WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 31 May 1917, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

the minister of agriculture. IMPRESSIONS OF AUSTRALIA. Special Correspondent. Wellington, May ;;o The Hon. W. n Macdonald. who Mis been so long Identified with the public life of this country thtr. New Zealanders are - ipt t ,, for?o| . h(1 j? {m Australian bred and bom. has rot',rued from his flying visit to the Commonwealth with many pleasant impassions of the people of his mLive land He strongly resents the popular assumption that they are less loyal to the Empire and less patriotic in'its service than are the other peoples of the British race. They have been judged, he says, by an unfortunate manifestation of political wilfulness which was only a passing phase of the volatile Australian temperament. Of course, there are restless, irresponsible spirits on the other side of the Tasman Sea, just as there are on this side, who talk a lot of mischievous nonsense, but the heart of the great mass of the people is sound and their ideals and aspirations are much the same as those of the people of New Zealand.

THE POLITICAL SITUATION

Australia was just emerging from the throes of a federal election when Mr. Macdonald arrived in Sydney. Though, the success of the Nationalists was assured, party feeling was still running high and many of the asperities of the contest were remaining. But moving about the country and conversing with members of both parties he found a very general desire to get about the business of the /country without any further distractions. The problems facing the politicians in the Commonwealth are very similar to those facing ' the politicians in the Dominion. Huge sums of money have to be raised for war purposes, increased taxation has to be adjusted to sensitive shoulders, the cost of living has to be regulated as far as possibjjp, land the conflicting claims of capital and labour have to be reconciled. In these respects New Zealand has not a great deal to learn from its neighbour, but -it must not T. . A be •imagined-;that it is far ahead either in pffort prTu achievement or that it °v always has the bgst of The-friendly ri- K valry between the two ’countries.. - THE WHEAT DEAL.' ’j , lor reasous which arc more, or less ? obvious, Mr. Macdonald cannot at pre- '■*. sent discuss in detail the progress of his negotiations with the Commentwealth Government which led up to the purchase of a million bushels of wheat on behalf of New Zealand. The Minister had recognised for some time that it might be necessary to supplement the local supply of grain by drawing upon Australia, but the position -Was complicated by the fact that the Imperial authorities were looking in the same direc-

lion for their supplies. The difficulty 4 “ off. moving last season’s crop, on aa- *' count of the lack of shipping, relieved 1-. the tension to some extent and made it possible for the Avow Zealand Government to enter the market as a buyer without .jpjrejd.dlcing the operations of the Mother Country. The price was rather higher than Mr. Macdonald expected to have to pay when he left New Zealand, but it was lower than values in London and America would have justified at the time. AUSTRALIAN STOCKS. Mr. Macdonald saw millions of bushels of wheat in store and in stack in Australia, much of it lying in the open waiting means of transit, and he did not like to think how much of it would be lost through vermin and deterioration On these points he had protected the interests of the Dominion by the usual conditions in regard to sampling*, and examination. Qualified graders, who already had been engage 1, would inspect the wheat at the port of shipment and they had instructions to examine every sack and reject any that bore the slightest sign uf the presence of vermin or pest of any kind. Tho samples the Minister has brought back with him are of good average milling wheat, not quite so plump as the best New Zealand, but rather thinner skiuned and perfectlv sound. Should tho bulk be us good, there will be no 'ground for, complaint on the score of quality.