WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, 16 October 1917, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

. ~- ~ CLOSE OP THE SESSION. i: • THE "END IN SIGHT. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Oct 15. Tie Prime Minister is still hopeful of closing the session by the end of the month, but during the last few days a number of matters have cropped up which seem likely to make the task he has set himself one of no small difficulty. .\ The usual incentives towards expedition, the shearing and the Canterbury Carnival week have lost some of their force during the war and of course they appeal only to a comparatively small proportion of the members. On the other hand there is a proposal to set up a parliamentary committee to investigate the defence expenditure, wbich could scarcely get to work within the next fortnight, the report of the Cost of Living Committee to be discussed, a further Loan Bill to be passed through' all its stages, the final touches to be put to the Pensions Bill, and the Legislative Council's amendments to tb*l£sale of Liquor Bill to be considered. Here is work enough to keep Parliament going for a month if it were left to its own leisurely way. DEFENCE EXPENDITURE. Mr Massey has raised no objection to the appointment of a parliamentary committee to investigate the defence expenditure, except the very obvious one that it would be able to do very little in the dying hours of the session, and it is quite probable the idea may be carried out in come other fashion.- The "Dominion" which recognises the need for enquiry, suggests that a small commission of business men under the presidency of the chairman .of the Efficiency Board, if his services are available, would bring about practical and perhaps valuable results. The need for an investigation of some sort is generally recognised in the lobbies. It is admitted that the Minister of Defence has done all that one may be expected to do in this direction, but he has had no time to give personal attention to all the financial details of his Department and with the' expenditure rapidly mounting millions a month the representatives' of the taxpayers are naturally becoming a little anxious about the GOST OP LIVING

The report of the Cost of Living Comaa&tee' will be 4 placed before the evening and judging from the evidence the Committee has taken It will be a very interesting and illuminative document. It is understood it will contain a proposal for a Food Controller with*very wide powers to regulate prices in accordance, with the spirit of the measure passed shortly after the outbreak of war. It was hoped that the Board of Trade would have'enjoyed some authority of this kind and as a matter of fact it did make a number of reports to the Minister of Trade and Ccrnineree in regard to the'prices of various commodities, but only in one or two instances did its recommendations bring about any tangible results. Whether or not a Food Controller, largely independent of ministerial authority could do better may be questioned, but the cost of living, particularly in Wellington, has risen to such an abnormal height, that the unhappy consumer *vell may pray for some relief. THE LIQUOR BILL. The delay in pushing on the Sale of Liquor Restriction Bill, while ensuring the acceptance by the House of the Council's amendment deferring the operation of the measure from November 1 to December 1, has given rise circles to some uneasiness concerning the fate of z>x o'clock closing. It is announced, presumably with authority that the Government will not ask the House to accept all the other amendments made by the Council ana! it is suggested that an obstinate disagreement between the two chambers at this stage of the session might result in the abandonment of the whole measure. But there is not the least danger or hope—according to the point of view this occurring. Possibly there are> one or two members" of the House who would like to reconsider their votes on early closing, but the general feeling is that the original decision must go through and that the material features of the measure must be retained