45 a.m., and must wait there until -.~> \ or 3.30 p.m. before completing theirjourney, for ladies, invalids and i elderly people in particular these long {.vails and the transferring from one ! train to another tire exceedingly casus- | •pending and inconvenient, and it ] seems a most reasonable request that | one of lite trains, north and south, stop ; at Ofnki, which is a convenient centre ! for the district south of Levin. At present this i> done at Levin, the early morning down express and late up i express at have a perfect right for similar concessions at this end of the district. Mr Field ha* promised to do his utmost in ; the matter, ami we would urge the various local bodies and public men to give him their heartiest support in indirection. A stoppage of a couple of minutes would mean very little to the running of the express trains, but would confer a great boon on an important and growing district, of which . Otaki is the centre. Naturally, if this i concession were made, flic train* to j stop at Otaki would be those passing ] through, Otaki at about 2.40 p.m. Cup) ] and 11.15 (down).