Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Tuesday 28 June 1927, page 13


NOTES JAND QUERNS.

TEE NEGLECT OF CHESS.

From 'EVANDER':— I, ' like Arthur Blake, regret that chess has become such a neglected game. One wonders how all the ' 'electric lieht' bowlers amuse' them

selves during the long winter evenings. They would find chess quite as fascinating as bowls. A SEVENTH MINISTER. From 'ECONOMIST':-VThe new Libe ral Ministry has been widely bailed as an . essentially 'economy' Ministry, and yct; we hear that it is proposing to. appoint a seventh Minister. Shortly after the be-l ginning of Federation the number of six , Ministers was reduced' to four, on the; ground that the Federation would do a great deal of the work which had been done' by State Ministers— for instance, customs and post offices, besides several others. The present scheme to create . another highly paid State position praclic ally expresses the opinion that, if Federa tion had not occurred, we should now re quire not less than a dozen State .Minis- : ters to attend to the oversight of affairs which any large company would direct with the control of two- or three manascis at most. What is expected of .the Libe ral-Ministry is (using an old simile) luit, the addition of more teats for the bow, but a reduction of the drain made by social^' istic departments of the State. Tho Sublic . demand is that the Economy [inistry must economise-^not find more salaries for the already 'overpaid admnts trators of the concrens of--. a' .compara tively small State business.. . , . '?:.-ALLEGED PRISON SGANDALS, ? From 'MEMBER OF' THE PRISON REFORM -BURBAU': .— Permit me, please, to .explain to a number' of 'enquir ers why nothing apparently' has been' done in a public way lately by the bureau. The explanation is ^ that - after, several months ago, in. the last session of the Parliament, Mr. .Butler, then leader of the Opposition, dramatically' declared that the session should not end without' a searching investigation of what^ were known as 'the prison ' scandals,' the bureau, placing full faith in that promise, refrained from any action .which might, be embarrassing. The members had noj idea that an absolute paralysis of enquiry would follow in both Houses, with every politician as dumb as a dead mouse. The bureau, however, is. now confident, on the strength oi the distinct promise in. Mr. Butlers proclaimed policy on the hustiugs — a policy to which the Liberal Party, is committed— that something will now be done. AUBURN RECTORY DEBT. From the Rev. HENRY E. S. DYSON, the Rectory, Auburn:— I am grateful to; you for mentioning the matter of our rectory debt in. The Register of Juno 21 and 26 respectively, but the actual facts are these:— The rectory of Auburn coat £1,900, of which £1,000 has been paid, leaving a debt of £900. This debt has i been apportioned thus:— Auburn, £350.:! Saddleworth, £250; Mintaro, £150: ' Watervale, £150. In order to clear off £500 of the debt Mr. J. H. Frost, of Saddleworth, has. offered to give £50, if, nine , others will do the same. In re sponse to this offer the congregation of: Saddleworth proposed to raise £50 by u series of socials, and a gentleman of Watervale bag offered another £60 on the some. condition as that put down by Mr, J. H. Frost. It is, to be hoped that fur ther offers will soon come in. THE TARDJF. From E. J. CRAIGIE.— Mr. Ford's contention that, he has shown that lower prices would not rule under freetrade is without foundation. Statistics show con clusively that prices under a freetrade policy mi . New South Wales were lower than those asked for a similar 'class of goods in Victoria, 'where protection was in operation. ' The real object' of a .tariff is to restrict competition 'so that local manufacturers can artificially inflate ? the prices of the goods they have ; to sell. It fails in its* protective incidence if it does not produoe this effect. ' It is not. correct to say, as Mr. Ford does, that the commo dities for which there would-be an in creased demand under freetrade - 'would all be imported commodities, -and that tho additional work which would, be giyen . ? . would be to underpaid, sweated workers oa the other side of the world.' Freetrade- promotes a- -big demand'-' for locally prodiiced ' goods, and -local trade benefits_ equally with imported goods when purchasing power is increased by the abo lition of taxation from the necessaries of life. It would be interesting if Mr. Ford would give us the names of the countries where these alleged 'underpaid, sweated workers' are to be found. Are not they