WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 17 December 1917, Page 4

WELLINGTON NOTES.

HEW ZEA.LA.HD RAILWAYS. , A AUSTRALIAN' 0 PIN TON. (Our Special Correspondent) Wellington, Dec 14. An Australian visitor occupying a responsible position in tlie Victorian Civil Service, who lias just concluded an extensive tour of the Dominion, speaks in anything but complimentary terms of the New-Zealand railways. He is not so much concerned by the high fares and the limited service as he is by the lack of comfort and the tedium of travel. There is not a train running on a branch line in Victoria, he says, that is not superior in every way to any of the “expresses” on the Alain Trunk linos in this country.

The journey from Wellington to Rotorua, which is represented by the Hew Zealand advertisements in Melbourne as a delight from beginning to end, is a long drawn out torture to the weary traveller and the recollection of its trials over-shadows every memory of the unique sights to be found at Rotorna itself. Everything, indeed, according to this authority, is wrong with the Hew Zealand railways and nothing, in his opinion, short of complete reorganisation can save them from the disrepute into which they are drifting in the neighbouring States. THE AUSTRALIAN' REFERENDUM. The same gentleman, probably speaking with a wider view of his subject,, takes a less pessimistic view of the recruiting question in Australia than he does ol the futnre of the Hew Zealand railways. He thinks the people of the Commonwealth as a whole are to-day realising their responsibilities to the Empire and the gravity of tlie military situation much more fully than they were at the time of the previous conscription referendum. If there is any opihion to the contrary abroad it probably is due to the fact that the “Ho ” party encouraged by its former success is speaking its mind much more freely than it did last year. Both parties are now fighting in the open and everyone knows where everyone else stands on.the question. The effect, of this is that no one is remaining in ignorance of the great issue at stake or hugging to himself the delusion that Australia can discharge its obligations without conscription. Then the chance of “Yes” being carried has been vastly improved by the modifications of the conditions of compulsory service. The visitor believes that, on this occasion Australia will do its duty. MILITARY SUPPLIES. The Hon A. M. Myers, whose responsibilities as Minister of Munitions and Supplies are scarcely less heavy than those of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Defence, and pi’Obably involve even more personal attention to tiresome details, has his arrangements for meeting the requirements of the camps and tlie troopships next year well forward. A significant paragraph in tlie statement obtained from him by the newspapers yesterday alluded to the difficulty he had encountered in obtaining tenders for certain supplies and indicated that in future his Department would not hesitate to do its own wholesale buying and importing and even manufacturing.

It is in matters of this kind that Mr Myers’ wide commercial experience has proved particularly valuable to his colleagues and to the State. He had not been in office many months before he brought certain deluded manufacturers to their senses in a very salutary fashion and since then this branch of his administration has progressed smoothly enough, but now he is giving contractors to understand that in tlie absence of competition he will test the market in a still more effective way. THE WHEAT DEAL. Dr Cameron, Director of the Victorian Department of Agriculture, who has been visiting the Dominion mainly in connection with on exchange of stud cattle between the Victorian and New Zealand Governments, expressed great surprise on being told that the Hon W, D. S. MacDonald’s wheat purchase in Australia had been severely criticised by grain merchants and others in the South Island. In his official capacity he had something to do with the transaction, and he is satisfied Mr MacDonald made a very excellent bargain.

At the time of the New Zealand purchase at 5/10 a bushel wheat was being sold to Japan and South Africa under similar conditions at 6/6 a bushel. The suggestion that the Dominion should have had the wheat at the same price as was being charged to the Mother Country was, Dr Cameron said, simply absurd. The Mother Country took the whole crop at 4/9 a bushel, bearing all costs and risks, and in the long run would pay at least as much as Hew Zealcnd had paid.