OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3130, 28 January 1911, Page 3

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

THE PASSING SHOW. [From Our Special correspondent. SYDNEY, Jan. Ibth. There is no lack of Stirling events engage attention. The legality of t Federal, land tax has at last been chi le.nged bciore the JAight Court, and t) friends and foes or mat curious men ure will await the result with anno breathless interest. It decs not see lair that a private citizen should liar / to bear the expense of contesting public Act, but we may be thankfi that a man like Mr. Frank Osborne sufficiently self-sacrificing to enter tl: lists against what be believes to l tyranny and - spoliation. The Catliol Education Conference which meets i St. Mary’s Chapter Hall, is charge with the. consideration of some- of t-h most weighty .subjects that can we engage attention, and, besides thi aspect. c.i the matter, it has acquire special interest from what has bee styled the Cardinal’s “’ultimatum” t Lnbcr. In the industrial world ther is trouble all round the shop! The Pos and Telegraph men have deep-seatei grievances, and thev liave come to th conclusion that if they do not seeur redress from the Labor Governmen they are never likely to get it at all M e doubt this is the consideration wind is animating manv other unions, whici desire to strike while the iron is hot 'lho builders’ laborers are also out or the. warpath, and openly threaten t< strike. Manv believe that a real thorough strike ill the building- trades might he a blessing in disguise. A great deal, of the building that is going on is inspired bv a desire to aifticipate the future, and it would not seriously hurt any one of its comnlction were delayed A new -warehouse is not like gas, or bread, or conveyance or anything else which vou must be able to command at the moment it is wanted, if it is to lie of any use to you. The general rush to build has # been intensified by the distrust M Labor, which beclouds -early every other form of investment. It lias lorced up the pric-e of materials and the c-ost of labor - that the edi-

fices which are being erected are likely to cost much more than the normai. Perhaps the most notable occurrence in the world of labor was the strike of hoys engaged in handling machinery for loading wheat at Darling Harbor. Mr. Jolinsouf the Chief Pailway Commissioner, is a tolerably hard nut to crack, hut the- lads succeeded in cxtiacting a i iso out of him. which is held to prove that previously they were very much tmdemaid. "Which again loads to the conclusion that some of the claims <-f the- unions are well-grounded, and. should he conceded. It is only tyranny, monopoly, insolent dictation to tim rest ■of the community, and other freaks of similar character ■■which call for stern resistor-ce. "Which, it is to be noted, they seldom get. KERNELS IN BEEF.

Dr. Ashburton Thompson has come to the conclusion that the nodules, or kernels, often found in the fiarke and briskets of Australian- beef, are perfectly harmless, and that meat which contains thorn mav be really first-class. ■ In London they do not adopt this idea. "With much learned phrase, Dr. Lolper, a bacteriological expert, while admitting that the nodule s are harmless, says that the meat that contains them cannot be considered “sound:” One wonders, if the position were reversed, and Dr. Thomson were safeguarding the . British meat trade from unwarranted 'aspersions,-whether tile-.final veidic-'t in either case would be materially altered. Meanwhile- vested interests .ate growing up The meat is condemned. What becomes of it? Doubtless it is boiled down. Tallow has a good market value. Bo some folks profit, and hope that we shall send them lots of first-class beef with kernels in it. A (BOGUS GOVERNMENT. Th e-Labor Government of New South Wales has been pronounced a counterfeit. The condemnation ha-s not come from its political opponents, but fromthe Ballarat branch of the Political Labor League. And it is not for any fault in its administration, nor even for any covert of active opposition to the designs of the Federal Caucus. The crime oi Mr. McGowan and some of his colleagues is not that they have done anything at all. They have, timidly and tentatively, ventured to say that some of them will regard the approaching referendum as an open question. They would very much like to think lor themsL'lves in a matter which is to alter so profoundly the standing of the States. But to think, and especially to think aloud, in any other way than the majority of the Caucus thinks, is an unpardonable offence, which claims ostracism as its fitting punishment. Truiy, in-Labor matteis, if one offends in one point of the ironclad fetters in which it lias bound itself, lie is guilty of all. Possibly now that Mr. McGowan and his colleagues have been pronounced “bogus” by so prominent an organisation, there may be some hope j oi- Mr. "Wade. There is no-one -else to by seiiouslv considered, except it is Mr. Storey. The incident is interesting and informative as showing the Laborito idea respecting liberty of conscience and f.oedom of action. The Ballarat League is auite logical in carrying out the principles of the party, principles which were endorsed, by so large a majority of electors in April last that thev may he assumed to embody the notions of the great body of Australians on these important topics. What would the League say if Mr. McGowan and Iris colleagues were to vigorously defend their State in the tnoroughgoinp; manner which, their position demands of them ? ' THE GAS STRIKE. The stoppage of gas last week showed the degree of “sweet 1 easonableness” which is to be expected from Labor organisations, now that their friends are in power, and they believe they can do whatever they please without fear of serious consequences. If it is true that the dismissed valve man was suffering, as stated by the men. fiom the effects of watching at the bedside of his wife, who had undergone the amputation of -a leg, then it "would appear ]v treated. But assuming that the that he was harshlv and inconsideratedirectors were to blame (which has not yet been made clear) what justification does that afford for the inconvenience and loss wantonly inflicted on the citizens of Sydney by the sudden stoppage of work? Wo are. gradually piling up precedents. The."precedent now established is tjiat-although. no man can b§ compelled to work against his will, any employer can be compelled to employ any man against his will, if the man happens to be-'an offieer of a. union, and, in that capacity to have, made "himself .specially disagreeable. Labor, it is never tired of telling us, is out for “the uplift of humanity.”, Qbvierfisl" the maintenance of the liberty of the subject (except so far as regards the liberty of one section to tyrannise over others) has no- place in this vaunted “uplift.” Another fact is becoming painfully prominent. It is that all our great ser-

