WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 June 1920, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

SESSION OF PARLIAMENT,

LONG AND ARDUOUS. (Our Special Correspondent). Wellington, June 14,

A shmi-officiiii statement appearing in the “ Dominion ” this morning is obviously intended to prepare members of Parliament and the public for a long"and arduous, session. Mr Massey suggests that members may he required to remain in Wellington for five or six months, and that the business they will have to deal with will bo of a particularly difficult and delicate character. There will be nil Education Bill, embodying some of ■the Hon., J. A. Hanan’s proposals and some of the new Minister’s own ; a Railway Bill, perhaps revolutionising the whole management of tbe State lines ; a Land Bill," dealing with many old and new problems connected with land settlement, and a Finance Bill, which, of necessity, will tax Mr Massey’s ingenuity to the utmost. Tlfere can be no reduction in the volume of taxation, as every penny of the present revenue will be required, but the Prime Minister has hopes of “ giving relief in some directions ” and “ obtaining compensation in others,” a'pious desire that many another Minister of Finance has expressed. THE MINISTRY. It is now being whispered about, without any official authority, so far as can be gathered, that the numerical strength of the Cabinet will.iKvpermancmtJy,maintained on the war f<Hhfuig*of'tweTvc.'~At' present it numbers eleven, ten in tire House of Representatives and Sir Francis 801 l in the Legislative Council, and though Sir William Fraser is to retire shortly it is understood that his.successor has been nominated and that there will be no reduction in numbers wheij/he withdraws. There still will he two portfolios unallotted, that of Mines, whicji Sir William Fraser will lay down, and that of Defence, which at present is in the temporary and unwilling custody of Mr Coates, who is finding Public Works, with its various ramnifications, quite enough for one pair of hands. Mr J. A. Young is still the popular tip for the succession to Sir William Fraser, but there are many eager aspirants for the twelfth appointment, which at present, of course, is only in the air. . THE BOARD OF TRADE.

In the re-sliullle of Alinisterial offices, the presidency of the Board of Trade has fallen to the Hon. E. P. ■ Lee, who promises to be carrying a fair load when all the odds and ends of administration have been shifted’ oii to his broad shoulders! The Board, it is reported, is to be reconstructed out of all knowledge and to be in much closer contact with the Alinister than it has been hitherto. Whether Mr Lee will take a more sanguine view of the possibility of regulating the cost of living than Air Massey lias done in the past remains to be seen, but probably be will have more time to devote to the various problems confronting his new office than Mr Massey ever bad. The Prime Alinister still is greatly over-burdened with the leadership of the I party and the portfolios of Finance and 'Railways, but.lie continues to bear himself cheerfully, and remains quite undismayed.

BUTTER PRICES. j Business men in Wellington will not | concede, that Mr Alassey Vs got the! better of the argument with Air Goodfellow in regard to butter prices. They maintain, indeed, that the Chairman of the Dairy Association has stated the ease from the economic view perfectly fairly, and that if the New Zealand public is to have butter at a price below the market value the full difference must be miule up to the producers from the Consolidated Fund. This, they maintain, would ho a round-about way of giving them a free market, and to tlie State a costly one, but it would be a compromise in the direction of justice, and perhaps it would suit the politicians of all party colours to leave the public under the delusion that it was getting cheap butter, when as a matter of fact it would be paying tlie balance of the full value by way of taxation.