NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1916, Page 4

NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

OFFICERS' KITS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, March's. The vexed question of the officer's kit is net cleared up entirely by the latest I official statement on the point. The Defence Department has issued a list of tlve articles required by the officer, with' prices attached, the total amount in the case of the infantry lieutenant being £23 18s .'ld. The allowance is being fixed at £25 and the Department leaves it to be inferred that there is a margin in favor of the afficer. But here are some of the items from tke list: One pair braces, Is 8d; one pair breeches, 17s 6d; one Cardigan jacket, 10s Od; one field service pocket-bonk, Is 3d; one housewife, 6d; three pair socks, 4g Cd, one haversack, Is fld. Articles of good quality cannot be Rot at ! the price's, and other items might be selected from the list. It is true that most of the officers are relieved of some part of the charge by gifts from their relatives and friends, but it seems unI fair that the Defence Department should count upon this assistance. Failing | the gifts, the second-lieutenant who wants to leave fer the frent reasonably j well equipped must be prepared to spend £8 or £lO of his own money. The charge is a severe one in the case of the man who has dependants and who has already served for Ave or sia months as a. non-commissinned officer at a rate of pay that leaves uo large margin fer saving. THE BOAED OF TEADT7 The Board of Trade has secured a temporary secretary, in the person of an experienced officer of the Labor Department, and the members are setting about their preliminary survey of the prices of the necessaries of life and the causes of increase since the outbreak of the war. Probably many weeks will elapse before they are able to submit auy report to the Government, and their anility t» efi'er the consumers substantial relief even then !.«•> Mill to be preved. The Board is beginning its werk t»o late. The Commercial Trusts Act of 1910, and the Regulation of Trade and Commerce Act of 1914, provided machinery fur checking an undue rise in the prices of articles of cemmen consumption, and if they had been put int» active operation soon after the commencement of the war the .lot of the consumer! might have been a good deal happier than it is at the present time. . But there were certain defects in the machinery and nothing was done to remedy them until after the formation of the National Government, when Sir Joseph Ward brought dawn his Cost of Living Bill. The effectiveness of that measure depended upen tie appointment of the Board of Trade, but a further delay of many months took place, and now the Board 1» starting work after the mischief has been done. It will be much more difficult to reduce prices than it would have been to check the increases. IXFAXTILK PARALYSIS. Infantile paralysis has secured a footing in Wellington and though the officers of the Health Department are active the number uf cases in the city is growing. The entbrcak has been confined so far to the low-lying district from Te Are (• Newtuwn, that is. to the least sanitary portion of Wellington. The health authorities do not profess to have evaet knowledge regarding the manner of distribution of this disease. They are sure that the infection' can be carried by human beings and they are inclined to suspect insect carriers as well. They disenia a connection between the sea beaches and the disease, and they strengly advise strict sanitary precanti»iis. But the doctors do not venture to lay down exact rules, and there clearly is need for scientific investigation regarding a complaint that appears to have become established in Niew Zealand.