all countries enjoying the alleged bless ings of protection? Is not that policy supposed to work wonders in improv ing the standard of the workers? It the workers in tkese protected countries are sweated and underpaid, it is clear they do not enjoy any benefit from the tariff. The assertion that a freetrade' policy would 'shut up our factories, and allow our own Australian workers to walk tho street' is merely a product of Mr. Ford's fertile imagination. It did not have that effect in New South Wales, as official records clearly show. Freetrade means freedom to produce and freedom to ex change. Unless there is production there can' be no exchange. Consequently, the first step in a freetrade policy is the open ing of natural resources so that no restric tion shall be placed upon the production of wealth. A big proportion of our 'wheat is consumed in Australia, but Mr. Ford c&nnnt ripnv that fiirmpro sii-a pnmnoilpfl

to accept world prices for that portion. They receive no protective' benefit from a j tariff on wheat. In 1914 when the duty] would have been beneficial, it was sus pended at the request of city -workers, who claimed to be good protectionists. ' Why should farmers be compelled to ' cell ' in an open market,. and pay artificially high prices for all their requirements? I From J. H. GROTII:— 'Freetrader's'' ' claim that goods are paid for with goods and imports . are paid for by exports,; though right should be upheld by more amplified arguments. Protectionists are' afraid that money is sent away as pay ment, for imports. 'When people make a purchase in a store hard cash is planked down in payment; and when an order is cent abroad for a consignment of goods there is no mention made that these goods are to be paid for by, goods. For free traders to say that goods are paid for by goods leaves the average man uncon vinced. Trade between nations is auto matically regulated. When a consign ment of merchandise is imported in a .country there is at once a tendency for these and allied articles to become cheaper in the purchasing country, and dearer in the home market, and the larger the im port without export, the more' this cheap ness and clearness will appear. There is thus set up a tendency to export goods in order to get the' higher values abroad, and so other things being equal— imports and exports are equalised ; or, in .other' words, imports are paid for by exports. - 8up po8e_ Australia, and Canada do all their trading with each other only. Supp'one Australia sent, large orders for merchan dise to Canada, and paid for them with hard cash— what would be. the position? Australia, would have a preponderance of goods, and a shortage of hard cash; Can ada a plentiful supply of money arid shortage of goods. In Australia goods would be cheap, in Canada goods would be dear. This would set' up- an irrerig tible desire to trade— as' the one-sided business became apparent, and -would con tinue' nntil something like an' equilibrium was established. Goods wonld be 'sent to Canada where, thfcy are dear, and money would bo sent tj- Australia- in pay ment. It matters not how many countries are trading, in however roundabout a way, the same arguments hold good— imports and exports are automatically regulated by differing values, caused by any dis parity in imports and exports. When this is realised in its fulness the death knell of protection will be sounded. . THE PRICE OF BREAD. «From .'QUORN':— The letter by Anxious' in The Register of June 24, re the reduction in the price of bread, is a surprise to me. .The bakers here r» cently informed the town that a Mb. loaf oi bread would in future be 7d.« de livered and 6}d. over the counter— both prices cash., That lasted one day. and the prices were ' rearranged to 6Jd. de livered and 6d. at the counter. Our bakers have to pay freight from Adelaide. .(Questions by our correspondent regard ing the weight of the loaf of brown bread should be addressed to the local governing authority.— Ed.) .. THE CANBERRA STAMP. ? From 'GREEN ONE':— I have read with much interest your correspondents' letters re the 'above. On becoming' pos-^ seated of some Canberra stamps, and' thinking tnera rather pretty (my artistic sense not being yet developed), the. idea came to me, wny should not I collect stamps? Postcard, albums, after resting peacefully for Tears, were Tndclv- dis

