AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Southland Times, Issue 18823, 17 May 1920, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

BROUGHT IN NEW SOUTH WALES. GREAT DISASTER PREDHCTED. (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) SYDNEY, May 14. A deputation representing stock interests interviewed the Minister of Agriculture and Lands and brought before him the serious plight of grazing areas owing to the continued drought. The deputation painted a gloomy picture of the outlook and declared that unless stock-owners were able to get supplies of fodder immediately there was going to be the biggest disaster known in New South Wales. Sheep and.other stock would die in hundreds of thousands, the flocks would be devastated, and the owners ruined. The Minister was sympathetic, and said the Government recognised the extreme necessity for relief, and it was doing everything in its power, but was hampered by the scarcity of shipping and in other directions.

COST OF PAPER. INCREASE SINCE 1914. SYDNEY, May 15. Speaking at the Million Club luncheon, Mr Wiliam Brookes, a Legislative Councillor, stated that the price of paper in Australia had increased by tea millions annually since 1914. FEDERAL PARLIAMENT. INCREASE OF MEMBERS’ SALARIES. MELBOURNE, May 15. The motion agreed to by the House of Representatives, increasing members' salaries to £IOOO a year, involves an additional expenditure of £45,000 annually. UNDERGRADUATES AT PLAY. COMMEMORATION DAY EXCITEMENT, . SYDNEY, May 16. (Received May 16, 5.5 p.m.) There were wild scenes in the city on the undergraduates' commemoration day. After the procession the theatres and the Town Hall were invaded and much damage was done to the organ and furniture. Government House was visited, and the Governor joined the revellers. DOCTORS AND PROHIBITION. A METHODIST CONFERENCE REQUEST. SYDNEY, May 16. (Received May 16, 5.5 p.m.) The Methodist Conference has decided to appeal to the Medical Congress of Australasia, meeting at Brisbane, in August, for a statement on prohibition.