WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14703, 2 June 1920, Page 1

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

(Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, May 31. THE DOMINION'S FINANCE. UNSATISFIED CURIOSITY. So tar tho Minister . of Finance has done nothing to elucidate tho bare statement "of the public accounts published in the Gazette last week. The official returns simply gave the figures fcir the last quarter of the financial year ended March 31, and it was the intelligent reporter that added them to the returns of the previous three quarters and presented them as the totals for the vear. Perhaps former Ministers had led the public to expect too much by tacking brief financial statements on to the quarterly returns and tlie aimual totals, but the practice was appreciated by those who took''an interest in the public accounts, and naturally its discontinuance is occasioning some comment. ill- Massey has indicated plainly eiicugh. however, that the revenue for tho year was entirely satisfactory, and I that the expenditure was not restricted ilor the purpose of swelling the surplus. LOANS AND TAXATION. Hut it ;s plain enough that the surplus—or. more correctly, the amount by which the revenuo exceeded tho expenditure —has been fully anticipated by commitments, and that it is only on paper the Dominion is in tho comfortable position of having a million or two in hand towards the needs of the newyear. The Treasury is practically empty. as Ministers have been telling the public in more or less blunt terms dor-, ing the last two or three months, and a considerable loan and increased taxa-" ticn are inevitable. These are the burdens which faced both parties at the general election, and now go far to e>£ plain the attitude of the Leader of the Liberal Opposition, tho Hon. W. D. S. Mac-Donald, in desiring to help and not to hinder Mr Massey and his colleagues in* solving the difficult problems that confront them. This will not remove ilie differences of opinion between the parties, but it probably will considerably modify party asperity during the approaching session. THE RAILWAY DISPUTE. Oue result of the unfortunate delay in proceeding with the liearing of the dispute between the Railway Department and the members of the locomotive branch of the service is _t"Re withdrawal of Mr "YY. D. Hunt, the_ managing director of Messrs right, Stephenson, and "Co., from the representation of the men on the special conciliation committee that was set up uuder the agreement which ended the recent crisis, air Hunt has very special personal and business qualifications for the task he had undertaken with the warm approval' of both parties but his impending departure for England has compelled his retirement from the committee. His place wiU. be taken by Mr J. T. Martin, of the same firm, than whom no better substitute could bp found, but the loss of Mr Hunt's l'ipe experience in dealing with such matters is much to he regretted. It is hoped the hearing wall begin this week. EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION. Some rather unpleasant developments in connection with the emigration policy of the Imperial Government hav.> come under public _ notice lately. At a meeting of the War Assistance Committee last week a case was reported in which a woman with five children, and another child expe ted shortly, had been sent out from Hom,e in advance of her liuslwuid to the care of a relative here. The relative had received them with all the ho-pitalitv her means and accommodation would permit, but these, were quite inadequate- for the decent maintenance of Mich a familv. The outcome, of course, was an appeal for assistance, which will have to be provided by ' the State or by one of the local authorities till the husband aiid father arrives to tako up his responsibilities. Other cases of the same kind are known "to exist, and representations are being made to tho Government on the subject