turbed,, and all boxes and drawers con taining; old letters' ransacked. - After gathering the spoils and arming myself, with. a: small, stove kettle, album, and, bottle of Glac, I settled myself for the evening.' I quite understand 'Phil A. TelicV' point »i view, (quite admire my collection, which consists of about 150 Queen Victoria Id, red stamps, one green Id., a dozen purple 2d., three yellow 1897: (one M.), several King Edward Id. ones, 1906, a dozen or so Queensland Queen' Victorias, * lot of N.BAV. red shields Id.' and Queen Victoria 2d., Australian kan garoo Id., Id- green 1909, green Australia Id. and lief., reds Id. lid., and 2d. What I want to know is, are they any good? All the family are turning out pockete and looking in secret places, and I am afraid I shall. be a nuisance to my friends Will 'PhilA. Telic' kindly come to the rescue and. tell. me how to -acquire. some foreign stamps? Do you only keep one. or as many ne you can get? Never mind the golf man; 'Phil A. T.,' please let's have all the information you can about oyr hobby. ... . j WHEAT POOLING. , ' ; From 'ANTI-MONOPOLY':-Pool ad vocates talk of farmers 'marketing their own wheat' by' means of the pool.: But they knew very well' that when a farmer delivers bia -wheat to the pool he loses all control of it. Much is said about 'cutting out the middle man.' What is the pool but a middle man' who takes full control and can do just as he likes with the pooled wheat.' They affirm that mer chants make great profitB out of wheat.' If there is so much money made in this way, how is it that the trustees of the pool during, the many yeara they bought wheat straight out, did sot make good profits and pay' tbeir shareholders good dividends? They talk of pooling 'aa orderly, marketing' from which we assume that they regard straight-out buying as 'disorderly business.' If this ifc bo, why do they still buy wheat and thus engage in this disorderly marketing? Farmera know very well .that merchants buy wheat to make a profit, but they know also that the position of tho pool authorities is identical, and there is no reason why merchants should be represented by those who should know better as fattening on the farmers. ' exploiting them, Ac. Tha aim of. the poof promoters is to, induce farmers to put all their wlieat into the pool. Farmers are shy of monopolies, and will not agree to this, especially as past experience has produced nothing to ehour that the parties handling the grain are anything like experts in tho marketing of wheat. PROHIBITION IN ENGLAND. 'From Rev. E. 'H. HALL: — In tbe Register of Thursday I read with pleasure that a Bill had been introduced in the House, of Lords on prohibition. The Bishop of Liverpool, is daring, for ' the House of Lords w- a stronghold of liquor. Lord Dawson of Penn, who opposed the BilL must have extraordinary ideas of sobriety. He says;— 'TVe are, broadly speaking, a sober people.' I visited Eng land last year, and was appalled at the enormous extent of the traffic. The trade is aggressive, and almost impudent. It was tne year of the great strike. Other businesses were lirougnt to a stand, but liquor interests boasted that they were carrying on bb usual. And so they were. This is supported by facts, for the ex penditure on drink for the year 1938 amounted to £301,300,080. This worts out at £6 17/ per head of the population, or £34 5f for a family of five. Of course there were the usual consequences— 74,0/7 convictions for drunkenness for tne year for England and Wales, and the convic tions for crimes committed by men while under the influence of liquor reached a huge total. I was shocked most o! all by the prevalence of drinking among women in England.' I saw them through the open doors of, saloons sitting with the men and drinking with them. U be-: lieve it is illegal for children to enter saloon bars, but I saw .babies in arms carried in. On one occasion I saw -a man pouring- liquor down the throat of a littla child about six years of age. as they stood at the saloon door.. 'SOBER ENGLAND'.' i From W.- E. COLLINS:— Lord Dawson (physician-in-ordinary to the King aadthe Prince of Wales), in attacking the Bishop of Liverpool's Prohibition Bill in the House Of. Lords, is reported in your cable news as saying it- Js 'reijly an outrage to call England non-sober.' ~ In support of this deSfUationhfe. instances a hoipital list of 1,5W unskilled' labourer*, showing that fil'pei- fcent: tthder 35 years of age were abstainers or, temperate drinkers. We ore left to infer that the remaining . 40 per cent, are neither abstainer* nor tempo rate drinkers. Figures for ages over 3o are not given— just' the fact of the ratio of the temperate to the intemperate ,of those under 35 is as 51 to 40. It would be interesting to learn His Lordship -view were the ratio 49 to 51, a paltry in crease of 'ntsmperance of 2 per' cent. Con fronted with this evidence... who dare* commit the outrage of 'calling Engkud ribn-sober?'- But how did His Lordship fail to note ' the -.far greater 'outraged in the impudent' introduction of a Pro hibition BUI into the House of Lords, oi all places, by a bishop, into the sacred concourse of so many members of the beerage elevated to the peerage? SLAUGHTER OF OPOSSUMS. From T. P. BELLCHAMBERS:— As one who has been breeding opossums' for about 16 years, I would like again to stato

