Rangitikei Advocate WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1907. SECOND EDITION EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 8944, 9 October 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1907. SECOND EDITION EDITORIAL NOTES

THE news that a number of have been imported from England to work in one of the bodt factories in this country has aroused the Otago Trades and Labour Council to pass a resolution urging Government to introduce legislation to restrict the importation of labour under con*

tract. The Labour party have never concealed their desire to prevent the further development of tho colony by the restriction of immigration, and we do not doubt that they would gladly see the poll tax at present imposed on Chinese extended to all new comers to the Dominion. Government has recently added to the dntfes charged on boots on the pretext of helping the development of our £looal industries, and boot manufacturers found that they were hampered by the impossibility of i getting suitable labour for their fac- | tories. One firm has therefore gone to the expense of bringing out girls to provide the labour which„it was impossible to obtain locally. It is obvious that no employer would undertake the risk and expense of

such importation if there was the slightest hope of supplying the demand in New .Zealand. There can he no saving i" wages, as the usual rates must be paid, to the new workers, and there is a’grcat.danger that the new comers will prove unsuitable for their changed surroundings or incompetent to perform the work required. It certainly seems better that immigrants should cotne out to this country with work ready for them as soon as they arrive than that they should have to undertake the sometimes heart-breaking task of finding some occupation suited to them. But tho Labour party care for none of these things. The prosperity or progress of the colony has no interest for them, their object being to perpetuate a state of affairs in which there are more billets vacant than persons to fill them. Yet everyone who comes to the colony is a consumer as well as a producer, and every addition to the population means one more mouth to be fed and one more body to be clothed, thus creating new demands for labour. This argument, however, is wasted on those who are opposed to immigration of any sort.

THE would-be inventor of flying machines was a few years ago regarded as little betterjthan a candidate for a lunatic asylum, and the news that another crank had sustained serious injury by) the collapse of some trail and weird machine was received with a shrug of the shoulders at the folly of such harebrained attempts. At last, however, the air ship has proved a success, and the man in the street is How less anxious than formerly to demonstrate the absolute folly of flying machines. Wo have heard that airships have been fairly successful in Franco and Germany, but the real position has only been brought home to Britons by the an airship has succeeded in "travelling ‘.from Paruborongh to London, a distance of 83 miles. The Nnlli Secundus, with Colonel Capper and other officers of the balloon company of the Royal Engineers on board, travelled at> speed of 24 miles with the wind, and on reaching London manoeuvred over Buckingham Palace and approached the War Office as near as was safe. The last ten years have seen the motor car become a practical means of locomotion, and it is perfectly safe to predict that before another ten years have'passed the airship will be one of the familiar objects of the upper air. The changes produced by such a development offer full scope for the wildest flights of imagination.

THE public are often confused as to the special policies recommended by socialists, laud nationalises, and single taxers respectively, and it therefore may be of interest to briefly notice the objects aimed at by those reformers. The desire of socialists is to nationalise all means of production and distribution, that is to say, that the State should control not only the Post Office and railways, but coal ahd iron mines and factories of every description. The whole population would be in the employ of the State, and the work and wages of each employee would be decided by those in authority. We have advanced some distance on the road towards socialism, and the question to be settled in the immediate future is whether we are to proceed further in the same direction. Land nationalises restrict their desire for the extension of State activity and j merely consider that the State should j own all the laud in the country, j The methods by which this is to bo ; accomplished are not always clearly j defined, and range from purchase at j full value down to direct c.onfisca- j tion. The socialist is always a land j but the latt°r may stop : short of holding the full socialist I creed. The single taker is at once a | hiore I'eaOSuable and a more unreasonable person than the land nationalises He realises that it is impracticable for the State to bo- ; come the owner of all the laud in the j country, or denies that this course is desirable, even if possible-, and therefore takes up a different lino. It, is argued that all wealth is ulti-, mately produced from the laud, and that therefore the land should bear all the taxation required by the State. Thus we are to have one, and only one, tax, that on the laiid. , Customs duties and taxation’of every kind are to be dispensed with, and , laud is to bear the whole hnrdon. | The fairness of this system does not ; trouble its advocates. They are satisfied that it is logically correct, ■ and care nothing for the equity or reasonableness of throwing all the taxation on the laud. ,

The Rangitikei Racing Club have now leased the whole of the estate on which the course is situated. The lease is for twelve months only. About eight Palmerston carpenters who . were not allowed to work in town to-day, because of Labour Day, are engaged on the Sandon Hotel at the increasd wage provided by the award.

