WELL WORTH GOING FOR

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 245, 14 October 1918, Page 7

WELL WORTH GOING FOR

THE WAR CABINETS WORK.

BUOYANCY AMONG A—LIES.

WAR NEEDS AND SIITPPIWO,

INTERVIEW 4vTTH TRIME MINISTER

The Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Mr. Masscy, who looks very fit s.nd well after his visit to the heart of the Empire, bnt expreseed his pleasure at being once more in Now Zealand, received a hearty welcome from a number of friends upon his arrival on Saturday at the Grand Hotel. In the course of a talk with a Pressman shortly after his return the Premier referred to the mission which had taken him and Sir Joseph Ward to Britain. "The businesn I raneactod by the War Conference and Imperial Conference this year was of great importance," he said, "especially that done by the War Cabinet, though as anyone will understand it was strictly confidential, except in those cases where the British Prime Minister found it necessary to make a statement on some subject of immediate importance to the public. The proceeding of the War Conference will be puiblished in due course, though even a part of them are confidential. All I can say, therefore, is that the business was well worth going for." DOMINION REPRESENTATION. "It has alreaely been made public by Jlr. Lloyd George that the intention of \ the British Government is to make the j Imperial Cabinet permanent, and meet-1 in<s will be held periodically, so that the Prime Minister may convene them when- j ever he thinks it desirable. To these meeting any Dominion Prime. Minister who happens to be in England will be welcome and if any Dominion or the whole of tho Dominions see fit to appoint resident Ministers in London they also will be entitled to be present at any meetings of the Imperial Cabinet and take part in the business as representing the people _ the country to which they belong. It will be a matter for the New Zealand Government and Parliament to decide whether New Zealand is to be directly represented. It is now well known, of course," said the Prime "that when the Peace Conference is held the British Dominions will be- directly represented at the proceeding.?."

CONDITIONS IN BRITAIN. "When <we left Britain," 6aid Mr. Mas6cv, "the feeling in the Old Country was one of distinct buoyancy, and since we left events have, of course, increased that feeling enormously. There was no doubt in the mind of the nation then, however. that the Germans were done for, and that it was only a matter of time when the invaded countries would be swept clear of them. So far as living conditions are concerned the price of food is abont double in Great Britain to-day what we have to pay in New Zealand, but one hears very little grumbling. The people understand that it is war time, and are prepared to put up with hardships and inconveniences. The war ex ; penditnre has, it goes without saying, made money very plentiful, and the people who really suffer from the increased cost of living are those dependent on limited incomes. The industrial unrest at Home is not nearly so serious as it appears from this side of the world, and during the time twe were there no grave industrial trouble existed. As a matter of fact, you hardly over heard it mentioned."

OPTIMISM AND FULL FARE. France also is full of optimiism, and food is plentiful, although the cost has gone up. I don't think, however, the prices are as high there as in England, with the exception perhaps of meat. While in Paris I was present by invitation at one of the military conferences of the Allied Powers, and I was struck by the splendid way in which they are all pulling together without even so much as a hitch. Marehal Foch, the Allied Generalissimo, •whom 1 had the opportunity of meeting, is a wonderful man, and possesses the complete confidence of soldiers and civilians alike. NEW ZEALAND'S ARMY. "As to our ov.m boys at the front," said the Prime Minister, "they are all anxious for the war to end, but they axe wonderfully cheerful, and are keeping up the reputation tbat the New Zealand troops estabiiehed for themselves in the early days of the war. At the time we visited them the men were resting out of the line. We saw fully 20,000 of our troops in France, and a fine sight they presented."

THE SHIPPING OUTLOOK. Touching on the matter of New Zealand's produce for export, the Prime Minister said, that the matter of the ptH—see of the New Ze_aud butter and cheese output for the coming season was in the hand 3 of the British Trea--81117, aD d negotiations were still proceeding through the High Ccn_lissioner -«*en he and Sir Joseph. Ward Jeft England. He could not speak with any certitude, therefore, about the actual rates, but he had no h_itation in saying that we -would get good prices. "The ftal difficulty," remarked Mr. Massey, B, of course, shipping. I dealt with tie shipping side of the question myself M Minister in Charge of the Imperial Supplies Department, but tho trouble is Wat a very large number of our ships are being used for war purposes, more of them during the last four months -™an at any time previously in the war. 1 have had, however, complete and satisfactory understanding with the Ministry of Shipping and with Sir Joseph McLeay, who ds its head, but the whole Position depends on war conditions. "Hiey must come first. That the Minispry of Shipping will endeavour to do justice to New Zealand and Australia I have not the faintest doubt, and with that assurance of the Shipping Mm—try we must rest content." Yesterday the Prime Minister received a cablegram on the subject, and as a result he was able to say that the shipPUig outlook continued to improve. DEALING WITH THE PIRATES, the submarine menace, the -«nne Minister said it was patent to all that it had greatly diminished, and while at Home he had been given evidences of We wonderful work being done in the °* measures and of ™W effectiveness. 'There will," he said, w1 unkings so long aa the war lasts. £•** w inevitable, but the measures S? ~ '"Pc with the piracy campaign from at m of the menace ti_nJ \? m * r J Point of view has pracJ««y disappeared. There are numberless Wiich these V-to** Pirates apart fu fate that cou «d be told, from the navalanti-sub-measures. Tho ship in which we

°_ *2 P revioUß *» tfaa.t in which we were aboard her, ran right over a submarine which came up almost directly in front ol her and very close. The submarine was sunk, and 35 of her crew were picked up by the liner. W e ourselves »w no sign of any submarine, and, with the exception of the unfortnnate outbreak of sickness on the Niagara, we had a pleasant and uneventful journey