A BELATED BOARD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLI, Issue 12768, 10 February 1916, Page 3

A BELATED BOARD.

THK COST OF LIVING PROBLEM. HUMORED TROUBLE IN THE CABINET. . (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, February 8. Minister;, seem to have so many engagements in distant parts of the Dominion that the full meeting of Cabinet necessary to consider the appointments to the Board of Trade has not eventuated. The Act was passed in a hurry at the end of last session, and it satisfied tlie pressing demand for some body with, lame powers which could investigate allegations of exploitation, and report to tlie Government with recommendations as to a remedy. Applications for the three positions on the Board closed on November loth last, and it is said that they totalled over two hundred. Whether the quality was equal to the quantity is hard to say, as no announcement had been officially made, but I have heard that Ministers are not particularly impressed with the men who offer themselves to tackle the difficult uiobleras associated with prices, for a salary of £6OO per annum, or £IOOO in the case of the Board's chairman. The applications are said to have gone the rounds of the individual ministers, in default of an opportunity of considering the documents at a full meeting of Cabinet, but it has been found difficult to select three names so outstanding as to permit of prompt decision. Before tlie Act was passed, a Commission, having as its chairman the President of the Arbitration Court, made a number of inquiries in connection with the cost of commodities, and in the case of sugar, effected an arrangements by which the price was .fixed within a "reasonable maximum for a long period ahead. This body has not exercised ite functions since last October, so that if exploitation has prevailed, the exploiters have enjoyed a long innings without interruption. One section of the National Cabinet is said to be so dissatisfied with the loni' delay over the Board's- appointment that political developments of more ' than ordinary interests" are threatened ' unless something definite is done this ■ week. If the Prime Minister makes public within a few days the names of ' the three members of the new Board of " Trade, it will" be a sign that the Na- < tior.al Government has safely survived ■ a crisis in its existence.