WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1921, Page 7

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE MINING DISPUTE. NO PROGRESS. (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Jan. 26. No further progress has been made towards the settlement of the coalmining dispute arising out of the incident at Blackball, and the authorities regard the position as unsatisfactory. The point at issue is the selection of a chairman to preside over the conference between the representatives of the employers and the men to consider the case, of alleged victimisation. The Government wish to appoint one of the magistrates, and the men will accept no one but Mr. Halley, of the Conciliation Council, whom they contend is the only available official with an intimate knowledge of the cuttoms and practice of the mining industry. The Minister, of course has raised no objection to Mr. Halley, but he thinks in the circumstances a magistrate would make a more suitable chairman. A GRAVE CRISIS. The secretary of the Miners’ Federation, seen this morning, said he, feared the country was on the verge of a very grave crisis. The miners had nothing to gain in the way of increased pay or improved conditions by the stand they were taking, but they realised that a very important principle was at stake, and *>r. the interests of themselves, and, indeed, of the community, they had to see that this principle was upheld. There seemed to be an impression abroad that f-o* miners were not in a position to maintain a long struggle, but as a matter of fact they never were better able to insist upon- their rights than they were at the present time. They did not want to involve the Commonwealth in the dispute, but the Australian miners certainly would come to their assistance if their help were needed. The men were not going to allow themselves to be trampled upon. A QUESTION OF ODDS. That sage and reverent 'body, the New Zealand University Senaite, has been scandalised by the inclusion in the matriculation paper of a question requiring some knowledge < betting phraseology for its successful solution. “Three men run a race,” the examiner in mathematics put it to the candidates, “and odds are offered against, them of two to one, three to one arid four to one respectively. How much should a person lay upon them respectively so as to win £1 5s whoever wins the race?” A lady teacher had complained that her pupils, being ignorant of,, the language of the racecourse, were at a disadvantage in dealing with the question, and her complaint had been referred to the examination committee of the Senate. Yesterday the committee reported that it had “no recommendation to make.” Several of the members of the Senate were indignant at the introduction of gambling terms into its examination papers, but finally they were mollified by the Chancellor’s assurance that no such question was likely to be put again. SOLDIER SETTLEMENT. At a meeting of the Dominion executive of the Farmers’ Union held here yesterday the question of soldier settlement came up for discussion on a remit from the Dannevirke branch urging that the further purchase of land for soldiers should be postponed until prices adjusted themselves and actual values were ascertained. Mr. Hugh Morrison <Wairarapa) strongly supported the remit, contending that many of the men who had been put on highpriced land already were “up against it” and would have the greatest difficulty -in pulling through without further assistance from the State. He suggested that the six million loan recently raised should be reserved for this purpose. Mr. J. Livingstone (Hawke’s Bay) and Mr. G. L. Marchall (Wellington) spoke to a similar effect, but a majority of the delegates thought the Government could be trusted to do the wise and prudent thing, and the remit was rejected.