Trade is dull: there are several unemployed, and I do not think there is any prospect of work increasing for some time.

At a meeting of the master printers recently held here it was resolved to form a federation for the colony. This is undoubtedly a step forward, and they are to be congratulated on making this move. It is gratifying to find that the master printers are awakening to a sense of their duty, and instead of following out a policy of individualism and cut-throat competition, they are taking steps to form a federation that, when once established, will prove of immense benefit to all connected with the craft. Trade cannibalism, in the shape of competition at ruinous prices, is not the way to build up a secure business that will ultimately return to its possessor a competency. This federation, then, if established on a sound basis, and properly managed, will, through its extended influence and operation, be the means of eliminating the bitter feeling that has existed between the master printers—at least in some quarters. One uniform tariff of prices for the whole colony, drawn up on a moderate but remunerative scale, would have a beneficial effect.

The delegates appointed by the Trades and Labor Council to wait on the various unions affected, re National Labor Council, have not yet completed their labors. So far, I believe, they have met with a fair amount of succees, and in all probability a conference will be held between the various trade-governing bodies throughout the colony for the purpose of debating the pros and cons of the scheme.

The argument on the appeal, in the case in which Messrs Selig and Bird, proprietors of the New Zealand Referee, were fined £100 or three months' imprisonment by Mr R. Beetham, R.M., for an alleged breach of the Gaming and Lotteries Act, came on at the Supreme Court before his Honor Mr Justice Denniston on the 5th instant. The Magistrate's conviction was quashed, and the rule nisi for prohibition made absolute. This case has created a deal of interest here, and it was the general opinion that the Resident Magistrate's decision was too severe, and not justified by the evidence.