CURRENT TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3609, 22 October 1920, Page 5

CURRENT TOPICS.

(By Argus.)

judging by the attendance of fortyifive persons at the meeting on Tuesday" evening for the purpose of reviving cricket at Taihape, the game should : *M very popular during the coming season, and it is hoped that a Cricket Association will be established to control the game locally for years to come.

Mr W. A. Veitch. MP., put a rather nasty question to the Minister when he asked why a moving picture whicrr had for its object the exposition 01 profiteering methods, and which had been screened two or three times only, had been censored and withdrawn. No doubt,, the Minister will furnish the usual excuse that the picture v/as calculated to incite lawlessness among fche workers. If tnk excuse Is offered in this case, it would be an admission that the picture represented the posit tion accurately.

During the year ended 31st March, 1920, the output of timber m the district. between Taumarunui and U.urterville increased from 55,687,100 ft. to 71,290,600 ft.—an increase of 15,80 V 500 ft. in" twelve months. The figures are for timber actually railed from the various stations and do not Include timber used' for local purposes. •Allowing for 6000 ft. of timber per house, the increase in the year's output would build 2605 houses, and the total' quantity of timber railed from Stations Taumarunni ; and Hunterville would be sufficient to btfild about 12,000 houses,. Allowing for two-thirds of the output being white pine and timber for purposes other than building, the mills between Taumarunuji amd Hunterville sent out sufficient timber for 4000 houses. The other large milling areas in New Zealand are those nortn of Taumarunui, and Southland f.na Westland. The.output of all the mills in New Zealand": is greater than in prewar day?; but there is an alleges scarcity for building purposes. in view of the fact that the millers are now following the lead of the dairy farmers and are asking for world's parity of prices, the foregoing vaTotmation should prove interesting, The strong case against,the s&wmiUei'g » that they are depleting the resources of the country and are thus imporffng a penalty on the future inhabitants of New Zealand. In many cases they are milling timbers which should Delong to the people: namely, timber off State-owned lands, and are exporting St for the benefit of people in another country and for their own gain. The dairy farmer has a genuine claim ror parity of prices, as he is not stripping the country of any of its natural resources and is not robbing posterity of its inheritance. Is it not time that the people of New Zealand got a fair share of their own timber at a reasonable price? .„, " '*.'■•■; [JI&SB I'd-' it is pleasing to note that the Borough Council has made a start rz cleaning up the debris from Main Street. A few more receptacles for rubbish, placed in convenient places, would have the effect of helping to keep the streets tidy. If these were provided, the Council could then pass a bye-law making it an offence for any person to deposit Tubbi3h on the* footpath or roadway or in The gutters.

The Wanganui school teacher re-

ferred to yesterday in connection with , an essay competition by children on the subject of the picture "The Man

They Could Not HangT has since explained that the prize, was offered by one interested in the school and in the picture; but as he did not co»sider the subject a suitable one, the Competition did not eventuate, and tfie prize is to be offered for an essay on a more suitable subject. T ' r BUTTER AND TIMBER. r ; —- CONTRAST' IN TREATMENT. The contrast between the treatment of sawmillers and butter producers was emphasised this morning by the Secretary of the Dominion Federated' Sawmillers' Association (Mr W, , T. Irvine) 'in the course of an interview. ?The rise in the price of butter, w > gala jMr Irvine, "again brings prominently Ibefore the public the-attitude taken %p by the National Dairy Association, Respecting the stoppage of the export of white pine. The Dairy Association epproached the Government to obtain fcheap butter boxes at the expense of |he sawmiller, and, although the outfcry did not result in a complete stoppage, it led to the restriction of export of both, white pine and building * |imber. In addition to this restriction local prices for all timbers ar* f-egulated by the Board of Trade, the local price bearing no relation to the fcxport price. ,'- "Contrast this position with that of j&e dairy farmers, who, while advocating restrietion. of price for his product

sold in the Dominion, and contrast it with the position of the flourmiller, whose wheat is subsidised, to enable him to sell at a fixed price. There is nothing of that sort with the sawmliler, who is limited as to export, ana is restricted as to local price without subsidy or compensation of any kind —all for the benefit of the community. The sawmiller is therefore compelled! to become a public benefactor, and, while paying heavy taxation in trie ordinary course, is mulcted in the difference between the export price anc? the local price. That implies doable taxation. In this the Government's square deal, or in any sense fair play? The principle of the payment of subsidies I do not desire to discuss for the present, but if it holds good for the butter producer, it must, in common fairness, apply to the sawmiller;" —Evening Post.