the fact mat tney cany meir youus through the winter months. Capt. White's BURRcstioa of a month earlier for the open season* would not improve matters as it would find the embryo on the teat. Ihe month of September, would find moat of them clear, and the skins still good, but there -will be no warrant fbr.openinR the season again for quite a long time. Should the season open in August, as .sug gested by 'Trapper.' trapping will' start months before and skins boarded. To prevent this, let it be plainly stated, that there will be no open season for tn» jiain la&d until further notice, or period of years. ? From HURTLE J. LEWIS:— Ever since the white man first landed in Australia the ruthless slaughter of our native fauna has gone on apace, and if checked in one part or steadied down, has been accen-tuatd in some other part with ruthless indiscrimination. Kangaroos have been shot without pity or restraint, euros slaughtered recklessly, and teddy bears snared and moonlighted wholesale, and opossums in nearly all the States have been shot, snared, chopped out, poisoned, and killed without the slightest regard for their future existence. Even harmless emus have in some parts been shot in dozens for breaking a fence or two, and muddying a small waterhole. Our marsupial prob-lem to-day is serious. From time to time in one or other of the States an open season is proclaimed for the slaughter of some of our fauna for the benefit of per-sons who want a month or two's sport, or wish to make a few pounds quickly. In the case of opossums anyone who wishes to go fur gathering may hunt freely by day or night. This is without doubt a most unwise way of reducing any form of marsupial which has multiplied enough to become troublesome. Fancy, in the twentieth century, the necessity to urge pity for the harmless and beautiful. A re-gistered licence should be sold to all who wish to go opossum skinning, and, in addition, the killer should satisfy a board that he is qualified for the job, and that he has an outfit in keeping with the work. Further, no registered hunter of opossums, kangaroos, euros, native bears, grass rats or any other native animal with furry exterior, other than noxious, should kill or allow to be killed any doe or female animal or any young animal. If caught so doing, his licence should be at once suspended, or abolished, failing a proper explanation. Not un-til such rules are in force will 'mug-hunters' be called to order. It is the mug shooter and skinner who causes all the trouble. He is one of the most dreaded of men outback. He will leave in his wake dozens of dying or maimed and suffering kangaroos, and he will shoot does and joeys right and left. Compare this with 'Bill,' the old time kangarooer. He quietly remarks, "I left all the does and joeys to grow and breed up. Next year, if some mug 'rooer does not come along I'll get my usual harvest." There is the man who knows and cares for kangaroos, but kills them for a living, preserving those necessary for the future continued existence of the kangaroos. By allowing only a few experienced trappers and hunters to purchase licences the fur trade could be kept up and the animals be assured of an indefinite lease of life. FORESTRY.' [ From SAMUEL DIXON:— Your lead ing .article on this subject in Monday's Register u oi note, because for the first time you advocate the reasonable policy of encouraging private forest* on practical and commnnsense lines. At the inaugu ration of' the very inefficient Forest Lea gue; I gave it. details so that it might become a 'trnly ' national policy, but they were ipiored.-' -I -hare also. -for many' years, insisted upon experimental plant-i

