AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 3989, 23 July 1915, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

SOME INTERESTING ITEMS

(United Press Association— Copyriglit.) ( Received July 22, 8.15 p.m.) v SYDNEY . July 22. Ali Hall, defending the Commodities Commission against Air A\ ado s chaiges. claimed that the Commission, m fixing the prices of wheat, butter gas and other commodities, instead ot mCTMsins IK cost of livmg. l,a< savod the people of the State £ 1,1( 1 ; besides subsidiary savings. ~ In order to save a threatened stukc in the Government engineering works j at Newcastle, the Government has dismissed five German employees, tom ot whom are naturalised. One of the reasons given for the dismissal is that it is intended to manufacture munitions at the works. . , . 'l'lie State brickworks in the past ; twelve months show a. net. profit of ; £7OOO, besides a direct saving ot £II.OOO to the Government on its own buildings. . , , ~ • The difficulty m regard to the import duty on raw Java sugar, which the Colonial Sugar Com many refused to par. has been overcome by the i'ecteral authorities paying the duty amt ensuring increased supplies. The Queensland Government has increased the wages of railway- construction workers by Is day, involving £60,000. -_ . , Melbourne reports that tho National Defence Committee has been completed. Messrs Irvine, Forrest, Watt, Glvnn and McWilliams and Senator Mi 11 on have been selected as Liberal representatives and Messrs Fi slier and Cook will act ex officio as memSince the commencement of tlio war tho Defence Department has purchas- : ed 25.958 horses for tho Expeditionary Force at a cost of £560.965, of which 6600 arc still in Australia. Mr Hughes estimates that the cominor Australian wheat harvest tvill be not less tiffin H million, perhaps three million tons. The question ol porting wheat to the'markets of the world is serious, though vessels controlled by the naval department will bo able to lift a quarter of a million tons. '