"PRUSSIANS OF NEW ZEALAND.”

Shannon News, 13 April 1922, Page 2

"PRUSSIANS OF NEW ZEALAND.”

STRONGLY-WORDED LABOUR SUPPORT. FOR P. AND T. ASSOCIATION. At a hieeting last night of the Manatyatu Labour Representation Committee the following motion was unanimously passed:- "That * t/us meeting of the Manawatu Labour Representation Committee congratulates the P. and T. Association on theV decision to affiliate with the Alliance of Labour, and regards the same as a step in the . direction of industrial unity, wherein lies the power of tne workers to make a forward move, to right ,thei'r wrongs, and make the world safe for Democracy; ana, further, that in spite of the opposition of capitalistic and intriguing welfare Leagues, chambers of commerce, subsidised Press and anil-democratic Tory extremist parties, Article 427 of the Peace Treaty, giving the workers the constitutional right to organise, and signed by the Prime Munster of New Zealand, shall not become another “scrap of paper” at the behest of the Prussians of New Zealand. ’•

GOVERNMENT WILL NOT STAND IT.

PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS STRONGLY. / - ... ON P. AND T. ASSOCIATION’S DECISION. Wellington, April 12. A deputation of well over a hundred, representing the Welfare League, chambers of commerce, shipping, commercial, farming, professional and business interests, deputationised Mr Massey and Mr Coates , this morning regarding the decision of the P. and T. Association to affiliate with the Alliance of Labour They urged that the Government should absolutely decline to deal with the Alliance in any matters affecting the service, and, further, that if the P. and T. becomes part of the Alliance, the Government should'''refuse all recognition of the Association. Mr MasSey, in reply, said: “The Government will on no account consent to the affiliation of the P. and' T. Association with the Alliance of Labour. We are not going to allow this thing to drift. The Association’s re'ply— not giving a definite date as to when members would consider Mr Coates’ letter —appears to be an attempt to flout the Government. The Government do not stand that sort of thing. I have a pretty good idea what the next move will be, and decline to discuss that now but the 'Government will not on any account whatever put up with the P. and T. §service joining withLthe Alliance of Labour”’ '*

Two musterers in the Ohau Valley last week were beset by swarms m fly nig ants, with the result that the difficulties usually associated with mustering sheep in broken country « were increased a hundred-iold. Every stump was surrounded by a thick haze of ants, and the two harassed men were treated similarly. Every time one opened his mouth to call to a dog it was filled with ants. Their ears and noses instantly and continuously challenged the curiosity of ihe winged pest, and, as one related to a Chronicle representative, by some queer perversity or just the sheer cussedness of things the dogs were peculiarly obtuse on that day ot days. They, by the way, heeded the ants not a jot, and rushed about barking and swallowing them in hundreds. Two or three days afterwards in cooler weather one of the two returned to the spot. There was no sign then of an ant until he happened to look into the interstice of a broken • log, and there they lay in close formation and apparently unable to use their wings. Crevices in other logs were filled likewise.

The arrest of two men, who were caught in the act of robbing a store at Paparoa, in the north, and who were subsequently committed to the Supreme Court lor this olience, uiul have been remanded on chaiges ot the theft of goods irom launches in the Auckland Harbour and the then of a motor-car at Hamilton, is due solely to the sagacity ol a lox terrier. In order to (gain entrance to the store the men broke a window, and on getting inside found the dog on watch. The animal, while not responding to friendly advances, did not resent the intrusion, hut, when the attention of the burglars was concentrated on the rifling of the premises, made its escape through "the broken window, and aroused the owners of the store. The result was that the two men were, caught red-handed and held until Constables Smith and Bogue, of Maungaturoto and Waipu, arrived.