NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 123, 26 January 1915, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

THE PRICE OF SUGAR. MR MASSEY INTERVIEWED. (By Telegraph. —Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Jan. 26. * There has been a certain amount of criticism with regard to increase in the price of sugar, said the Premier to a “Ppst” reporter to-day, This matter was considered by the Price of Food Commission and it recommended that the Government should agree to an arrangement With the Colonial Sugar Company,, by which the price of sugar should not be increased beyond £2O until the 10th June next. The Commission says in its report the effect cf this arrangement would be (1). To ensure people of the Dominion a sufficient supply of sugar until 30th June, and at a price the maximum of which would not increase the present price by one half-penny per lb. (2). It will leave the sugar markets of the world open to New Zealand, and that, if sugar were obtainable on more favourable terms from any source other than the Company, ©plo.pla of Now Zealand would be free to avail themselves of such sources. It is to be noted that the price of sugar in England at the date of present communication is quoted at over £3O a ton, and this no doubt may be regarded as panic price, but in view of the fact that English supply of sugar has been from Germany, Austria, and which has been, entirely cut off, it is highly improbable that the ccst of sugar in England will fall to less than £25 per ton. In these circumstances securing of sufficient supply at maximum price £2O seems eminently desirable, especially as the proposed arrangements will not prevent people getting sugar cheaper elsewhere if they can, as a result .of our said arrangment.

Mr Massey says that sugar is to-day cheaper in New Zealand than in any part of His Majesty’s Dominions.

A SEAMAN KILLED. M S'-' CHRISTCHURCH, Jan. 26. William Green, aged 18, seaman, a native of Liverpool, was killed at Lyttelton this morning, while assisting to berth the steamer Wlrrak- He was caught in a hauser and dragged overboard, striking the propeller in his fall. His body has not been found yet. PETITION AGAINST TAU HENARE. WELLINGTON, Jan. 26. The Registrar of the Supreme Court, Wellington, has received a petition by Nau Paraone Kawiti, a boardinghouse keeper, of Whangarei, and Maere Kuao, a settler, of Tautoro, Kaiohe, against the return of Tan Henare as a member for the Northern Maori District. A number cf irregularities in connection with voting papers are alleged. . The petition was forwarded to the Chief Justice, at Christchurch, to fix the date of the hearing and to appoint a judge. ' The Chief Jusice and Justice Edwards will commence hearing the Hawke’s Bay petition at the Napier Supreme Court .on February 33. Justices Cooper and Chapman Avill hear the Taumarunui petition at a time and place to be fixed. OUR WHEAT STOCKS. A REPUTED MARE’S NEST. WELLINGTON, Jan. 26. Recently the Premier was informed that four farmers in Canterbury were holding large stocks of wheat. Mr Massey at once caused enquiries to be made with the result that he discovered they only held a few bushels of seconds each. “This,” Mr Massey says, “bears out the opinion I. expressed a few days ago, that apart from the wheat held by millers, we have practically reached the end of our stocks, and if it had not been for the action of' the Government in making arrangements for importation of wheat and flour,the position would have been serious by now. One of the principal millers in the Dominion had stated in a letter to me, that the action of the Government in importing had saved the people between £2OOO and £2,500.

RETURNED TROOPERS

ASK FOR THEIR PAY AUCKLAND, Jan. 26. When a number of the men who returned from Egypt applied at the Defence Office for their pay, inquiry was made of the Defence Department, Wellington. The reply received was as follows: “These forty-five discharged men can receive no consideration. They have failed in their duty as soldiers. The cabled information from General Gcdley states that they have been discharged. You may pay them up to the day of leaving Egypt. If they are dissatisfied they can claim individually on the Paymaster at Well. ington|.F Thei nif litatry” author!,tieh state that ten of the men were discharged for misconduct, and were punished for such offences as drunkenness, disobedience to officers, and threatening behaviour to officers, the refusing of inoculation was tantamount to disobeying orders.