WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1916, Page 7

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE MINISTERIAL TRIP HOME. DISTRIBUTION- OP PORTFOLIOS. (From Our Special Correspondent). Wellington, August 23. Probably no official announcement in regard to the custody of Mr. Massey's and Sir Joseph Ward's portfolios during the absence of the two party leaders from Xew Zealand will be made till they are fairly ol ,t of the country. This, besides being in keeping with the etiquette decreed for such occasions is necessary to preserve the prescribed secrecy concerning the hour of their departure and the route they are taking. Bnt by putting two and two together and by watching the exchange of visits between Ministers, it is not difficult to frame a pretty safe guess as to what is going to happen. Mr. James Allen stands next to the departing Ministers in the order of precedence, and it may bo safely predicted that be -will be appointed Acting-iPi-ime Minister during their absence. It is not improbable, however, that he will be associated in a more or less formal way with one of liis Liberal colleagues in his high position, and. if this is the case the distinction may fall upon Dr. McNab, who is regarded by both sides as a safe man, whoso hereditary caution and acquired suavity might be very useful in restraining Mr. Allen's impetuosity and acerbity. At one time it was thought Mr. Russell would be selected to share responsibility with the Minister of Defence, but apparently the order of precedence has proved more ininvutable than his friends imagined.

LOCUM TENENS. Whether Dr, McNab is associated with Mr.-Allen or not in the leadership of the remnant of the Cabinet remaining in the Dominion, he will take charge of the Post and Telegraph Department during Sir Joseph Ward's absence. That, at any rate, is the general expectation, founded, it may be assumed, on the fact that the Minister of Justice is more lightly burdened than some of his colleagues at the present time. It is anticipated that Mr. Myers, who did so well in a similar office while a member of the short-lived Mackenzie 'Ministry, will go to tho Treasury as Minister of Finance, and if be does the country n ill be able to make its mind quite easy about the control and administration of this Department. What may appear to people far removed from Wellington a very improbable speculation is that SirFrancis 801 l will be entrusted with the Lands portfolio during the absence of his chief, but the truth is that Sir Francis has been practically exercising the functions of this office for some months past in his desire to relieve au overburdened Minister, and has won warm eulogies from everyone baving business with the Department, The other changes ,-vhiclr have to be made are of less consequence, and from a purely administrative point of view there is little danger of the public suffering any serious inconvenience through the temporary absence of the two guiding spirits from the Cabinet. AN ANZAC MAP.

Tlie, annual report on the survey operations of the Department of Lauds and Survey contains an excellent map of the Anzac and Suvla Bay area of Gallipoli Peninsula. The map has been picpared from information supplied by an officer of tho Department, who was present at the historic landing, and it is intended to "illustrate the operations carried out during 1915." Just why this map should have been embodied in a parliamentary paper, scarcely known to the general public, is not obvious. But there it is, accompanied by a concise account of the operations that extended from the lauding on April 25, 1915, until the evacuation in the following December. The map shows the trench lines, valleys, ridges', landing places and strongholds. It contains all tho famous place names. Maps of Gallipoli, good, bad and indifferent, are not uncommon now, and probably the Government Printer is not prepared to produce "C-la," to give the report its official designation, in large quantities. But the Survey Department's map is worth having. EVERY MAN'S DUTY. The man of military age who is liable for service, and who does not get enrolled in the Expeditionary Force Tieserve during the first fortnight of September, will require to be a very determined dodger. The Recruiting Board is planning a campaign of publicity that will force the provisions of the law upon the attention of every person in New Zealand. The newspapers will do their part, and in addition the Board intends to make very wide use of posters and of the facilities offered by the picture ] theatres, which will he required to show lantern slides provided for the purpose. Tin; onus oi registration under the Military Service Act is thrown upon the individual, and the man who fails to perform his part will not be able to avoid the penalties by pleading ignorance. The Recruiting Board, in any ease, will make such a plea ridiculous by the measures it will take during the two weeks allowed for enrolment, Men who wish to secure exemption under the conscious clause of the Act must enrol first and then place their chums before the appeal boards. Probably there will not be more than four of these boards, the, experience of the Mother Country having shown that' the work of hearing appeals must be centralised if anomalies are to be avoided. Local tribunals are apt either to be over severe or to listen too much to the protests'Of the man who finds it inconvenient to serve his country.