We llington Hospital Board has decided to comply with the request of the Government to treat delirium tremens and other alcoholic cases iu the hospital till a special ward is erected, the cost of treatment to he borne by the Government. The Belgian Parliamentary Commisson at the Congo has decided that the King, and not Parliament, should settle the Budget. The Tribune declares that the Powers of standing, as a last resort, as trustees of the Congo State, will not tolerate the act of annexation such as is now proposed. The authorities at the Momohaki State Farm have had to destroy the celebrated shire stallion- Danger Signal, lie having sustained some injury to his hips and loins. Danger Signal was a present from Baron Rothschild to the New Zealand Government, and he will he exceedingly hard to replace. The Manawatu Councilresolved todayfthat Btliis"Gouuciß desires to ex .press its sympathy with fch© family of the late Mr Henry Hammond and the serious loss the Council and the district have sustained by his death, aud roaliseslthojgreat serveies which lie rendered to the community and ratepayers, both jas a settler and a councillor.

It is stated by the Christchurch Press that a number of rabbits are at present invading that city aud destroying growing vegetables, etc. As the city by-laws preclude shooting or poisoning, the owners of the gardens are somewhat at a loss to know what to do. There‘is a good deal of chuckling in fraetrade circles, .writes the Loudon correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, at the fact that the first protest against the new Australian tariff should come from Birmingham, birthplace and headquarters of the cult of preferential tariffs, ■■ .j; ..

The Key. Father Costello yesterday completed 25 years in the priesthood. , The Wellington Presbytery has nominated the Rev W. Hewitson for tre.. i position of next year’s moderator. i Mr John Weightman, of Foilding, while hanging a picture in his own house, foil, through the steps breaking, and broke his left arm. A Press Association message states that Mr Oliver Mewhinney, for many years private secretary to the late .Sir John McKenzie, and afterwards to Hon. T. Y. Duncan, has.been appointed o(ne£ clerk to the Land Purchase Board. The following figures show the number of live stock in the Dominion .• Horses, mules, and asses, 343,059; swine, 242,273 ; cattle, 1,851,750; dairy cows (included in the foregoing), 534,927; sheep, 20,108,471. There is every probability, says the

Levin Farmer, that the whole of the milk produced in the district of Levm during next winter, ■will be railed to Wellington to supply the needs of the city with fresh milk. The Eltham Argus states that the hydraulic ram on a farm in that district refused to work. On taking It to pieces the farmer found the head of an eel just showing through the pipe-. The eel; whbh was 18 feet long, had come down 40 feet of piping, and On reaching the bottom could not go backwards or forward, and so was drowned. The Wairarapa Bacon Company is calling its shareholders together to discuss the advisability of going into liquidation. There was a loss of some .£2OO last Christmas over the purchase of FortyMile Bush pork through prices dropping. This could not be made up and the promised advent of the Christchurch Meat Company seems to have been the last straw.

An interesting pbiut in this year s shetep returns is that tli3 number of flock breeding ewes is the highest on record, being 10,521,318, or nearly a quarter of a million more than in the previous year. Stud sheep of all kinds show an increase, the total number being 635,684, as against 600,063 in 1906. The bulk of the Romneys, Southdowns and Lincolns are m the North Island. Southdowns have' increased rapidly of late in the North Island, where farmers are increasing their sheep stocks, having gained 8,444,287 on the year, while the South Island has only added 31,014. The Cfemale telegraphists m Denmark lia'ce now the duty of poleclimbing added to their labours. A number of them recently struck work demanding higher salaries and treatment equal to the men. The Government made the curious reply that those demands would he granted on condition that their work should be equal to that of the male operators, who, in oases of emergency, were called out to Work on the lino. The voung women agreed, and several have since been employed climbing telegraph poles to repair broken wires.

