WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 July 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

LICENSING TOLL. THE- HUMOURED COMPROMISE. |Our Own Cm i • c.uoiidiiiit, J WELLINGTON, July 15. Though the liquor trade and its allies are just as emphatic as the Prohibitionists are in denying the existence of a compromise between the two parties in regard to the compensation proposals of the National Efficiency Board, there is a feeling abroad that prominent men on both sides would bo glad to see the question put to the popular vote during the contonuanoe of the party truce. 'The Prohibitionists have conceded a good deal by subscribing to the principle of compensation under any conditions, and the big men in the liquor trid? have never denied the right of the State to take over their interests on a fair commercial basis. Put the ner.T of the scheme is that the » etrgmists' on the prohibition side will consent only to the extinction of the traffic and that the ' Government will refuse to place on the country the financial burden this would involve. THE ABSENT MINISTERS. In any case there would be very great difficulty in arranging tbe details of the scheme in time for them to be submitted to tbe electors this year. It is generally understood that Parliament will meet about the middle of October, but there is no certainty thatMr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward will be back at the beginning of the session, and without the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance the Cabinet would scarcelv proceed to the settlement of the preliminaries. Then Parliament would have to decide the lorm in winch the question should be submitted to the electors, and it is easy to see this task would occupy more than a week or two. Neither the Acting Prinm Minister nor the Acting Minister of Finance would be likely to place any obstacles in the way. indeed both Sir James Allen and Mr. Myers are credited with being favourably disposed towards the proposed referendum : but tlm question is too big to bo decided in the absence of the party leaders. THE SECOND DIVISION. So far the ballot in Class B. of the Second Division has not produced so many fit men as were expected. Up to June 22nd., 12,055 reservists in this class had been examined, and of these 7.009 had been declared unfit. 2.162 bad appealed, and 2.467 had been ordered in f O’ camp. The number of unfit. under the severer examination, was grot above the average, but the number of appeah; was in *x*v»ss of former experiences and probaldy the exemptions, nmlcr (he new regulations in regard to th» last man on the farm and certain agricultural workers w 11 be la'’ge. Put 1 he physio no of the ipiected m°n compares v°rv favourably with that of previous drifts and. m other results they promise to m.ain-t-r'n tin' hitrh standard of former reinforcements. The remaining classes of the Second Division contain f 0.475

men, and it is hoped will be more than sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Defence authorities during the war. THE COAL MINERS. The Coal Miners’ Federation is still pressing for a conference with the mine owners, but the owners steadfastly refuse to meet the Federation. They are prepared for the several companies to meet the unions of the employees in their own mines, but further than this they will not go. Their contention is that having offered the men substantially better terms than those they accepted for the course of the war they have dealt with them generously and cannot be reasonably expected to make further concessions. The men are demanding a further advance of 20 per cent, in wages, and the employers’ reply to this is that if the men will apply themselves seriously to work under the new conditions they can earn this advance without any undue effort. The Minister of Mines is watching developments and is prepared to act in case of emergency. WAR EXPENDITURE COMMISSION THE DELAYED REPORT. WELLINGTON, July IT.

The delay in publishing- the report of the War Expenditure Commission is giving rise to a. great deal of comment and speculation. The comment is not particularly complimentary to the Defence Department and the speculation varies from the obvious to the highly improbable. The fact that the sittings of the Commission were open to the public and fairly fully reported by the newspapers make it all the more difficult to understand- why the conclusions! Sir Robert Anderson and his colleagues have drawn from the evidence are being withheld. The Commission’s judgment on some features of the administration scarcely can be more severe than is that of the public, and on others it is known to be better informed and more appreciative. But the stories in circulation, some to the effect that the Chairman, who returned to Australia five or six weeks ago, is beingurged to reconsider certain passages in the report, are only what might have, been expected in the circumstances 1 . THE COUNCIL AND THE COW. If it were not such a constant reproach to the city and such a. serious menace to- the health of the citizens, there would he a, good deal of humour to be extracted from Wellington’s perennial trouble over its milk supply. After wrestling with the problem for half a. dozen years and more the City Council has inspired a newspaper paragraph announcing that "it is considered practically certain the special committee set up to consider the various phases of the; milk problem will be in a position to submit its report to the next Council on Thursday week,” and then the citizens will, he asked to contemplate “some of the most important proposals in regard to the milk supply ever placed before a. municipal authority in Australasia.” Stupendous! But. as they arc calling cut themselves, what the. citizens want is milk, more and better, not proposals. A HAPPY RETORT. Sir James Allen has not always been entirely happy in his retorts to the pin-pricks of the Second Division League, nor entirely generous in his. estimate of the excellent work done by this persistent organisation, but in his comment upon the League’s claim to have wrung from him all the concessions that have been made to the soldier and his dependents he leaves little to he desired. ‘This assumption,” he says, “altogether eliminates members of Parliament, Ministers of the Crown, the Press, War Relief - Associations, Returned Soldiers-’ Associations., the National Efficiency Board, the heads of the Defence Department, and the largo army of patriotic citizens throughout the Dominion who are continually suggesting improvements for the benefit of our soldiers, and their dependents.” For once, at any rate, the laugh remains on the side of the Minister, and, what is of more consequence, the solid logic of truth.