Rangitikei Advocate. SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1908 EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9176, 20 June 1908, Page 4

Rangitikei Advocate. SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1908 EDITORIAL NOTES.

IN the Contemporary Review is published an article on Arbitration Courts and Wages Boards in Australasia, hy Mr J. Ramsay Macdonald, who recently visited the Colonies. The writer evidently realises that instead of solving labour problems, the colonial methods have made the condition of the worker worse. In the course of the article he points out that our “Arbitration Courts have been used by- the trade-unions almost exclusively with the intention not of fixing a minimum rate, but of claiming periodically a larger and larger share in national wealth. The Courts are not Courts of industrial disputes, but Courts for the distribution of wealth. ” . . . “The whole system, however, is artificial and insecure. When one examines the fabric closely, one sees that the least breath of wind could blow it to atoms. If the trade-unionists in New Zealand lost confidence iu it, it would not exist for a day. It grips..the capitalist. He cannot resist. To him it is like our own Factory Law : it has fines and penalties attached to it, and if he breaks it he must suffer. And it is easy to make him suffer. Nominally, the trade-unionist is under the same disabilities; but the slaughtermen’s strike”shows how impossible it is to enforce penalties on a crowd of workmen. We have not yet heard the full story of that strike. It stands to reason that, if thousands of men deaae to work illegally, it [is impossible to fine them as the law provides, and imprison them if they do not pay the fine. This is a case of nominal equity which cannot be carried out in real life. . • • The

effect of the arbitration law upon the general distribution of wealth is also meagre. It has raised the standards of exchange. On the most generous estimate it has been calculated to have raised wages by about B}4 to 10 per cent., but the cost of living has at the same time increased between 15 and 30 per cent, and though all this increase is not due to Court decisions, a large part of it undoubtedly is, because there are instances of the representatives of the employers meeting to receive a Court decision, and adjourning to agree to value it in terms of price.” . . “The Arbitration Act led the trade-unionists of New Zealand on to a wrong road, and, unwilling to turn back, they have been trying to make the best of their wanderings. A study of the reports of the annual Conferences of Trades Councils in New Zelaand is very enlightening in this Respect. A great part of the business done at the Conferences, judging [[by the bulk it occupies in the published reports, has been discussions on the shortcomings of the arbitration law. I have.by me the last three reports—one ought to havepbeen published since, , but it has not reached me yet—and it is interesting to study the evolution of labour opinion on the arbitration law as shown in these papers. So long as the Judge was giving decisions in favour of the unions all went well, except that the employers kept attacking the Court; but when the Court began to slacken in giving benefits to the workers, the trade-unions opened their attack upon the President.” The writer ' concludes as follows: “Tire Australasian but touch the soiled hem of the garment. When, begun they operate in an endless circle. Regulation of wages leads to regulation in prices. The Australian system is, [therefore, protection, Wages "Boards, Prices Boards—more protection. more Wages Boards, more Prices Boards—round, and round, and round, and in the end practically nothing has happened—except that a generation’s effort has been wasted.” It is unfortunate for New Zealand also that this waste has been occurring during a period when the favourable markets supplied all that was necessary to ensure great development and genuine prosperity.

THERE is a familiar pre-election flavour about the statement that Government intends to adopt a more vigorous policy of road construction than [.has obtained iu , past years. The promise has been made and broken so often before that it calls to mind the frequent resolutions of the confirmed drunkard to reform. Just as the drunkard feels that he will he stronger to resist temptation when ho has actually signed [a pledge so the present Government is attempting to produce an impression that the promises so freely given in the past will at last be kept by pro-

special fund of £200,000 a year to_.be devoted to the making of a number of roads which will be shown on a map as the work proceeds. The policy of the present Minister of Lands is to nave access given to every block of laud that is put on the market —a declaration, which has a wonderfully familiar sound. Bridle tracks are to be widened so that every settler will, as soon as possible, have a bullock dray or “dirt road” to his section. Metalling, we ate told, can follow after—a long way after has been the bitter experience of countless back block settlers. The sooner the Minister realises that nothing but a properly metalled road will give access to bush sections the better for the country. Last year £423,785 was appropriated for roads and only £350,000 spent—a fair sample of vigorous road policy.

Mr Hall Jones expects to hand over the North Island Main Trunk Line to the Railway Department on Ist November.

At the Auckland Poultry Show in the North Island championships, BJr H. A. CoatQ|p,secured that distinction in the Pekin duck section, and Mr R. E. Widows fcr homing pigeons, any colour.