A motor cal', worth £I3OO, knocked down a little girl, the daughter of a farmer named Jessop, near Chicago, says an American paper. The child was not seriously _ injured, but jessop summoned his farm hands, who ran across country to a point where tho car would pass. The men reached the spot just in time to barricade tho road and stop the car. The motorists, including two women, were dragged from the car and handled roughly. Then the men set fire to the car, which was do stroyed. The motorists had to walk eight miles to the nearest village, where they secured a conveyance to take them home.

A short time ago a young actor who was appearing at a Buda-Pesth theatre suddenly awoke from sleep, and, as he had to rise ‘very early, consulted his watch, only to discover that it had stopped at two o’clock. Fearing that he niiglit lie late for an appointment, lie roused his housekeeper, but learned that her watch, too, had stopped at two o’clock. Three other clocks placed indifferent rooms had stopped' at precisely the same hour. The actor was much surprised at this strange simultaneous stopping of no fewer than five timekeepers, and told several friends of the occurrence. Later on he learned that at two o’clock that morning his wife had died at a hotel in Venice, where she had been staying for several days, A duel with motor-cars was the method chosen by two chauffeurs of Oolumba, Indiana, for settling a quarrel. They collided while driving through the town in their cars, and each claimed the other was responsible for the accident. . By way of proving his assertion one chaffuenr reversed his car, ran hack to some distance, and then came ahead at full speed against his opponent. Tlio motor-cars mot again with a terrific crash, and rebounded, but wore apparently uninjured. That was the beginning of the duel. In tho presence of hundreds of spectators the maddened chauffeurs then proceeded to “tilt” against each other. Collision followed collision, until one car was practically wrecked. Tho chauffeurs were nearly “unseated” several times. When one car was disabled the driver dismounted, and attacked his rival with his fists. They fought savagely for several minutes until separated by the police. The weekly report from the Taranaki Petroleum Co., Ltd, states that No. 2 boro is now 213 G feet, and about a barrel of oil was pumped out on Monday. _ It is to be sunk deeper. No. 8 bore is now dowd to 2340 feet. Oil and gas are showing freely, and from one to three barrels are occasionally taken off. No. 4is down to a little over 850 feet, but it may bo decided to shut down this bore and put double shifts on to No. 3 and perhaps No. 2, and make them the proper test bores. It now seems possible that ail the bores will have to go down below the soft strata with the various small gSams of oil, and trust to reach a larger and more permanent supply below the hard strata now in No. 3. So much gas is coming out that no smoking is allowed at or near the boros.

An Auckland telegram says the life of a civil servant is not always the lotus-eating existence it is sometimes supposed to be. There are civil servants who work very hard indeed, and aro not receiving princely salaries for it either. A recent inquiry instituted amongst the railway servants showed that ■men who are responsible Government officers are working very long hours for utterly inadequate remuneration, and those inquiries have been followed up by an investigation into the service in the Post and Telegraph Department. An exhaustive review of the position in this connection is given in the New Zealand Herald. While the hours of work have been arranged reasonably this year, there was found to bo general complaint with reference to the salaries, and instances were quoted by the officers interviewed of postal servants after long and faithful service, being still kept on the smallest possible salaries.

