The Daily News CURRENT COMMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 31 August 1907, Page 2

The Daily News CURRENT COMMENT.

Apparently New Zealand cheese has seemed the proud position of having established recognised standard colours, and is confidently quoted as -white" and coloured and marketed accordingly. Writing on Victorian cheese, a London expert states: "i cannot state whether there has been any deterioration during the sea voyage It is impossible to offer any opinion on that, although I have an impression that the cheese was not carried in a temperature as iow as that arranged for in the case of the New Zealand cheese. When such produce is shipped in the right condition the risks of transport would appear to be very small. The sea voyage does not affect the New Zealand cheese at all. The finish of the Victorian consigument as a whole is imperfect, though not conspicuously so. it is not quite so good as the New Zealand makers now attain. Clearly there is room for improvement, which will no doubt be seen in later consignments. You would think that a good finish would be one of the easiest details

to attend to. Well, it isn't by any means. Even to this day some of the Canadian exporters, whose trade is comparatively old-established, are careless in Tile finish of their cheese, and don t seem to realise that it is a detail of considerable importance in the eyes of the English retailers. Symmetry, neatness, exactitude—these always have a clearly noticeable effect on prices and the favour of the buyer." These are words of wisdom as applicable to New Zealanders as to Canadians or Victorians.

We notice that Victoria is making a strong effort to secure a place in the cheese market, although usually considered to be a country more adapted for butter-making. A London correspondent of a Melbourne paper has some interesting gossip on this subject. The agents for the Victorian output appear to be much troubled about color. He, alluding to a Victorian cheese exhibit, afterwards sent to London, said the colour was just right for the English market, but, for bis life, he could not say what the colour was! He says: "I am afraid it would be useless to attempt a definition. People seldom realise how "difficult it is to descrme cheese colours. In fact, a-really accurate description is impossible. We know what we want, the consumer knows what he wants, and the maker finds it out by experiment: About three or four years ago we tried to send out colours from here to New Zealand. It looked an easy enough proposition at first. We engaged a capable artist, and gave him' samples of cheese to paint from. The best that he did was only a partial success, and therefore untrustworthy as a guide. It seems that ordinary paints cannot reproduce the exact tints of cheese. Nor would it be any use for me to offer a suggestion as to the percentage of annats'tliat should be used by the Victorian manufacturers. 1 could not even begin to attempt to give you an idea of it in any definite manner. The New Zealand exporter took about ten years in learning how to produce cheese of the rWit colour. They used to send consignments of a deadly pale sort, and at other times there was too much colour. Too little is even worse than cither, for it usually produces a 'dirty' appearance."

The new land proposals contain conditions which will, we are sure, meet with the favor of the great bulk of the' people. They are more consistent with the requirements of settlers and are not [so drastic-ally socialistic in character as those that frightened the country last year. It is said that the amended Bill Hill go before the House with the shape into which it was moulded by the united wisdom of a committee representing every interest and also cvorv part of the colony. To a Wellington reporter the author of the Bill brielly explained some of the provisions of the new proposals. Dealing with the preference plan in regard to the allocation of the land the Minister said .---You first divide tht applicants into landless and otherwise.-. In dealing with the landless vou take out of them the married men with elmarm, widowers with children, widows with children, and married women with children judicially separated from their husbands. We take out of this class again those who within the previous two years have twice competed unsuccessfully in land ballots, so that the eliminating process is such that in order to get any person to -dummy' for him, the speculator must select a married man ivith a family, who must live two years on the land before a transfer can be allowed. Not much possibility of going down the street and getting ail your lrieuds and acquaintances to help yon?" The changes made in regard to the terms of compulsory purchase were due to the Government's initiative. Mr. McNab said the original proposals were somewhat awkward, inasmuch as after a certain limit was passed the scale of compensation waa lowered. The Bill went through committee with the old plan in it, but leave was given on the last day of sitting to recommit, for the purpesc of altering it to the two scales of ten per cent, for the first .r.50,000 and five per cent, upon the residue if an cstaU is of greater capital value than £50,000.

The addition of a number of other new clauses is due to the fact that although they were prepared when the Bill went before the House for the first time, they had only been finally revised at that time, and to have inserted them would have meant delay in circulating the interesting measure. The clause by which a tenant is able to put on record the condition of bis land and the'improvements made was the result of a lengthy discussion in committee, as a result ol which the Minister proposed it as part of the Bill. T 'There is no doubt," declared the Minister, summing up the situation, "that the Act will be of enormous hem-fit in meeting the modern forms of dummyism:. One point in re gard to the committee which particularly struck me was a disinclination to extend facilities to people in towns who want land but will not reside upon it. This was very marked. Although there is a in the Bill modifying residence conditions under certain circumstances, nothing would lie operative until regulations were laid on the table of the House, after which they would be referred to a committee. The feeling of the Lands Committee was that while we iiad men who were prepared to go on the soil with their families, the other class who like to own and not to lhe on the laud could receive consideration later. The ;uau with a family who is going into the back country will receive a big start now under this Bill."