TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3209, 8 June 1909, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

SOLWAY OR DIXON STREET? The important question of where the next Masterton A. and P. Show is to be held—Solway or Dixon Street—is to have a final answer, most probably, at a meeting; of the General Committee of the A. and P. Association to be held on Saturday afternoon text. "In all probability the public announcement will be made of a most important fact, and one which is of vital importance to the future of the Association," stated a member of the General Committee yesterday. THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE. Considering all the circumstances there appears to be no way of secur- j ing Sir Joseph Ward's presence in London except by adjourning Parliament until his return, remarks the Auckland "Herald." It is so important that our Prime Minister should represent us that we cannot refuse to pay the price, and this we believe will be the determination of th« great majority of members. It would bo good for the Empire and creditable to the Dominion for the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to go together to this great non-party Conference. THE feABOuS MARKET. In a the state of the labour market in the Masterton district a local bureau proprietor stated yesterday that so far as agri cultural labour was concerned there was still a very limited number of vacancies offering in comparison with past periods. "A number of vei'y good ploughmen are at present idle," said the authority mentioned, "while amongst other classes of onskilled labour there are also one or capable men offering. Bushfelling contracts have absorbed some surplus hands thrown on the market through slackness on farms and stations." A HERCULEAN TASK. "I am sure that all commercial men throughout the Dominion will endorse the efforts of the Minister of Railways to place the railways,on a business footing," said Mr H. J. Marriner, at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, in Christchurch. "He has a herculean task before him, one far from pleasant and one that only a strong man can achieve. In the past there has been far too rtiuch money spent on ra : lways to procure voles and for political purposes, and I am sure I but echo the feeling of most right thinking men when I state that we are pleased to see that the Minister means to use the pruning knife where it is found that sections of railways are not paying, to reduce the running of trains so as to place them on a more payable basis. It will cause inconvenience to som« of us, but as commercial men we | cannot expect to retai i privileges at a huge financial loss." THE ADDINGTON INQUIRY. We cannot understand the del?'is taking place in the pr' •"^i the report of the of shops Commit ..-««*tß\:gton Workchuf' <>"**&*' bays the Christ- ... "'r w\ ', It is now nearly ; tW'S, since it was sart to the | Government, and it was naturally expected that it would be published as soon as it had been submitted to the Governor. The public are surely entitled to know what decision the Commissioners came to, and if they recommended any reforms, the sooner these reforms are put in hand the better. The suggestion mide that the report is bf-.ing held ba'?k because ''l«°stions £f pplfjy, such as 7 the | STfiffejViSiifc and discharge of hands, are dealt with in the regime," is indeed remarkable, if it Sfl founded on fact. Are we to take It that the Government object to the report, and are prepared to hold it back" from -"■"hlication because it contains som° really practical pr'tipGsals" for the iffl-" proved management of the State railway workshops?