WELLINGTON NOTES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16759, 8 June 1920, Page 7

WELLINGTON NOTES.

THE PUBLIC SERVICE. AND POLITICAL CONTROL. ar telegraph.—own correspondent WELLINGTON, June 7. Quito a flutter Jins been caused in Civil Service circles by the circulation of statements that the Prime Minister intended to go back on the form of nonpolitical control, the institution of which was one of the first acts of the Massey administration. The Public Service Association_ had an interview with the Prime Minister some six weeks ago, at which representatives of the press were not present. Last week the Public Service Journal appeared .with what purported to ho a verbatim report of the interview. One of the questions discussed was civil service control and alleged departures from the mon-political system. Mr. Massey then stated his personal view, that in the selection of the administrative head of a Department, the Minister concerned should be consulted so that ho might not have put on to him a man with whom he found it impossible to work. In publishing this report the Journal denounced in strong terms _ what it viewed as a. reversion cf policy. Mr. Massey replied that he had not gone hack on his policy, but ho reiterated that Ministers should bo consulted in the selection of Departmental heads. To this the association retorted that this was the essence of the whole system since it placed all the best appointments in the service within the gift of the Government of the day. WELLINGTON MILK FAMINE. New Zealand has been described as a land flowing with milk and .honey. Honey may be all right in its flow, but many residents of the borough of Miramar have a different idea about milk. They have had none for five days and invalids arid children might have been in the backhloeks or at sea instead of the suburb of a big city, in their reliance on condensed milk. There was no explanation, no hog pardon, simply no milk and empty billys. .Day after day efforts to obtain supplies in the city area were fruitless, as there is a ■shortage of milk there too, due to the firm demand of a body of directors at Featherston for is 6d per gallon cx factory. SUGAR. STULL SHORT. Sugar is again very short and purchasers are lucky if they can get it, even in one or two pound doles. Allegations are freely made against retailers, of hoarding for a prospective rise, but according to • the Board of Trade there is nothing in such rumours. Investigations are made regularly by officers of the board and no case has yet been proved of boarding, which might constitute an offence against the statutes. There appears, however, to be no doubt that private consumers in

different parts have put by small stores of a bag or so, especially in the country districts, against the possibility of an absolute sugar famine.

A recent visitor to the Colonial Sugar Co. refinery at Auckland, could find no indications there of a largo surplus set aside speculatively for a rise. Sugar is still about as cheap in New Zealand as in any part of the world, certainly far cheaper than in Australia, where the cane is grown and the sugar refined by the very same company which operates in Now Zealand. It is understood that local bakers have been notified through the Board of Trade that the Government will not permit any change to be made in the price of the 41b. loaf during the current month. Bakers were allowed to make a small increase in the large loaf for distribution some weeks ago, on condition that they supplied detailed returns of their working expense:-; for the month. Apparently these returns were not held to justify a further increase.