WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLI, Issue 12768, 10 February 1916, Page 8

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Jii.'.M<>.iJ;!> f.i)3IM'.T Cili.-I-r'. THE FINANCIAL OCTLOOK. (Special to the Oamani Mail.) Wellington, February 7. It is expected that the Board of Trado which is to set-in motion the Cost of Living Act of lost session will be appointed at a meeting of the Cabinet to be held to-morrow or on Wednesday, and its' composition will give some- idea of how inuch truth lies at the.bottom of the rumors ■ concerning Ministerial dissensions''and impending resignations. The delay in-giving effect to" Sir Joseph "Ward's effoi t to .consummate the agree-, ment made between 'the parties at the' time of the formation, of the National Cabinet is popularly Supposed' to' be'the chief-cause of friction- net ween -the two. elements in the. Ministry, and'if nothing is done to end It this week the situation will be regarded as serious. . Whether. - or not the Liberals' .notion of what ought to have been dona more.than a year ago will be. carried. out- now will depend to a very great extent, upon the composition of the Board, and if its personnel is merely official or purely commercial, the public will not hail it with any very confident anticipation. The Board's functions will be .simply advisory, its recommendations being subject to the review of the Minister of Industries and" Commerce, and unless Mr Massey is in full sympathy with' the consumers they* will not obtain any verj material relief even if the Board does Venture to challenge the sacred law of supply and demand amf the other shibboleths of the strictly orthodox school of economy. PUBLIC FINANCE.

- The statement of the Dominion's finance published on Saturday bears further evidence of -the continued prosperity of the country, in spite of the war and of all the waste and extravagance and trouble the war brings in its train. The revenue for the ten months ended on January 13 is shown to have been £924,260 better than the revenue for the corresponding ten months of'the previous financial-year, and the expenditure only £270,48!) greater. Of course, the figures do not include the war expenditure, and till it is known exactly what this is it is impossible to speak with any precision of the outlook for the future. Nor is the .public works expenditure gi\*en in the figures supplied to ' the Press by Sir Joseph Ward, and tin's is known to hare been running on: at much the usual rate during the financial year. Sir Joseph describes the results disclosed by his statement as "extremely satisfactory," and? are-as far as they go; yet the Minister himself again emphasises the need of economy in words .which cannot be too frequently repeated at the present juncture. "The fact remains," lie says,/"that it is essential, in times made prosperous (anomalous though it mav seem to say so), by the war, that - the ordinary, expenditure should be materially reduced, so as to make provision for the time when normal conditions arise at- the end of the. war. We want them to more than balance our revenue and expenditure." ' It was only during the last- few months of the period that the war taxation began to make any substantial contribution towards the revenue, but the Minister. U satisfied with the result, as he seems to have reason to be, and this makes his plea for further economy all the more impressive. AVAR FUNDS.

■lt was reported at a meeting of the Wellington War Funds Association last week that the Association had £72,897 in hand, and that ic was receiving very [aw applications from soldiers or their dependent* for relief. During the discussion which followed quite a number «:f suggestions *.vcre made for puttiug the money to its intended use, one speaker wing to the lengtii of urging that forms of application shoutd be distributed among the men likely to require help, and finally it was decided to send letters to the local newspapers drawing the attention of soldiers and dependents to the fact that the Association existed for the purpose of relieving their necessities. All this is just as it should be, and the public will be as much gratified as the soldiers themselves are to know that the funds arc to be administered in the same generous spirit as ther-were given; but unless there is systematic co-operation between the various local associations there will be sonic danger of their good intentions being. defeated. The Ministor of Internal Affairs hns: realised this peril, and is now seeking to guard ugninst it: bnt unfortunately the isterial mind, whatever, its party color, has a trick of miming too persistently in the direction of saving State expenditure at the cose of the patriotic pocket. The war funds were not subscribed with the idea that private philanthropy should relieve the State of any part of its plain duty, towards soldiers and dependents, but in the belief that the men were entitled to something more than their bare fights and that it was the privilege of the public to supply the additional comforts and assistance -as a freewill offering. This appears to be the spirit by which the i Wellington Association is very properly animated.