At a meeting of the Conciliation Board at Napier, it was intimated that the masters did not desire to give evidence in the engineers’ dispute, and the statement was accepted. At a meeting of directors of Rewa Dairy Company on Wednesday it was decided to sell the machinery of the factory as there seemed no probability of .‘sufficient milk being forthcoming next season [to warrant the expense of running it.

In connection witli the British Empire Rifle Club shooting competition for the Daily Mail Cup, writes a Wairarapa correspondent, the members of the Opaki Rifle Club have calculated out, from the figures obtainable, that they are sixth on the list.

Sir Joseph Ward arrived in jjWanganui from New Plymouth last evening. After a short rest he left by goods train for Palmerston, where lie leaves early this morning for Wellington. Sir Joseph will visit the Waixarapa next week, but with that exception, he hopes to be iu Wellington till after the session. . Iu reference to the rumoured establishment by the Union Company of a training ship about one hundred applications have already been received from boys in the Dominion. The ship Dartford, which was suggested as likely to be used for training purposes, has been chartered to proceed to Kaipara to load timber for Sydney.

A message 'from Ballarat to the Sydney Telegraph advises that Mr John Shehaa, grazier, of Snake Valley, who some fifteen years ago sowed a shilling’s worth of blue gum seed iu about half an acre of ground, lias during the past few years sold £49 worth of wood, which was used tor telegraph poles and poppet legs. The gums have attained a height of 60ft. Mr Shehan estimates the value of those left at £IOO.

The application for the enforcement against the Christchurch Tramway Board in respect of the appointment of a ticket inspector from outside the ranks of the conductors and motormen, came before the Arbitration Court yesterday. The question which was argued before the Court turned on the point whether promotions hsid to be made from conductors and motormen only or from the office staff also. Decision was reserved.

““The [consolidation of the New Zealand Statutes has been completed by the Commission—the Chief Justice Dr. Fitchett and W. S. Reid—and the Government Printing Office is busily engaged in printing for issue to the House early in the coming session. The work [occupied five years and involved the condensation of fifty volumes of statutes into five, containing about 900 pages. The price of the complete set will be reduced from £SO to less than £2O.

A contemporary yesterday gave its readers the following version of a Loudon cablegram:—“The shortage of cattle in North America is caused by a 20 per cent, increase in the price of beef in Berlin and Paris.” Further interesting . items from the same source were: “The Horse Show at Olympia eclipses last year’s display. Sixty continental offers have come to London to compete in the jumping contests.” “Prince Darenherg, president of the Suez Canal Co., speaking at a banquet in London, stated that the proposed increase in the depth of the canal was 30 feet.” In the course of an interview Mr W. J. Tonkin (who has just returned to Dunedin from a visit to England) informed a reporter that unless there was a marked improvement in the quality of rabbits, the export trade was practically on its last legs. There was an increasing demand for rabbits at Home, but those sent from Australia were iu much better demand than those from the Dominion, because the former received more careful handling prior to export, and had a better appearance on arrival in England. Mr Tonkin thinks that a good export business in apples could be |done with the'London and South American markets.

Discussing horticultural matters with a local landscape gardener, a Wairarapa Daily Times reporter was informed that iu consequence of the extraordinary dry summer, which had been responsible for a cessation iu the flow of sap iu a good many trees and the breaking of the buds, find a very mild autumn, which was really another spring, following on, all the buds had begun to bloom. These, buds were now dying off again, anc, r next spring a good many trees will, suffer, and there will be very little growth. The present cold snap was, in informant’s opinion, very desirable, as it would check all premature growth, and remedy the evil to some- extent. A good deal more rain was still wanted, as at a depth of nine inches the ground was still as dry as the proverbial bone. Every lady contemplating the purchase of a new jacket or paletotshould see the beautiful stock of those goods now on display at The Boa Marche, Palmerston. Tiie fit, stvle, and finish of every garment is perfect, ami the prices most reasonable.'- The Ladies of this district are invited to inspect these charming goods *

There will not be any church service at- Sanson to-morrow afternoon. The New Plymouth S.M. has fined John Mynott £5 and costs for dispersing a paper without an imprint. At a small poll a proposal to adopt the Fin- Brigadt s' Act iu Wesrpoit and establish fire boards was lost by a majority of .three votes. Yotes for the proposal" 143, against proposal 145.

