POLITICAL NOTES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 288, 1 September 1919, Page 5

POLITICAL NOTES

THIS WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

Both Houses of Parliament will meet to-morrow afternoon.. The ratification of tho Peace Treaty v and the passing of a Finance Bill, indicated in the Governor's Speech, are matters that require early attention, -and the Address-in-Reply debate in the House will not bo. opened before Wednesday evening at the earliest. THE NEW MINISTERS, Appointments to the Ministry will be announced in a day or two, possibly today. It is expected that three newMinisters will be appointed,, and it is almost certain that one of them will be a returned soldier. There are three members of the Reform Party who have been oh active service—Captain J. B. Hine, Captaip J. G. Coates, M.C. (with Bar), and Lieutenant W. Downie Stewart. If ho were in good health and strength it ia probable that. Mr. Downie Stewart would get the nomination. He is a member vory highly esteemed by his fellowmembers, and his opinions, when they are offered in the House, are always considered worthy of - notice. But_ his health is still unsatisfactory, and it is very doubtful whether he would accept office if it were offered to him. Either of the other two soldier members of the party has some chance of being apfiinted, and about equal chances. Mr. ine is the senior member of the party, but Mr. Coates comes from North Auckland, and there are reasons of eorne strength for the appointment of a Minister from that district.. Mr. Edward NOTinan. is a likely appointee,, but there ic a chance that he may not accept office. He is not of very robust health. It is considered important ' that Canterbury ' should be represented in the Ministry, and Mr. Nosworthy is the member mentioned. ■ ■ . SOLDIERS'GRATUITIES. Cabinet has dealt with the recommendations of -the Defence Minister regarding the. amounts to be paid to the soldiers by way of war gratuities. No announcement will be made on the subject until the Minister makes his statement to ■ the House. Presumably provision will : be made for the payment of the gratuities ia the Finance Bill, shortly to come down. This Bill willbe necessary for two reasons—to provide funds for the carrying on of the soldiers' settlement schemes, and to supply money for the payment of \gratuities. For both, of these purposes the. authority of the' House will be necessary. The decision of Cabin'et with regard to gratuities jrill be submitted to the House as the recommendation, of tho Government. It is understood that the amount to .'be asked will be in the neighbourhood of three railliMs. If so, then the rate of gratuity will be approximately one pound per month of service. ' THE WAR LOAN. The Prime Minister stated on Saturday, in answer to a question on the subject, that the new War Loan would.be raised at an early date; War expenditure, he said, -was still heavy, and the money already authorised by Parliament ■would be required. He anticipated that the new loan would be the lost of the big war'loans,, but there might be a call later for a certain amount of additional money to. cover. war expenditure, which would not cease altogether for a considerable time to come. , - THE GENERAL ELECTION. A'suggestion made by certain supporters of the Government, in the course oi party discussions, is, that the general! election should be taken at once, and that the legislative tasks indicated in the Governor's Speech should be left as a legacy to the hew Parliament. This course might simplify matters from the point of view of the Ministry,, but it would necessitate serious delay in dealing with several pressing problems. The date of the general election could not be fixed earlier than the end of October or the beginning of November. The rolls have to be completed, and the electors must be given reasonable opportunity to hear the --iews of -parties'and candidates. A Parlia'inent.. elected early,.'in November would not be able to 6et about legislative work before tho end of January, at the earliest, owing to tho holidays and the harvest, so that five months at least would elapso before attention could bo given to matters that are pressing for immediate action. 1 These matters include repatriation; the cost of living, the coal problem, and finance. PUBLIC DEBT EXTINCTION. A certificate prepared by the AuditorGeneral, in accordance with'tho Public Dobt Extinction Act. 1910, states that tho amount of the general public debt of New Zealand on March 31, 1919, was 367,1189. The average net interest earned by the funds' invested under tho Act during the last three years was ,£1 14s. 3d. per cent. Using this rate of in- j terest as the basis of. calculation, tho.j Auditor-General reports that the sum required -to bo invested Imirually in ord'fr I to extinguish the present public debt! m seventy-fiv« years is ,£140,076. This j public debt, it shguhi i». noted, is oxclu- i elusive of tho war dobt, which is held in ! a separate account. , i PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE. i .Tho balance-sheet of the Public Trust i Office for the year ended March 31 last j shows that tho office was handling de- 5 ceased soldiers' estates to the value.of I *8262,371, and was acting as ■ agent for '■ soldiers in estates to the value ox ,241,274. I The estates of enemy aliens, placed under ' the care ol' tho Public Trustee, in accord- 1 anco with the War-Regulations, amountedto ,£266,659. The total amount of the . and fuud ß in the hands of the Public Irustee at tho end of March wqs <£9,618,086. Other .amounts in hand were the insurance and investment reserve fund, <£201,733; tho investment fluff. £ a «?V'T r , Vo ' E. r( > fit s invested, Sfiss^r 0 m pioh > and loss M '