ing by broadcasting of Pinua maritima n the coastal sandhills, and would have formed a. company, but found7 that no perpetual leases; were granted for more' than LOW acres.' .The Pinus maritima is inperior in timber and turpentine to that very .inferior but quick-growing Pinus 'ANGORICHINA.' From 'FAR NORTH' :— Replying to enquiries on, the subject, I wish to state that 'Angorichina,' -now- mad* famous through tne establishment of a soldiers' hostel there, is the native name for ''big wurlie.' A NORTHERN WATER SCHEME. From J. A. HECTOR, Valencia Gartens. Port Pirie:--I wish to draw the Govern ments'' attention to the unfair treatment I am receiving as- a faithful- tenant of the Crown. In brief, the history of my case is as follows:— In 1914 Mr. McMaion, a tenant of the Crown, gave me permission to construct a drain from the Southern Broughton Channel to the original Broughton River, through his perpetual Crown lease. The landholders in the vicinity w.ere in. favour of this work being carried out; but after six days' toil ?with teams Mr. McMihon- ceased opera tion'srowing to threats of action for heavy damages by a neighbour, who was als3 a tenant of the Crown, several miles down streajn on the, Broughton River. Thus my scheme to obtain a restoration of flood wafers for Valencia 4»ardens was stooped, and my lasses through the depri vation of natural flood waters for the Gardens since that year are estimated at fully £15,000. ? '? ??.'-?'. SUNDAY AMUSEMENTS. From 'C. H. H.':— The result of a ballot taken by. The Manchester Evening News may interest your readers. There is in Australia a tendency to Sabbath dese cration, and it is good to see the stand the big majority in the Okl Land are tak ing against it. I have never forgotten a word spoken by a man who had visited the Continent; he was not a so-called re ligious man. He said, 'Whatever yon do, fight for the keeping of the Sunday. Once you give way you will have to work to cater for those who want amusement on the' Sabbcth, a« they do in countries I have just visited.' The following is tha result of the ballot:— For Sunday games:— 37,609; against, 198,083. Cinema opening:— For, 30,078; against,- 205,043. These as tonishing figures resulted from a question naire concerning these things being held only after, and only out of, church hours The Nottingham City Council has before it a motion to permit golf on Sundays on the municipal course. . So Sir Charles Starmer took a vote through a local news, paper, in which there were 3,000 in favour and. 23,000 against. A special vote ol those under 21 was taken, and this- re vealed, that while 900 young people were m favour of Sunday sport there were 3,000 opposed to it. There is a great re vival of activity on the part of two great organizations in this country that exist for the defence of the Lord's day. [ STATE WAR MEMORIAL. 1 From HILLARY BOUCAUT:— As a Member of the Boueaut family who have had a very large place in the making oi the history of South Australia, and as one who has done his bit- in opening up the north and north-east of South Australia in the 'forties and 'fifties, I claim tho right to make suggestions in respect of the National War Memorial. I again narnestly advocate that a peal of belli should be erected at the intersection ol King William street and North terrace, near to the Government House domain; as a lasting end proper memorial of the State and city, of South Australia's par: in the Great War. The bells should lx placed over a large arch; names, if thought advisable, could do attached on each sld« of the structure .in tho circle of tbe orci under the bells. Mr. Fuller, a formei Mayor of Adelaide, and now an architect, bas written to me as follows:— S0-C2 Sttamshlp Buildings, Adelaide, Jaw 18, 1917. Dear Mr- Boactut— Wkra the Em competition mi invltel lor the war memoria - to be erected on the sit! of the Ouxni House's Government House, I submitted a complete.de sign (or a belfy, with carillon, I had pr* riously written to John Taylor & Co. (Lough tarovgh) and OUlett & Johason (Croydon), am tach of these (tnt me vtry (nil detail- slid -* tbtates. togtth/r with eitlnutes of cost. M: campanile wu designed in brick, with a rock frctd granite ban, and was Tn*tian in Chirac t*r, with a tiled rr of. The tower was abon £E fett by ZE feet internal measurement, am l£0 feet high. . Space vtt, therefore, avalUbl for the names of our .heroes. Acoeu to tin vnricug stagings was gained by stair? *cd on oni landing rroyiifen wan made for the clavier, fro« which tie ''bells would be played. , The tt| ???tory haiUWiree lawe louvre 'frame*; 'on ead side, so tbit tha bells would be heard from 1 lone distance. The total cert troald hav been £!S,000, including f 10.000 for tbe bell ctd flarier, and it this falfKUl been acceptti Adelaide would have, been abl« to have «* real of bells b-fo» Sydney. PnlortmuUU rny drawings were burnt with the other design at BichsrdVs file, and ?tthfn tht' »econd corapc tltior. »ss invited, . I, iid not feel inclined t-try again, b;inj tmicr the imprculon that tl; remit was ctit and drirJ as in another compfl t:llon for which 1 had, entered. . I believe how ? «ver, that ths design for a camvanilc would te*i been acceptable to. the general public and an ionr the W competition did not lead to. bet tor nieces*.