The residents of Rangitikei will regret to learn of the decease of Mrs Thos. F. Richardson, who died at Karaka Terrace, Bulls, on Tuesday morning, the Bth October, at the age of 78 years. Deceased was one of the few remaining old colonists. She arrived at .Wellington* New Zealand, in the ship Blenheim, in 1840, landing with her parents tile late Duncan and Marjorie Fraser. Mrs Richardson married at the age of 21 and resided in Wellington for some years and then came to Rangitikei, in which district she has lived for 47 years. The late Mrs Richardson leaves a grown up family of thirteen children, 3 sons and ten daughters, to regret their. loss. The sons are Thos. F. Richardson, Ma'ugamahoe• Geo. W. J. Richardson, Mauawatu; W. B. Richardson, Karaka Terrace, and daughters are Mrs J. M. Broughton, .‘Bulls; Mrs F. Thomas, Rangitikei; Mrs S. Bellve, Auckland.*-Mrs W. Richards, Manawatu; Mrs. 0. Richards, Rangitikei; Mrs H. Ryder, Petone; Mrs J. Cockburn, Manawatu; Mrs F. Simpson, Manawatu ; Mrs H. Henderson, Kimbolton; and Miss Richardson, of Karaka Terrace. There are 61 grandchildren living, and 19 great -grandchildren. The funeral will leave Karaka Terrace for the family cemetery at Raumai on Thursday, 10th October, at 3 p.m. WINTERING CALVES.

From all parts • of New Zealand most flattering reports have been received as to the satisfactory manner in which calves reared on the ‘' Gilruth’’ Calf Food stood the severe cold of the east winter, showing that a sound constitution httd been built up. It is the most perfect substitute for whole milk.—-Obtainable from Brice, Broad and Co., Ltd., Marion; and Mansell and Sons, Bulls. For well-built Suits for Boys aud Youths made from good all-wool materials you cannot do better than at McEldowuey‘s Stores, Marton, Hunterville, and Taihape. It is worth a great deal to be sure that yon need not be tortured by headaches. You will know this if you hare a box of Steams’ Headache Cure at hand for it cures air headaches quickly,—Advt. _

In an official match tho Britis rifle team defeated rhe Quoenslan rifle team. * The Times’ Cap town corresponcl--ent reports that the trade returns are still shrinking. . , Miss O. H. Dixon, a patient at the Oliristchnrch Hospital, died under, chloroform yesterday’afternoon. Particulars are advertised of tlie Pomt-to-Poiut running race to take place at. Mar ton on October 23rd. During grubbing operations at Ballina the skeleton of a European woman was unearthed with bullet holes in the skull. . To-day is sacred to shirkers. It is called Labour Day because labour does not then labour or even pretend to

work. , , - Consequent on steady tain, tM Labour Day procession in Auckland Was abandoned and the Sports postponed till Saturday. , Auckland Presbytery has resolved to nominate Rev. Isaac Jolly, B. A,, of Palmerston North, as Moderator of tho General Assembly. Southern papers report that koas ate making a heavy toll on thd sheep in the far back parts of North|Oauterburv just new. Reports state that there lias been much destruction in the WUberforco district.

North Taranaki Hunt Club has decided to purchase bounds. Mr A. Cliff has been appointed Master of the Hounds, Mr Halcombe deputy master, and Mr Percy Sole huntsman. There are 91 members. At Dunedin Police -Court yestcrday Mary Rogers was fined £4O and costs on a charge of sly grog-sollmg. Accused pleaded gn ilty to tbs charge and also admitted a previous conviction for a similar offence. a So indignat are the Auckland Unions at the suspension of McCullough from the railway service because his views were opposed to the Government that it is stated that votes which it was intended record for Mr Slater as the workers representative on the Arbitration Court will now be given i'oi Mr MoOnllongh instead. John Croker. mate of the steamer