The Ohurch of England building at Waimaugaroa was struck by lightning during a storm. The roof of the belfry was torn and the iron cross twisted and the column holding it shattered; The bell rope fell and several windows were broken. Three candidates are definitely announced for the Bailer seat —Jas. Golviu (sitting member), F. F. Munro, and V. T. MacNamara. Some 45 Westport residents, witnesses "and others, connected with the trial of Haliinan and Andersen, for alleged murder, have proceeded to Nelson where the Supreme Court sitting will open on Monday. There are no tidings of Samuel George Jones, labourer, aged 30, a native of Tasmania, who has been missing frcm Seddonville since the 10th inst. Search parties have been out. Jones has been about a year in New Zealand.

Dunedin reports that 2400 tins of British Columbian salmon were condemned by the Health Department this week and destroyed within a few hours of their seizure. The hulk of the consignment was blown. A conference took place in the matter of the painters’ dispute, it being represented that the recommendations filed were in some respects different from the agreement arrived at by the parties. The Board Will next sit in Wellington. In the Druids’ Hail, Marton, tomorrow evening Mr Curran, Evangelist, will take as his subject, “Is it possible to be saved here and know it? If so, is it possible to be lost again?” Mr Curran will be prepared to answer auv question on the subject that may be handed in up to a quarter to 7. Applications for the 25 holdings of the Culverden estate closed yesterday. Altogether 982 applications were received from all parts of the colony, representing 792 applicants. Over £IOO,OOO was taken in deposits. The examination of {applicants commences at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, and the ballot will take place on Friday. An Eltham corresnondent thus unburdens himself re the popular game: ‘ ‘ Everybody talks football here. The worries of dairying "and the rise and fall of the stock market, and the supply of pigs and fencing wire, etc., have been dropped, and football reigns. It is dealt up at the breakfast table, carried to work, brought up at night, and nursed till bed-time and then slept on.” A Marlborough fiaxmiller, who uses a great deal of rope for his driving gear, asserts that he can send his fibre to Melbourne, get it made up there into rope, and have it returned to him, after paying the 20 per cent, import duty, at about onefifth the price charged for the finished product in New Zealand. The quality also, he says, is very much better.

In hot weather the number, of deaths among children under five years from., summer diarrhoea is always very large, though it can be prevented by proper attention to diet. In Christchurch there were 68 deahs in under five Horn infantile diarrhoea and gastro-enteritis, whereas in the same period of 1908 there were only 14 deaths from the same causes. The season 1908 was even hotter and drier than that of 1907, and though it would be a mistake to generalise from only two years’ figures it seems probable that the efforts of the Society for promoting the health of women and oh ild ren had a good deal to do with the reduced mortality. The matter of Dr. Findlay’s speech was mentioned during the weekly meeting of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council. A resolution was carried authorising the Parliamentary Committee to go into the whole subject and to report at the next meeting of the Council. From the tone of the debate on the question it appears that the" delegates on the Council are very chary of the “speeding up” proposals of Dr. Findlay. The competition amongst workers was keen enough as it is. said the delegates, and it was not wise to set men at each other’sgthroats for the sake of a few extra shillings per week. The “cutting ia” by employers could not he averted, and, in the opinion of the Council, any system of classification or speeding up was against the well-being of the workers. The peculiar condition of the potato market, say.s the Dunedin Star, is the talk of produce buyers. For many years the position has never been more difficult as regards forecasting what prices are likely to he. A panic seems to prevail in the North Island, where heavy orders for forward delivery up to September have taken place at £<l 10s per ton f. o.b. Already some shuffling has made its appearance. Advices from the North state that Tasmania has been offering Derweuts as low as 50s per ton f.o. b. With the addition of duty, freight, and other charges, the price for that line is nearly £5 per ton. In soma quarters it is considered that potatoes are good buying at the present rates, although from the North potatoes are being offered as low as 75s per ton f.o.b. Altogether, the market is extremely difficult to follow.

A striking evidence* of the credulous nature of some people was shown to a reporter at Timaru in the form of a room litterqd with a couple of hundred photographs of all kinds, which had been collected with deposits, ranging from 2s 6d, by the members of a syndicate styling themselves an Art Studio. Five jjor six weeks were spent in profitable canvass of the district, people of all classes and professions handing over photographs, in many cases valuable from their associations, and deposits, in return for a flimsy agreement in W-Mch the Art Studio promise /. to return a crayon enlarge - men Complaint 0 was made recently that no enlargements had been delivered, and inquiries made by ths. police show that the ennvassoi#have left the country. The police have now undertaken the task of restoring the photographs to (he owners.

Dress and costume making at (lie Bon Marche, Feilding. Now is the time to place your orders. class work at moderate charge? is

Messrs Spcncf-T mof tp, and Ma y am confident their new dresKna-D-r (Miss Ecnney) will give sat Maciimi in every way.*