WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 June 1924, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

.REFORMERS RESTIVE. (Special to “Guardian”.) WELLINGTON, June IS Next week the session will begin, and the atmosphere ol Wellington is thick with rumours. The latent indicates that a section of the Government supporters is becoming restless, and tho trouble ari-cs in respect to the pending retirement ol Mr Guthrie from the Ministry. Ii reported that Mr Guthrie will tender his resignation as Minister of Lauds owing to continued illncs*. and his successor is Mr A. I). .McLeod M.P., I rum the Wairarapa. This is a ship in the face for the senior Government whip, Mr J. S. Dickson, of Parnell, and I here are other members who are >.aid to he dissatisfied. Mr H. A. Young. Chairman of Committees, would like Cabinet rank, and so would Sir John Luke M.P. for Wellington North, and Mr R. A. Wright M.P. for Wellington. The two latter have been staunch supporters of the Government for many years and both have exhibited executive aliiliiv in the capacity ol Mayor of Wellington. Mr Mel.eod is a nolitieal infant compared with the others and yet, according to rumour, he is to lie given the portfolio. It is considered here that Mr .McLeod owes his selection to Sir Walter Buchanan, who is regarded as the unofficial member of the Cabinet and the big power behind the throne. Whether the disgruntled members will resort to open rebellion remains to he seen, hut Mr Massey may lie trusted to make a big effort to bluff through. .MEAT PRODUCERS’ BOARD.

This Board conies into the limelight once more because it is necessary, in aceiirdnnrc with the provisions of tho Aleut Export Control Act to elect two members in place of Messrs T. A. Duncan, lluntervillc, and Adam Hamilton of Invercargill, who art* retiring, hut are eligible for re-election. This incident, is certain to direct special attention in the Hoard and its activities. It cannot he said that the Board has fulfilled the high expectations formed of it by it s promoters. Even lhe tanners are not. satisiied for tin* Board was severely criticised hy a paper alleged to he published in the interests of the farmers. Business people in Wellington predicted at the outset that tin* Board would prove expensive and useless. That it is expensive is well known, and there is nothing to show for its alleged activities. Several of its members and officials have done tile Grand Tour, and the Cnhirman of the Board, Air David Jones, is now touring the Old Country, and what good lie can do the country with his limited experience of the industry is very doilhtlul. Anything and everything that the .Meat Board has done could have hone done by a small committee of farmers aE trilling cost. The joke ol the -Meat Board is the London -epresenfative. whose sole business appears to he to send out a cable message giving the prices of frozen meat current at Smithlivid. This message is not as interesting as the private cable messages which are received hy linns in Wellington. It is time the activities of the Board were investigated and ns real value to the country ami to the farmers appraised. The, Board is very costly and imposes a severe tax on the industry which can ill aflnrd the expense jusi now. EAT AFORE BEEF. ('oincidont with the announcement of tlu: election of two members to the Board there appears a. pull paragraph about the success of the Board s “Eat Alore Beef” campaign. It is stated that an analysis of the killing returns for the last year of the main ahhaloirs throughout the Dominion shows a considerable falling oil" in the number of sheep and lambs killed tor local consumption. and a corresponding increase in the number ol cattle. In this the Board oilers a gratuitous in- - nit to the housewives of New Zealand. The demand for heel" has been pronounced because heel is the cheapest meat, anil whether the .Meat Board engaged in a campaign nr not that would have I tin* result. What the Board slmold have attended to. hut tailed, was to check the profiteering that has been" mi serious. Dressed heel Ims been selling wholesale in Wellington at round about, “Os per 100 lbs, hub consumers had to pay nearer IBs ■ to AOs per 100 Ihs. Beef, frozen and chilled, is playing an active part in the meat trade of the United Kingdom.. Beef, because of its cheapness, i. dominating the market, and preventing mutton and land) rising as they should he liecause of the shortage of supplies. When land) touched 12d a week or two ago in the Emithliold market the consumption fell oil" rapidly, because consumers turned In heel, and the price of land) soon dropped, 'flu* Aleat Board is no more responsible for the increased consumption ol keel than Is the man in the moon : it is an economic incident due to obvious factors. Ihe ...eat Board must fiml some other reasons to justify its existence, and Os heavv cost to the* country.