Blenheim, died suddenly on Tuesday night during the voyage of the vessel from Blenheim to Wellington. Deceased was 63 years of ago find leaves a widow and a daughter, He was at one time master of the barque Weathersfleld. Death is supposed to have been due to heart failure. In the House on Tuesday Mr Mauder declared “(here’s no Conservatism in this country. The tables have been absolutely reversed the last few ybafs;, The old Conservative pafty is absolutely dead. The parties now are the Liberals and Socialists.’’ The very high rate of mortality amongst infants is apparent by the figures for the city of Wellington. The deaths registered for the nine months ended September 30th total 680. Of these 203 (or nearly a third) were children under one year old (130 males 'and 83 females). The deaths of children between one year and five numbered only 43 (24 male and 34 female). David Davis Trow, alias Dick Karri sou, a young man, who was recently convicted at Napier on a charge of carnally knowing and admitted to probation, has been rearrested on a charge of repeating the offence at Napier, also with tailing to report. He has been remanded to appear at Napier on Triday. Mrs Katherine Hodson, 74. years old, of Denver, Colorado* who has been engaged nine times, married twice, aiid divorced once, is suing a local publican for breach of proMr Daniel Michael Weigel, of GoswCll Road, Loildon,"was sentenced at Hayward’s Heath to a month’s imprisonment with hard labour for driving a motor-car at the rate of fifty-six miles an hour. Mr Weigel is managing director of Weigel Motors, Limited.

Inspector Nicholas Hunt, a millionaire, and admittedly the richest policeman in the world, has been reinstated in the Chicago police force. Tho inspector was declared superannuated a year ago by former Chief Collins, who is now under indictment on a charge of using the police for political purposes. Alexander Siugci, aged 78, for 43 years reader in tho Hokitika Synagogue, died this morning after a brief illness. He was well known and widely respeetod throughout the West Coast. Tho wife of George Shaw, an old resident of Baneiri, also died last night at an advanced age. There lias been an unusual number of deaths of aged people during the last month or two, thinning out the ranks of old pioneers. The Opaki Rifle Club, whose range was closed down by the Defenpe authorities, it being allegedly dangerous, has secured another site Which should prove one of the best ranges in the colony. Messrs Holmes Bros. , R. J. Dagg and D. McGregor have agreed »to permit members of the Rifle Clubs tp use a portion of their .properties as a rifle, range. .Up to fifteen hundred yards can be obtained

The ‘ Auckland Tramway Union lias decided to observe the Jnew bylaw permitting straphangers under protest pending an appeal to the Supreme Court. They ask tho City Council and Tram Company to see that each car is legibly inscribed with tho number of passengers it is entitled to carry as the men will not be responsible for any delay caused by counting excess passengers. Tho Union nrgo Government to pass the Tramway Amendment Bill.

Professor Maclaurin’s departure from New Zealand in December to Columbia University will cause a vacancy on the Senate of the University of New Zealand to be filled by the graduates constituting the Court of Convocation of the Victoria College district, which comprises the provinces of Wellington, Nelson, Westland, Marlborough, Hawkes’ Bay and Taranaki. For the vacancy Mr H. F. Van Haast, M.A.L.L.8., a member of the Council of Victoria College will bo a candidate.

The Times states that in connection with the proposal to strike a ‘Dominion” medal, to commemorate the creation of Now Zealand as a Dominion, the Government is now getting a modal designed with a view to receiving tenders from manufacturers in various parts of New Zealand. The medals will, as has been suggested to the Govcrument, be distributed amongst school children. It is regrettable that such waste of public money should be permitted for the mere purpose of commemorating the fact that Dominion Day was an anniversary of a Prime Minister’s first entry into politics.

Details of the proposed system for the payment of school teachers’ salaries by means of money orders issued by Education Boards are given in a circular addressed to the Boards by the Education , Department. Special money orders and advice forms, pHnted pn .papfer a colour distinct frohPauy oilier orders used, will be supplied by ihe Post Office, and a form of receipt oh each order will be provided to cover the service in respect of which payment is made. The orders may not be drawn for payment outside New Zealand. An officer of a Board will prepare and sign the orders, and advice orders are not to be posted to teachers until after the advices have been handed to the chief postmaster. The chief postmaster is to date, stamp, and countersign the’ advices and then forward them to the postmaster in ’charge of the office at which the orders are payable. The subsequent treatment in all respects will bo governed by the regulations dealing with ordinary money orders. The same rate of commission will be charged as on ordinary inland orders, namely, 6d for each £5 or fraction of £5.