vices are controlled by unions, and that at any time they may be paralysed for as slight a cause ‘as was the supply of gas, the “statesmen” who;; for tile last few years, have b en steadily feeding t up unionism till, like, tlic- camel in the J Arab’s tent, it threatens to take sole lq charge can nciw consider at leisure 10 the result of their policy. tl- A NEW CHAMPION. A new star, of the first magnitude, ■ has appeared in the firmament- of 3 acquatics. A fine young fellowy W. * n Longworth. has beaten both Cecil e Healov and Beaurenaire in the tlireequarters of a mile swimming- race. ' The j 1 two champions were apparently chiefly 19 engaged in watching one another, and 6 their admirers were inclined to say that e the race was stolen from them while c they were not looking. This flattering *1 hypothesis, however, is refuted by the “ fact that the time broke all previous ® records. Healey swam the course in T his own best time of ISmin. 3sec.; hut ® Longsworth in 17 seconds less. Healey heat Beaurepaire by a yard or so for 11 second place. "Whatever eke Anstra--0 lia may lack, she does not seem likely to B suffer any lack of champions in atlilet tics. We are now expecting Longworth I to win the Kieran Shield, the “blue rib- - bon” of our distinguished swimmers. I THE MEAT MARKET. Somethin - to be scared about seems i to be a necessity'of the position. At i any rate, we are seldom allowed any re- . spit© from apprehension. Either it is t the Japs, or the flies, or a gigantic r corner—in short, “there is aliens a sum-. mut, if there’s nothing else.” This . time it is a rumor that some -wicked Americans are attempting to corner . the meat market, and are going to charge us exorbitant prices. If they ars willin'- to pay anything like the prices spoken of for the businesses which they are negotiating for, some Australasians wili do remarkably,well out of them. Even if they succeed in concentrating the business to a certain extent, they can only manage it bv talcing ire all the fat- stock offering, which would be an excellent tiling for stockowners. Moreover, it is not probable Mat- they would raise prices to the con- - sinner. 'They would want to do a. big j business. Kerosene, it may be reipbered, was c-ornored in a similar fashion. But the nrice- has always been fixed on a moderate basis. But. if the worst comes to the worst, it is idle to suppose J that nothing will be done to frustrate c any action of an extoi Donate character.. t The doings of the American Meat Trust c are dilated upon in order to create the ] desired sensation. But the eircum- ] stances of America in this matter are i radically different from those of Aus- <: try lia. There is an immense papula- \ tion to be fed in the States, and" the r stock raising countrv is rapidly dimin t ’shine;. The population of Australia ] : s small, and almost stationary, whilst n its available supplies of stock are so q large as sometimes to become embar- o rasrime. ’Those who like being scared, can, if thev please, indulge in the lux- b ;iiy. The Caucus has not yet issued any n mandate against it. But- those who Sko to take life more equably have f. am”-le warrant for a confident attitude and a cheerful from of mind. THE SCIENCE CONGRESS. Although the proverbial “man in the p street” would fail to understand even S the titles of mam- of the papers- which a were read at the Congress, everyone can w understand the donation of £IOOO from a the funds of the Association towards the c i Mawson Antarctic expedition. Tin's is a w p'actical step towaids advancing our k nresent- knowledge (or ‘-science”) of in fiu-’s? remote regions in a maimer that \\ even an ordinary individual can appro- hi c-.ate. Some fear was expressed lest tl Sir Ernest Shackle-ton had some propiie- 01 torv rights in Antarctic exploration, tl ■me "that, thus the expedition mi edit lie p> regarded a.s jumping his claim. Tt does p r.ot appear, k; weve.-, that there is any jq around for such an apprehension. Sir j Ernest has told Dr. Mawson that he f .j ,Sir Ernest) wil not be able to go, and n j that lie is doing what may be in bis power to assist his former colleague, p, .re that no question of precedence, is j n 1 ilce 1 v to be raised. t-v,