— Yours truly, H. 7. M''- „ . Such plans can be seen at Mr. FuIIeri office. ',. v I THE AGEXT-GENEKAL8H1P. From 'CITY LIBERAL':-I am sorrj ?to hear the report that the Butler Gov ernmenB propones to displace Mr. J. .L ftice at the erid.of his term, and appour a IibetalpoHtkaan to the Agent-General ship. While I hold no special brief fa Mr. Price, IbeKeve he has done excellen work '«t borne,' and I think it is not n the best interests pi the State that, thi Agent-General should be changed at too f-onncnf infoTmla tin iiooner has ai

appointee of a Liberal or Labour uovern ment learned his job, than he is supplan ted owing tq a turn, of 'the political wheel.' Sir Edward Lucas was an exception', lie bavins received extensions of his term, with admirable results. No doubt there ate several eligible Liberals who could do just as well as Mr.- Price after they had learned the ropes, but that takes time in London. Why should' not the Act be amended to make the term five years in stead of tbjee?- There is nothing in the point that the Agent-General should bo politically in sympathy with the Govern ment in office; there is not so much dif ference betrween tHe Liberal and' Labour Parties in this State nowadays that it matters twopence whether the holder of that office wa9 a Labour or a Liberal poli tician befrre he left for London. - In fact, it would be better to get away from the system of making political appointments. With the growing power of tne Common wealth Government, the taxpayers are be coming increasingly ?' critical of duplicatory State offices of this kind, and it -will no* do to strengthen the prevalent impression that the chief purpose of the AgentGene ralsbip is to provide a consolation prize for legislators whoae ambitions have been dis appointed in other directions. ME. SILVA AND THE COORONG. | From A. T. 8AUNDERS:-The account in a recent Register regarding Mr. Silv« and the steamer CooronR is incorrect It was 'the Adelaide-owned sailing barque Coo rong, Capt. Hayward, which rescued the crew of the sailing ship Holthill, of obout 2.300 tons, from St. Paul's Island. The only life lost was that of James Williams, tbe chief officer of the Holt Hill, and that occurred at the time of the wreck and before the Coorpng knew of the disaster. The wreck occurred in November, 1889, s few days after that the barque Cooronp, when returning to Adelaide from South Africa, was fortunately, through, weather conditions, forced to pats north of, and olote to, St. Paul's, ana saw the ppar erected by tbe crew of the Holt Hill, and without much trouble took the 32_ men of the crew on board, a boat of the Holt Hill being used. There were no heroes, no lives were lost in the- rescue,, and there was no memorial erected. Capt. Sutherland of the Holt HiU, hid his cer tificate suspended in Adelaide by Judge Bundey. The Cdoronjj arrived- here on 10/13/1889. and as she had taken a number of passengers from Port Adelaide to South Africa, and; therefore, had surplus stores of food on board, there was not much diffi culty in feeding the wrecked crew. For full particulars . see The Register of 11/12/89. Mr. William Hamilton owned the Coorong, which was built nud named by Capt. William Howes, in Rhode Island,. U.S.A, in 1864, for the Adelaide-Boston trade, Capt. Howes, in the ? American barque, Sea Shell, having previously traded here from America; For some years until his death he was nautical adviser to Elder, Smith, & Co., and in 1871 arranged for the importation of a coast screw steamer, the Black Diamond, which was wrecked in Spencer's Gulf in 1872. . She wai 100. ton*, jatd was built of iron in ISM. Capt. Hayward was well knows here, for many years. He was mate of the sailing- ship and Elder liner Beltana in 1870 or 1871, when she struck on Kangaroo Island, and had to discharge in Port Adelaide her cargo of wool, &c, and go on Fletcher's slip for repairs. Capt. Blanch, then of the Simpson's Black Diamond Line, took command of her, displacing Capt. Richard Angel, who arrived here again in 1873, and went away as mate of the Tongoy, whose captain was murdered by his crew at the Semaphore Anchorage. Capt. Blanch left the Beltana on his appoint ment as examiner in Port Adelaide of masters and mates. ' '