WELLINGTON NOTES

Hokitika Guardian, 30 October 1918, Page 4

WELLINGTON NOTES

the dominion pahuamext

MARKING TIME.

(Our Special Correspondent)

WELLINGTON, Get. 28.

Though Parliament is open it is not yet working. After the adjournment on Friday many members left for their homes and during the week-end the lobbies have worn a deserted appearance. Mr. (J. J. Anderson, the member for Matauru, will move the Address-in-Re-piv to-morrow and then rank and tile of the House will he free to talk at large to their constituents and the rest of tilt community on every conceivable subject under the sun. It is expected that the debate, as all this by courtesy is called, will List a fortnight and that then the serious business of the session will begin. Ministers are showing no disposition to hurry members and doubtless are replying oil the general desire to reach the prorogation before Christmas to stive them trouble later on.

A FULL PROGRAMME. ! it is not easy to see, however, how the Government is going to manage to get through even the programme indicated in the Governor-General’s speech during the six or seven weeks of the present year that will remain on the conclusion of the Address-in-lleply debate. There already are a number of private members’ Bills and notices of motion upon the Order Paper, and though these need not impede the progress of business il the Government cares to keep them out of the way, the House is not in the humour to submit meekly to tactics of that kind. Then whatever happens the liquor question, an item omitted from the speech, is bound to provoke a- great deal of talk, and so far no royal road to unanimity on the cost of living problem has been suggested. DEFENCE MATTERS. The hatch of questions concerning Defence matters that have been put upon the Order Paper show that the more persistent of Sir James Allen’s critics are still dissntislied with his administration, but the general attitude of the House towards the Minister is certainly less hostile than it appeared to be a year or two ago. Several members who were in the forefront of the fault-finders in the early stages of the war now frankly admit that Sir James in many respects has done extraordinarily well and that by “delivering the goods” as it is colloquially expressed, ho has m ado amends for most of his early mistakes. It seems likely he will encounter less heckling this session than he has for several seasons past. THE LABOUR MEMBERS The little group of Labour members, strengthened by the appearance of Mr P. Eraser and Mr. G. Smith in the House, now make quite a respectable show on the cross benches. They have distributed themselves over a wider area of seats than would indicate entire unity on all questions, but probably they will be found voting together and expressing very similar aspirations. The new member for Taranaki sits some distance away from his colleagues, perhaps to mark his disapproval of their lack of enthusiasm over the war, but he is not going to be the “dumb dog” of the group, and already has been welcomed by other “Progressives” in the House as the son of a father who strove very valiantly for the cause of the ‘“Bottom Dog.”