WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 121, 23 May 1916, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

ITERATION AND REITERATION

FOR THE WAR PERIOD. (Special Correspondent).

WELLINGTON, May 18

The Prime Minister's contribution to the Address-in-Reply debate must have bsen a little disappointing- to these good people who had expected it to raise tie discussion out of the rut of rather commonplace iteration and reiteration into which it had fallen during the week. Although Mr. Mas-

se'y was given an extra half hour for ; the delivery of his speech he was confronted with such a mass of varild j criticism that he had no time to break fresh ground. On the whole he spoke concisely and well, with more animation than usual, and with less party emphasis, but on one or two occasions he was scarcely so frank with the j House as he might have been. When i answering the criticism levelled ; against the War Pensions' Act. for : instance he quoted selected and quite ] improbable figures with the object of i conveying the impression that the ; New Zealand soldier was much better treated than the Canadian soldier. In dealing with Mr. Anstey's allegation I concerning the Benmore run, again, he set up successive bogies of his own creation and proceeded to demolish them as if he really imagined he were demolishing what the member for Waitaki had actually said. But apart from these defects, serious enough in their way, the speech was a useful contribution to the debate, clearing up, more or less satisfactorily, many points on which members desired information, and it should materially assist in' bringing the annual orgy cf talk to a close. THE COUNTRY'S WHOLE DUTY, j

During the afternoon Mr. J. McI Ccmbs, the member for Lyttelton, in { what would have been a very admirable speech but for certain peculiarities of manner and a suspicion of per-

I scnal bitterness, had urged that the | war was rather a. married man's war j than a single man's war. • At least 1 should be equality of sacrifice and equality of recognition by the State. Speakmg in the evening Mr. Isitt touched on the same theme in his own eloquent way. He deprecated any revival of the old party spirit during the war. Whatever the faults of the National Government might be, whether they were many or few, it was the only Government possible under the existing circumstances. But this fact should not save it from honest criticism. Honest criticism, indeed, was

the plain duty of every patriotic member cf the House. Having made this point Mr. Isitt demanded, as Mr. McCombs had dene, with the persuasive fact which his friend from Lyttelton lacks, that the Government should

turn seriously to the consideration of war profits and should see a fair proportion of them applied to bettering the conditions of the married soldiers and ameliorating the lot of the men, women and children remaining behind and feeling the cruel pinch of the high

prices brought about by the war and perhaps to some extent by the machinations of greedy traders. The unusual compliment of a hearty round of applause rewarded his fine effort.

j DEFENCE MATTERS. J A change that can be felt rather ' than seen or described has taken (place i» tn e attitude of Mr. Allen's

j critics since the parliamentary trip J to Featherston camp. Of course, there ' still are members of the House who i ; continue to scold the Minister of Dej fence on every possible opportunity i and equally of course some of the scolding is deserved. Mr. Allen has the faults of manner which always appear in men of his temperament. He is sometimes impatient, frequently cy-

nical an f l always obstinate. His replies to questions and his retorts to interjections in the House are occasionally atrocious. He is as careless cf individual opinion as he appears to be of public opinion. Just what the?e was in the parliamentary trip to make his critics take a less censorious view of these defects none of them can explain. They found the camp admirably planned and capably administered, the soldiers in fine health and spirits and the officers doing their part well. But all this they had known before. There was nothing new in the discovery. Perhaps, however, the realised more fully than they had done at a distance the magnitude of the "job" the Minister has on hand and understood more clearly the harrassing demands such an undertaking makes upon its executive head. Anyway, Mr. Allen is on better terms with the majority of his critics to-day than he ha 3 been for a very long time past. His dependence upon his superior. officers is obvious to everyone, but this does not deprive j him of the credit that is due for their J appointment.

THE NATIONAL CABINET.

i Opinions in regard to the National J Cabinet have been freely expressed I in the House during the past week. j For the most part they have not been J complimentary. The average member regards the "combination of all the taI lents" a s a necessary evil to be enI dured with such patience as may till the collapse of the German arms shall make a return to the old conditions ! dceent and tolerable. But the talk of a new party as an organised fighting force equipped with leaders, arm--1 ed with a policy and aspiring to the Treasury benches, is now shown to be the vainest of vain imaginings. The National Cabinet, for good or for ill, will endure till after the war without any seriou s opposition. Mr. Isitt put the position very well last night when he paid in effect that everyone disliked the arrangement but could think cf no better. This is the general, if not the universal feeling in the House and in spite of all its sin s of omission and commission, chiefly omission, the National Cabinet to-day is the most stable administration that has ever held office in New Zealand.

i DAYLIGHT SAVING,

OPERATIONS OF Till'] NEW ACT LONDON', May .19. Newspapers are giving prominence to the great advance, horological'ly speaking, which is to bo made at bedtime to-night. The only parallel is the Act, of 1751 correcting the calendar.

The Chief Rabbi lias ordered the Sabbath to come in an hour later on Friday and go out an hour later on Saturday, though the Sabbath morning service will be held ar the same time a previously.

Newpapers appeal to shoppers not to shop late, thereby depriving overworked assishuits of the benefit of the Act. The Government has arranged that the Royal Parks shall be open for an hour longer. THE IRISH QUESTIONMR ASQUITH'S PLANS.

The Times, in a leader says:- -We have not modified our opinion as to Mr Asquith's inadequacy for leadership. Tie seems to have used his time in Ireland consulting to various elements of local opinion. This is no time for a complete recasting of policy. The Home Rule Bill is on the Statute Book. Let it remain, there! Were we disposed to suggest the most practical temporary solution of the Irish question, we should say: Take it up exactly where it was left off two year ago! Neither Mr Redmond nor Sir Edward Carson can bind their followers, but they are still outstanding figures. Both have shown a zeal for the Avar which is a supreme motive for restoring peace in Ireland. A renewed discussion between them might itead to some form of Provisional Government,, and would be of immense relief and assistance in dealing with the rest of Ireland, and we would then have the Ulster question out of the way.' —Times and Sun Services.