Rangitikei Advocate. MONDAY, MAY 6, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL MOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8805, 6 May 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. MONDAY, MAY 6, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL MOTES

1 SOME years ago Dr. Yaliutiue, who i was thou District Health Officer for ’ the Wellington j-rovince, devised 'a scheme "by which adjacent local > bodies united to contribute towards the salaries of sanitary inspectors.- . The inspectors were appointed by the Health Department, and in oases ‘ whore the subsidies from local bodies were not sufficient to pay their salaries and travelling expenses the Department made up the deficiency. The system was a happy compromise between the methods of centralised and local control and has hitherto worked very well. It was to he expected that the transfer of Dr. Yaliutiue from the Health Department to the position of Inspector of Hospitals would distinctly weaken a department which in the public mind was practically identified with him, hut it certainly comes as a surprise to find that one of the first stops taken by the Chief Health Officer, oh whose advice the Minister acts, has been to destroy the work inaugurated by his assistant. Yet this is practically what is being done by the notification to local bodies that t!ie present agreement with re-

gard to sanitary inspectors •will cease from May 31st, in other words, the Department will no longer subsidise the amount provided by local bodies towards the salaries and expenses of inspectors. The result, unless some effective protest is made, will bo that in many cases the inspectors will be dismissed. Such a course would not have serious effects in the larger towns, which can very well afford to pay their own men, but will be a great hardship in country districts. It has been a great advantage to the more sparsely populated portions of the colony to have some official wiio could always be appealed to for information on sanitary matters, and whoso duty it was to provide for proper isolation and ' disinfection in cases of infectious disease. No one

unacquainted with the duties - which fall to the lot of a sanitary inspector in county districts can realise the varied matters which are brought under his notice. Apart from infectious diseases there are a thousand and one points of sanitation and drainage which are just as important to country settlers as to their fellow citizens in the towns. On snch questions the inspector can always bring to boar the best information that the Department can provide, and, where necessary, can command

a personal visit from the District Health Officer. Moreover, an inspector with the undefined authority of a Government Department behind him can get improvements or alterations made which a man who was merely a servant of the local body would ask for in vain. The system saved local bodies from a good deal of troublesome and annoying work which they are little fitted to deal with, aud kept the Department in touch with the necessities of the country. As we have already pointed out, the termination of the agreement will not affect tho towns, but we hopo that the, local bodies in the rural districts will make a protest against an economy which only affects them. If the Health Department ceases to take any interest in the rural districts, while the towns grow more and more independent of any need for its aid, the question will soon JU’iso whether it is worth having a Health Department at all except for the purpose of providing billets for a few medical faddists.

SIR WILLIAM LYNE is a politician for whom the Australian stage is really too small; his function is to rule an Empire. As neither the Emperor of Russia nor the Emperor of Germany has offered to abdicate in his favour, he has to content him- i self with advice to tho effete Britisher how to manage his own ] affairs. His latest effort in that direction was to inform the British Ministers at the Conference that they should take a referendum on the subject of preference to the colonies, as he denied that they had received any mandate on the question from the electors who returned them. Wo think the remarks of Sir William Lyne, in an unexpurgated form, would be well worth reading if Mr Asquith were to venture to state in Australia that the Ministry of which Sir W. Lyne is a member had received no mandate fox - protection, and that a referendum on the subject should be taken. • Tho less impudent portion of Sir W. Lyue’s speech contained a statement that a preferential duty of 3s a ' quarter on wheat would produce no rise in price in tho British market, aud would bring 30,000,000 acres in the colonies under cultivation. If we look at the matter from a practical point of view we must recognise that farmers increase their area in wneat only when they think the price is likely to rise, or at any rate to remain at a paying level. If, then, the statement is correct that the duty would not affect prices farmers would have no more and no less inducement than &t present to increase their areas under wheat. Of course, we entirely deny the accuracy of the forecast that a 2s duty would not raise the price of grain.

THE weakness of the • Ministerial position lias never been more clearly deui6ustratod than in the contest at present going on for the vacant seat at Now Plymouth. Everyone must admit that the chief, indeed the only point of interest, in the Ministerial policy is that embodied in the Laud Bill, and a live Ministry would have seized the occasion of a byeelection to put forward a candidate in thorough sympathy with its laud policy and have strained every nerve to secure his return. We find, however, at New Plymouth three candidates in the field—Mr Okey, an Opposition candidate, thoroughly opposed to the Laud Bill; Mr Malone, an Independent, also opposed to the Bill; and Mr Dockrill, the Government nominee, who in his speech the other night said that the present Laud Bill was not the Laud Bill that had been originally introduced. Mr McNab had .largely modified the Bill, and Mr Dockrill hoped that the Ministers’ friends would induce him still further to modify it and make of it a useful measure. He was not prepared to agree to the Bill as it stood now. If the people of New Plymouth are wise they will return Mr Okey, and thereby ensure modification or withdrawal of the Bill, as the attitude of. Mr Dockrill after a successful contest -may bo considerably affected by pressure from the Ministry he has been elected to support.

WE publish in another column a telegram which lias been forwarded to the Minister of Labour by Mr Stevens, M.H.R., with regard to the question of the Saturday half holiday in factories. Mr Stevens wo note does not make any allusion to Mr Millar’s conscientious objection to seeing the law broken. As an old Parliamentary hand he knows that such scruples have never troubled Ministers in the past, and he therefore devotes himself to providing a ladder for the purpose of helping Mr Millar to climb U down from the position lie has got into. Mr Millar has the unpleasant alternative of either accepting Mr Stevens’ or some similar question, or of creating a feeling of irritation among voters, which may have its effect at next election. A general agreement among factory owners not to obey the latest circular L .vn the Labour Department would possibly assist Mr Millar in making a decision.

