WELLINGTON KDTES,

Hokitika Guardian, 23 July 1917, Page 4

WELLINGTON KDTES,

MORI3 OAN'IH).! CRITICISM. I FROM BOTH SIDES. (Our Special Correspondent) Wellington, July 20 The feature of the resumed de- : c bate on the Address-in-Reply in £■] ' the Ho.tt§eyesterday was the cheery F* candour of the speakers. Mr McCailutn, who in these times of ( st'ress takes a severely practical / view of the various problems con- ' fronting Parliament, after compli- ’ meriting Sir James Allen upon the ■ manner in which, he had. conducted . ! the affairs of the' country during ’ the absence of the party / leaders, proceeded in hm characteristic way to rap out a number of home / ■ truths which went directly to. the heart of things. , He deprecated the growing ten- i •deucy to'excuse nieu frqpi military ; service' on the plea, they wepe re- . quiyed in local industries. It was evident, lie said, the Home authorities wanted men more than they wanted food, burning quickly from one subject to another, Mr McCqllum a uii,stake liad been made in dealing with Mr P. Webb. Either the member for Grey was guilty of the offence with which he was charged or he was innocent and the authorities should; > not have sought a half-\vay ho,u,se, 1 as it were, as a compromise between 1 the two extremes. ! FARCY CLOSING, ; Mr McCallum has clear cut views 1 of his own on the early closing ; question, but in this matter he’ would not be opposed to a ep.ni- [ promise. Ufp vypvdd have the Government deal with this question, [ as it did with the, racing question, ; confer with the licensed victuallers, t and ascertain how far they would l assist in the work of reform. Of £ course the suggestion was received with derisive laughter in a House* - that is about equally divided b,p----t t\yeen six o,’clock and some later I hour, nut it represents in the 3 rough the feeling of a large number r of members. I Mr Stqtham,. the member for Dunedin Central, an earliest, honest f young man who is alwqys em- ( barrassed by philosophic doubts, is standing out for compensation in 1 the event of any departure from, : the existing contract between the 8 Trade and the State/and between fc all the conflicting- views expressed during the debate it seems li^My 9 that eight o’clock will be fixed as s the closing hour without any cont cessip.ll to the. publicans for the i, trade they will lose. PUBLIC WORKS. ’’ Incidentally, iti replying to a deputation from Otago that waited a upon him yesterday to urge the n needs of the southern province in ■s tile way of roads’ and bridges, thp ■e Minister of Public Works agqin ,f ■mentioned the long deferred reform ol the local government sys>f tern which has been a standing jest d among the critics of successive n Ministers during- the last thirty e years. The question, Mr Fraser promised, would be kept steadily in view and would receive earnest attention after the war. On the main question pf public works the AJinister told the depuP tation' fyankly that neither money ■’ nor labour was available for ascheme ol any magnitude. The expenditure would be even smaller s this 3 r ear than it was last yeqr and ’> there could be up increqsy till peace r was concluded. e Representations made from Auckr land in this respect point to the fact 1 that while the Government is spend • f ing thousands of pounds in acquir--3 ing land for the settlement pi sol--1 diers there is a vast area of Crown * land in the Ear North specially well ; suited for this purpose that would - be made available by the expeudi- ! ture.ofhalf the money on roads. • WXK\T THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT LACKS. : The Member fpr Dunedin Central voiced in the House last night a.n opinion which has been freely expressed in the lobbies and readily echoed in the country. The National Government, Mr Statham said, has snifeied from thp lack of a strong and splid Qpppsitipn. A yeqr ago a statement of this kind would have been regarded as an unpardonable offence against the letter and the spirit of the party truce. To-day it is being applauded as a manifestation of ijie truest loyalty to, the truce an 4 tq the purposes it was intended to serve. The absence of an organised exposition has set free a vast amount of irresponsible and uninstructed criticism which instead of being a help to the Cabinet and thp House has been a hindrance tp both, Such an Opposition as would observe tlip coiiditions of the party truce wpqld be a experiment ill constitutional ?-,qyernmeiit/ but members of very different nplitical creeds, have signified their agreement witji Mr Statham and it fs'pbs§j|Te'p attempt may be m§de to fj 11 tliis ■! joug-ifplt the present sessiop.