LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 August 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Fatality Near Feilding.

An elderly man, John Knight, aged 69, was found dead in a dam at Cheltenham on Monday. He was last seen alive on Friday. It is surmised that he fell into the dam while crossing over an unformed road leading to his bach. An inquest will be held. Footballers Ordered Off.

The senior Rugby match between Manukau and Technical at Auckland on Saturday afternoon was notable for its willing play. Tempers became a little frayed in the second spell, and, with about twenty minutes to go, three players were ordered off the field by the referee, Mr G. Peace, for alleged fighting. They were followed a few minutes later by two more players, who were' sent off for the same reason. Clothing Trade Slackness.

Because of slackness in orders, which is attributed to the effects of overseas competition, a large Auckland clothing manufacturing firm last week put off 16 hands ,and announces that within the next few days the number it proposes to discharge will be brought up to about 100. “As the work upon which we are now engaged finishes up, we are putting off girls,” said representatives of the firm. “We have made every endeavour to hold our staff together, but we are forced to make dismissals.”

Young Farmers’ Clubs. Reference to the phenomenal growth of the Young Farmers’ Club movement was made by Mr W. J. Thomas, of Carterton, speaking at a social function in Pahiatua on Saturday night. Young farmers, he said, were getting a new line of thought and knowledge in farming methods, which would give them a greater interest in the land, and raise the standard of living in our country by increasing our exports. Responding to this toast, Mr R. Bremner paid a tribute to the help given by the older farmers, without whose assistance they could not have carried on. Mr G. Cotter endorsed these sentiments. Pakeha’s Bad Taste.

That the area at Kawhia where the Tainui canoe is said to be buried had been fenced off made him both pleased and sorry, said the Rev G. I. Laurenson, speaking at the Auckland Museum. He was glad because now the area would be inviolate, but sorry because it showed bad taste or ignorance on the part of the pakeha. Sightseers used to go and stand right in the middle of a piece of ground which tapu to the Maoris. To the Maoris such conduct appealed just as much as would a person entering Westminster Abbey, smoking his pipe, with his hat on his head, appeal to a white person. Bishop of Melanesia.

An extensive tour of New Zealand will be made by the Bishop of Melanesia, the Rt Rev W. Baddeley, who will arrive at Wellington from Sydney on August 8. Under the auspices of the New Zealand Anglican Board of Missions, the tour, which is being conducted to arouse interest in the Melanesian Mission, will open in Wellington. On August 19 the Bishop will leave for Featherston, Napier, Aramoho, Wanganui and Auckland, where he will meet the mission steamer Southern Cross. He is to leave for the islands towards the end of September. In his talks the bishop will outline the work of the mission, with particular reference to the keen interest taken in the development of New Britain Island during the last five, or six years. Several New Zealanders are stationed on the south coast of the .island, where missionary work is being begun.

Dairy Factory Difficulties. “Unless science can devise some different method of manufacture of cheese, the short week is going to be absolutely unsuitable, and it. must mean that the good name of our cheese on the London market will suffer,” said Mr J. F. Cairns, chairman of directors of the Cloverlea Dairy Company, Temuka, Catnerbury, at the annual meeting of shareholders. “A new award for assistants in cheese factories came into effect last January, and there were allround increases in pay. The hours agreed on are causing much difficulty and inconvenience, and I believe the assistants themselves are dissatisfied with the time allowed for the completion of the work.” The ever-increasing costs on factory and farm were, Mr Cairns said, showing no signs of stabilising, and the task of determining the new season’s price would be indeed difficult.

Attacks and Privilege. Reference to attacks made by members of Parliament on persons outside the Chamber was made by Mr W. J, Polson (Opposition, Stratford) in a question of which he gave notice in the House of Representatives yesterday. Mr Polson said he proposed to ask the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon M. J. Savage: (1) Whether he had seen correspondence in the Press relating to the privileges of the House, and what action he intended to take to prevent injustice being dene to persons outside the House; (2) whether, in view of the wide publicity given over the air to Parliamentary debates, he would consider an amendment of- the Standing Orders or an alteration of the law of libel to protect innocent persons from being subjected to defamatory or slanderous criticism of their conduct and reputation when they had no opportunity of replying over the air, and (3) whether the Prime Minister would give the House an early opportunity to discuss the question. Youth Labour and Industry.

“A hundred years ago this week, there were thousands of women and children employed in coal mines in England, Mr Macdonald. I tell you that industry will do anything if it pays it,” said Mr A. L. Monteith, workers’ representative on the Court of Arbitration, when Mr D. I. Macdonald, employers’ advocate in the bakers’ dispute, was opposing an alteration in a clause in the proposed bakery award, dealing with the employment of youth labour. Mr Monteith expressed the opinion that the clause, in its present form, placed very little restriction upon the employment of youth labour, but Mr Macdonald, in reply, contended that the amount of youth labour employed was strictly governed by the amount of unskilled work offering. He strongly refuted Mr Monteith’s suggestion that the industry would “do anything if it paid it,” and said the present conditions in the bakery trade disproved this.