NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL

Taranaki Daily News, 19 November 1926, Page 2

NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL

WELLINGTON TOPICS MAYORALTY OF THE CITY. THE ANTI-LABOUR SPLIT. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Nov. 18. It is well for the municipal harmony ; of the city of Wellington that the election of Mayor does not occur more frequently than every second year. A return to annual elections would land the capital city in a constant turmoil. On the present occasion the Civic League, a self-constituted body that aspires to ordering the coming and the going of mayora and councillors, has decreed that Nir. Norwood, whom it placed in office two ycare ago, shall vacate the chair with all its dignity, emoluments and [Requisites, and make room for Mr. (1. A. Troup, a worthy councillor whose face has been turned towards the promised land for many a long year, and now sees himself coming into his own. But Mr. Norwood has not accepted the inevitable complaisantly. He requires four years, it ecehis, to complete ail the schemes he has in his head for the benefit of the city, and as the Civic League does not want, him he is apnealing to the municipal electors, whom, in the past, ajiparently, it has been the fashion to leave out of account. Meanwhile the I/ahour Party, which is threatening to be even more aggressive in municipal polities than it is in national politics, continues to keep its eye upon developments, and to enjoy hugely the dissensions among its opponents. I’RIsON BOARD INQUIRY. Even those people who look askance at the Rev. Howard Elliott’s zeal for political morality arc watching with some sympathy the efforts of the reverend gentleman to secure an adequate inquiry into the usee the Prison Hoard is making of its prerogative. Mis reasons for having nothing to do with the magisterial inquiry ordered by the Minister of Justice are set out hy Mr. Elliot in a statement published this morning. “The Minister of Justice,” he says, "has apparently not taken into consideration certain facts which are obvious to the general public and myself. They are that in appointing a magistrate, however respected and able, to make the inquiry, the Minister has appointed one who is dependent upon the Minister’s goodwill for his position. A magistrate holds no tenure of office, and his appointment may be terminated at any time, at the will of the Minister. Further, magistrates are graded, and promotion from one grade to another depends upon the Minister. It ie the administration of the Prison Department, for whieh the Minister is responsible, that is to be inquired into, and, therefore, it would be expecting something rather more than our poor human nature is likely to give that such an inquiry would not be influenced by considerations which are so apparent.” The Minister’s reply to this is that the necessary arrangements have been made for the inquiry, and that it will be fuU and unbiased in every particular. FRUIT GROWING The fact that the Government last se.ason provided a subsidy of some £lOO,000 for the apple growers of the Dominion has been recalled by the promise of the Minister of Agriculture that a similar benefaction will be’ available during the approaching season. The subsidy takee the form of a guarantee of a certain payment upon exported apples if the sale price dws not reach what may be regarded as a payable figure. The Government guarantee last season was one penny .per pound. No objection is being raised here to any reasonable encouragement that may be given to the fruit-growing industry, but there ie a wide spread feeling that the Government subsidy is doing very little towards thia end. Last season only some I 200,909 bushels of the 2,000,960 bushels of apples grown were exported, and though the optimists among the orchardists always are going to largely increase their shipments only in rare instances are their good intentions realised. As ' a matter of fact nearly 90 per cent, of the fruit grown in the Dominion romaine here, and the only useful purpose of the subsidy appears to be to keep up the price of the portion intended for home consumption. This scarcely can be the end sought by the Government. THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. Mr. G. F. Moore, of Bushy Park, one of the Dominion’s meet capable and sue-i-essful farmers, writing to a local papei l this morning, appeals to liis Mlow farmers to stand together in a great crisis in the affairs of tlic Dominion. “We overdo everything in this country except our roads,” he says. These we never overdo. Our freezing works, cons trol boards, and education are all overdone. And now it seems we are going to cap it all by spending £300,000 on an agricultural college, whose annual upkeep will cost another £10.090, Surely this money would bring much more direct benefit to the Dominion if spent on roads and general access. There are a very large number of farmers in New Zealand who have to pack their wool and other produce out to market over bridle tracks. 1 understand that the Farmers’ Union in all districts, except that in whieh it is proposed to establish the college, is opposed to it. If the Farmers’ Union is truly representative of the farmers, why does it allow a thtng of this magnitude to be forced upon us when there Is really no need for It? The Minister i» reported as having said quite recently that State farina have been proved to lie a failure* Vet in the face of thie it is proposed to establish a much more elaborate State farm than has ever yet been attempted here.’ From present appearances it looks likely that Parliament will have plenty of time for considering the expenditure of that £300,000.