DUNEDIN NOTES.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3251, 28 August 1917, Page 5

DUNEDIN NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

The limes have changed since tlie Miikister of Finance «,b preening li-ini--o'A upon'his e \ | e: t lka'iu: wheiehy ilic hard-pressed Home G"vernment were l>eiiig made to iind the money lo pay prosperous New Zealand's war elxpendiiure. The cry of humiliation thai followed hi- utterly unashamed avowal .surprised nut did not convert him; something more was needed for that. S>. when he found himself a lew ii;onths iater on a Dunedin platform ho was still hoaslang and saying what. he would and what he would not do. And one ol the things ho would not do was to attempt to float a war loan loeaMy at ') pur cent. II they (whoever 'they' may have heenj think 'they are going to get any such loan out "of me 'they' are making a 1% mistake (ioud applause from the Dunedin democracy). A few months, or weeks, later down came an eight million war loan on terms that yielded a fraction over 5 per cent. And for this loan eleven million pounds were suhscriliod. Who, then, was the proudest man in Xew Zealand? Who then, when he was safely at .-ea, uni>oso:ned himself to the (ishes and Hie universe? "My idea,' he murmured, "know it aIJ aiong; I told you to; alone I did it; my work, ailmj work, etc., ■to," A

good deal ol water lias voue under the bridges since then and to-day the beseeehers and be.seeched have changed places. To-day it is we who are solicited to give, to-day it is we who are appear J to, to-day it is: "Ladies and gentlemen, you knew infinitely more 'than 1 did; last year I asked vou for eight and you gave me eleven millions; "this year 1 am asking lor twelve, must have 'em in fact, but I expect a good deal more than the exact amount I have named. "Will lie tret it? To which I make reply "lie mu>t have it.' So, there is no use ea'iorating your argument. Presumably, too, lie. knows where jt is to come from. I <lo no f , and as far a- my own banking account is concerned I have had so many calls upon me of late (raffles, coupons, bazaars, concert tickets and so on, anything in fact with a prize at the end) that beyond thinking aiio.it it lam undecided whether to invest sixteen shillings or sixteen hundred thousand pounds," out, most probably, it will be the former only I won't advertise tne fact just vet".

Our politicians, our ministers, our parliamentary reporters, our newspapers continue to talk of a, or Khe, national ministry. I confess I do not know where it is to be found. In truth I am positive that we have not got any such thing. What 'we have in this Dominion is a Coalition Min:stry, which is quite another story. By "national' "is meant the exclusion of self interest, by "Coalition.' Ls meant keeping a sharp eye on the other chaps. By "national" 1 understand a number of men of various party colors (yellow, oiack, green, red)" bound unselfishly together to achieve a common goal, and by. a coalition gam: I mean the perfecting of soti.e political hanky-pankyi<m whereby opposition is kiiled, oilice secured, the hie of parliament prolonged and the public Ibu'ied. 1 leave it to an intelligent democracy to say, in the light of its past experience, which of these two New Zealand has, and which she best deserves.

Meanwlrie deputations ol non-pro-hibitionists who request ti o'clock bar closing are told to go tO' the devil; an efficiency t>oard comprising the pick o.f our non-prohibition business men who recommended total prohibition during the war are so treated that they .feel compelled to resign; ■ne Minister says that the age ol recruiting is to tie reduced to l'J, an-

other make* answer that the Government have never even consideredKucb a thing and one inember,ffreat!y daring, moves an amendment'hut shivers, turns pa!e and withdraws it when threa.enel with the Jearfu! consequences that w.mid fall upon New Zealand in particular and the universe in general should he press it to a division, ana every mother's son of them, including the ruembe>' (for Payne and the meml.er for Webo, quite seriously hol-evc that- the winning of the war is absolutely dependent upon their not over-criticising, or turning out, the Ma-sey-Ward coalition! I do not. I long- since came to the .satisfactory conclusion that nothing the Government of this Dominion do or don't do can affect the ultimate issue. As long as our boys quit themselves like men (as they always will) nothing matters. At worst our Government can only make us blush and that we shall get over when they get out.