Mr H. G. Hammond has purchased Mr Whisker’s farm and Mr S. Penney has bought Mr PerrotPs, both at Carnarvon. The price is said to •have been £l4. Mr Olias. Hopping lias bought Mr W. Richmond’s place at Glen Oroua at £437. ‘

At the meeting, of the Rongotea Branch of the Farmers’ Union on Saturday it was stated that rabbits were rapidly increasing in the district, particularly about Hlmatangi. There a trapper had caught 2000 m a week. It was decided to bring the matter prominently before the mem - bers at a general meeting to be held about three weeks’ time.

A quantity of tow shipped at Welf liugton on Friday last was found to bs on fire in the hold of the Mokoia •shotly after midnight. The trouble wss discovered when the lumpers took the hatches off in order to commence the discharge.of the steamer’s cargo. It is stated that rain was falling when the tow was taken on hoard at Wellington, which would enhance the liability to spontaneous combustion The fire brigade (Dunedin) speedily extinguished Jthe fire.

A large and representative meeting of teachers at Invercargill passed a resolution expressing profound dissatisfaction with the present scale of salaries, in which the average attendance is the sole determining factor. The leading principles for an improved scheme were affirmed, the chief being :—A small number of. grades of schools; periodic increments for length of efficient service and such adjustment as will raise the pay of the rank and file of the profession. The Compensation Court at Dunedm dismissed a claim brought against the City Corporation for £175, damages for loss consequent on land being taken for street-widening purposes on Hillside Road. While playing in a football match for Red Star against Greytown, at Masterton, on Saturday, W. Darvill had his right leg broken below the knee. Ho was accidentally kicked by an opposing player.

The concrete bridge which was erected some twelve months ago by tbe Kairanga County Council near Bunnythorpe, over the Mangaone, at a cost of £6OO, was completely destroyed by the recent flood, and the road is now impassible for traffic, The Rev. Father O’Meara, of Feilding leaves for a trip to the Old Country, via Canada, on 10th inst. His locum tenens is Dean Bensfleld, ono of the pioneer priests of the early days. In the Supreme Court Christchurch on Saturday Mr Justice Chapman admitted John Broadribb Cook to' probation on a charge of forgery. Thomas Bell, for breaking and entering, got twelve month’s imprisonment. Thomas Livingstone, for arson, got two years. Mr W. J. Williams, of Feilding, returned with his dogs from Oamaru on. Saturday. He states that the judging was excellent, and the ground ideal to course on. Lord Cardigan got caught in the slips, hurting his right foreleg badly, which throw him out. It appears that his holder would not liberate him at a weak hare.

The Executive Council of tho New Zealand Athletic Union has decided that exemption from disqualification cannot be allowed to competitors taking part in proprietory sports where betting is carried on. A decisive lino of action has been agreed upon, resulting m a Bill to be presented to Parliament for the suppression of betting.

William Kilgour, one of the pioneers of the district in the sixties, died at Greymouth yesterday. He had the largest drapery establisiimet on the coast, and was widely known and highly esteemed.|i

Through an error a sale at Hnuterville of Messrs Abraham and Williams "was advertised for May Bth. This is the date of the firm’s Taihauc sale and they are not holding a sale at Huuterville on that day. Mr J. E. Walker, Bulls, directs the attention of horse owners to the fact that a really first class cover can he procured at his establishment. Mr Walker is prepared to complete any order with promptitude, and customers can rely upon being suited with a good article.

Two fitters at Addington workshops, ■who recently refused to work overtime and into whoso conduct an inquiry has been held, have been dismissed the service. Tho case excited a good deal of interest in labour circles and was referred to at a socialist meeting held in Christchurch last night.

There was again a large attendance at Marton Chrysanthemum Show on Saturday, and the. financial result should he highly satisfactory. The hahy show attracted considerable interest, and first award went to Mrs T. Bartlett’s hoy and Mrs W. Johnstone’s girl was second. The result of the popular vote for table decorations was Mrs A. K. McGregor 1, Mrs J. Russell 2, Misses Parkinson and McDonald 3. Mrs Hargreaves won the wood-sawing competition, and Miss Jefferson was second. The hat-trimming competition created much amusement, and the judges placed Mr Richardson first and Mr Houghton second. Prize money and utensils can be obtained on application to Mr Ruuciman at the Co-op. Store. Chamberlain’s Cough Remedy has become a great favourite for children, for coughs, colds, croup and whooping cough, because it can always he depended upon and is pleasant to take. Mothers have found that there is not tho least danger in giving it to their children in large and frequent doses, as it contains no injurious substance. For sale by T. H. Brcdiu, Marton; Ellis Bros., Huuterville'; and W. B. Clark. Bulls Now all you Marton farmers, You have got laud galore For growing flax most suitable To make 50 pounds and more. And this from every acre Which no other crop will do. Not even cheese and butter, Or raising stock and wool. So go to Palmerston on Thursday To hear the lecture given And I will show you how you can Fill your pockets to the brim. Mr Fuller’s advertisement appears in another column. . Our warm Lamb’s Wool Unshrinkable Underclothing was bought at old prices. Wo could sell these goods wholeasle at a profit. We intend giving onr customers the preference. See the heavy knitted wool vests at 2s lid, pants 3s 9d at McEldowuey’s Stores; Marton, Hunterville and Taihape. This is tho weather to find'the holes in your boots. We will sell you a new pair, or repair your old ones at McEldownev’s, Marton.