THE COLONIST. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1916. SUMMARY NOTES.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 14165, 16 August 1916, Page 4

THE COLON IST . WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1916. SUMMARY NOTES.

-Parliament,

Parliament finished its work for the session on Tuesday week, and the closing scene, as waa most fitting, was of a patriotic character. Inspiring speeches! on the Empire's cause and the Dominion's •determination to fully discharge its share of the responsibility were nvade by the Prime Minister and! Sir Joseph Ward. The work of the session has been- virtually confined to business arising out of war conditions, its outstanding legislative features being, of course, the Military Service Act and the Finance Act. There were also amendments to the War Legislation Act, the most important abolishing the custom of "shouting" during the term of the war, and the War Pensions Act was amended by further liberalising its provisions. Another measure postponed the general election,.which would ordinarily have fallen due at the end' of next year, for twelve months. A proposal to adopt the same course in regard to local elections was withdrawn in face of considerable opposition.

Military Service

Immediately upon the Military Service Act coming into operation steps were taken to prepare for the introduction of compulsion, the first step being the division of the country into recruiting districts, and the preparation of the registers of the First and Second divisions of the Reserve. The latter work is now in hand, and the Minister of-Defence has notified that-the two divisions eof the Reserve will be proclaimed in about a fortnight's time. Meanwhile voluntary enlistment is proceeding briskly. The Nineteenth Reinforcements, which went into camp' -at the end of last month, mobilised considerably over requirements, and the enrolment of the Twentieth, now under way, promises to have a similarly successful result,. With the rest of the month, available for enlistment there .was on Friday last a deficiency of no more than 82 for the whole Dominion, only a few districts being short of their quotas. Nelson, which had a large surplus of recruits for the Nineteenth, showed on Friday a surplus of 'twelve for the Twentieth Reinforcements.

Silver Bullet Cannonade.

Nelson's great effort to augment the Sick and Wounded Soldiers and their Dependents' Fund to the extent of £25,000 was brought to a conclusion on July 31st as far as the set programme was concerned. That day was observed as a public holiday in lieu of the customary Nelson holiday on the first Monday in August, and the principal event was the investiture of the princess of the victorious army. The day, unfortunately, proved wet, and the arrangements had to be . considerably modified in consequence, -but though on a lesser scale than had been planned, the function passed off successfully and drew a large influx of country people to the city. On the closing day the. financial result stood at £23,000, and the executive decided not to discontinue their efforts until the goal had been attained. Additional subscriptions since received bring the total not far short of the appointed sum, which there is no doubt will be reached. The Silver Bullet proceedings aroused very much interest and enthusiasm in the cause throughout the district, and a host of workers in every locality spared no effort to promote the success of t the undertaking.

The War Loan.

The Finance Act of this year made provision for the Dominion to embark upon a, self-reliant policy of war finance by authorising the borrowing locally of such proportion as the Finance Minister decided of the war requirements for the year. Tn terms of the Act subscription is now invited of a loan of £8,000,000 on very attractive terms. Bonds of various denominations, £50 being the minimum, are being issued

bearing interest' at the rate of 4£ -per' cent per annum free of income tax, and with a currency of 14 or 25 years. - For small investors 'provision is made by waj r of loan certificates of the denomination of £1 and £10, and these are sold at the rate of 16s for each-£l. At the end of five years each certificate will be repurchased from tho holder for. £1, the difference of 4s representing compound interest at the rate of 4J- per cent, on the amount originally paid for the certificate. The certificates are payable to bearer, and may, therefore, be sold or transferred.' The policy indicated by the loan is generally welcomed, and the success of the flotation may be looked upon as assured.

A By-Election.

The first vadancy in the House of Representatives since the advent of the National Government has occurred in consequence of the death of Mr Escott, member for Pahiatua. When the National Government was formed it was agreed between the leaders of the Reform and Liberal parties that if during its term of office a member belonging to either party died, or for any reason retired from Parliament, the leader, of the party to which such member belonged should have the right to •■nominate a candidate for the byelection thus rendered necessary,. and such nomination would be supported by the leader on the other side of politics. The deceased member having belonged to the Reform party, the seat would therefore have fallen to the

nominee of that party without a contest as far as the Liberal party was concerned. Two other candidates have appeared in the field, however, one representing Labour, which was not a party to the coalition, the other being Mr R., B. RosSj a former member for the district, who offers himself as an independent. Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward have issued a joint statement to the electors strongly recommending Mr G. H. Smith to their suffrages as a. supporter of the National Government.