WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 198, 23 August 1928, Page 21

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

BUDDING POLITICIANS. EAGER to serve reform. LOSS ON SOLDIER SETTLEMENT. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, August 20. It 6eeros that the Reform Party again is likely to suffer some embarrassment from the anxiety of budding politicians here and there to receive its nomination at the approaching general election. Mr. J. .J. Clark, described as a well-known rrsidrnt of Kilbirnie, a veteran of the South African war, a member of the Wellington executive of the Reform League, and chairman of the sitting members'' campaign committee, is anxious to go to a ballot to determine whether he or Mr. Forsyth, the gentleman now in possesion, shall contest the Wellington East seat. Mr. Clark claim# that the boundaries of the constituency have been so materially changed by the recent periodic adjustment that Mr. I'ursyth cannot justly claim the Reform nomination without first afcertaining ice wishes of the new electors. He has appealed to the Prime Minister and the Hon- A. D. McLeod. the chairman of the Dominion executive of the Reform Loagne, on the subject, and apparently t liese gentlemen have not encouraged his ambition. A large deputation that waited upon the Prime Minister, be explain* himself, did not "alter the position." Ia Possession.

Mr. Foray tb, when s««i about tha matter, stated that Mr. Clark war chair, man of the executive of tb« Wellington Kant executive of the Reform Asiociation. and that in that capacity he had |U'P«i<lcd over a meeting of the executive l,rl(l some two months ago, wlieu he jo.ve no"lndication of i>i« desire to con?e«t the Mr. Forsyth explained that a* he w»« entitled to renomination a»d that he intended to exer-

cise his right. He had submitted the position to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Land? as chairman of the Dominion organisation and they both had endorsed his attitude and conclusion. In the circumstances Mr. Clark is not likely to enter the contest, and Mr. Forsyth being a man of part*, who has made a very creditable beginning in poli : tics, the seat is fairly certain to remain with Reform; but people on all sides of politics are quoting the incident as an example of Ministerial dominance. Once a politician is returned to Parliament, it appear?, he has only to vote at bis party's call to secure a perpetual nomination. Five Millions! The "Dominion" this morning endorses the view expressed by Mr. V. H. Potter, the member for Koskill. in the House of Representatives on Friday, to the effect that in the circumstances the country was- fortunate in escaping from its sol-dier-settlement adventure with a loss of no more than five millions. "At the time land was being purchased for soldier settlers," the morning paper say*, "there was a continuous outcry against delay or hesitancy in meeting the needs of those men who, on their return from service overseas, desired to take up farming pursuits. Money was then declare to be no object where the needs of the would-be soldier settlers were concerned. That in the rush of meeting the demand some unwire purchases were finance! by the State is now clear, but in the great majority of cases these can be traced back to the urgent demands of the men themselves." This represents the facts of the case nearly enough, but it is scarcely fair to attribute the blunders of the State to the importunity of the returned soldiers. Neglected Opportunities. It was the State, as represented Yj the National Government and its successor, that war responsible for putting oa to dear land hundreds of returned sold ten who had neither the physique nor the «- perience required to make a success of such an undertaking. "In the circumstances." it is true, the State may count itself fortunate in escaping with no larger penalty than five millions. It may be recalled, however, that before the State had committed itself to the pre-

liminary expenditure of several million pounds, practical people had submitted for its consideration a scheme for preparing Crown lands for profitable occupation and at the same time teaching returned soldiers something about the art of farming. It also is on record that before and after his retirement from the National Government Sir Joseph Ward strongly urged that the surpluses he had accumulated as Minister of Finance should be conserved, and that purchases of soldier settlement land should be effected by debentures and not by cash. These recollections need not revive old controversies, but they may go some way toward* emphasising the claims of the returned roldiers.