WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, 30 October 1917, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

SECOND DIVISION. f THE FIRST BALLOT (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON,. Oct. 26. It was announced some weeks agothat the Second Division ballot would be held on October 29 and apparently this arrangement still stands good. The Second Division, it may be of interest to recall, is divided into six classes, class A consisting of married men without children, class B of married men with one child, class C with, two children, class D with three children. class E. with four children, and class P i with five or more children. The* classes will be called up in their alphabetic order and according to a computation made by the Government Statistician a month ago class A contains 20,331 men. class B 21,907, class; C 24,823, class D 17,253, class E 10.498 and class F 11.320. It is expected that with the aecertions of’First Division men reaching military age each of the first three classes will be sufficient for three ballots and if this is the casethe turn of the men with the two>, children will not come at the till the middle of next year

PENSIONS AND ALLOWANCES. The prospect of the first draTT" of married reservists being called up on Monday next, to go into camp, it is understood, at the beginning of the new year, has given additional point and purpose to the protests that are being made against the Government’s., failure to accede to all the demands Of the Second Division League in regard to pensions and allowances But Mimisters are showing no disposition to reconsider their decision They claim to have gone as far as the finances of the country will justify them in going, and a fully informed Parliament, having endorsed their contentions there is little more for the outsider to say on the. matter But .if the report that the Supplementary Estimates are going to make provision for the pay-, ment of another war bonus to civil servants should prove to be true, a large section of the public certainly ■will want to know why the men staying at home are being treated more generqjusly than the dependants of the men f|ghting at the front. j .. .THE.; IUILMLVXS j.; ...The j statement, made byt-, theHqp.,,,,l W. H.j Herries in the House of presenjtatives on Wednesday;; night :

.concerning the management .of the State has not satisfied critics that the curtailment , of train services is helping in winningThe war. Apparently Mr Herries would.have the public believe that the j services , have been cut down in order to! meet the demands of the Defence : Department for men and supplies. both as, a matter, of plain fa.c,t. the withdrawal of certain ..travelling-.; facilities, has .not. increased, the mUir , } -lx- iiU . .m.., ■ tary efficiency of the country, by , a . single man. What it has done is, involve the State, in a very grave financial loss. With abundance of labour available, with miles of rolling, stock lying idle, and without rhyme ; or .reason, it has turned thousands of pounds worth of business away and put the community to endless inconvenience and expense. To attempt to make, a virtue out of stupidity of this sort is not worthy of a Minister of Mr. Her- . ries’s standing. WATERED" DOWN. The report of the Cost of Living Committee has been watered down to suit the sensitive palates of the party loaders and in its amended form is not likely to occasion much perturbation in the ranks of the exploiters. The Food Controller remains as part of the Committee’s scheme, but he is to have no “plenary powers” and he is not to engage in State trading. is to be simply an advisory official* privileged to report to the Minister of Industries and Commerce and perhaps to offer him suggestions; but on no account must commit the Government to anything or complain when his advice is ingored. A majority of the Committee would have clothed him with much greater authority and perhaps would have made him independent of ministerial control, but the party leaders would hear of nothing of this kind and now the report may make its way into some departmental pigeonhole without serious loss to anyone. TEACHERS AND PREACHERS As Sir James Allen, the author of the measure, put it last night, there was nothing contentious in the Expeditionary Forces Amendment Bill except the clauses affecting teachers and preachers. The Bill proposed toleave the clergy and members of the teaching profession to bo dealt with by the Military Service Boards in the ordinary way and it was around this proposal the discussion in the House revolved. Finally Sir Joseph ’Ward, who had explained his own views clearly in the .best speeches he has delivered this moved for the exemption of all teachers, including the Marist Brothers. The division which followed was almost entirely on party lines, thirty-two members of the old Opposition Party

and three Reformers voting "aye” with Sir Joesph - Ward and twenty'eight Tmembers of old Government Party and three Liberals voting ‘‘no” with' Mr. The debate which preceded the division, though sometimes approaching perilous ground,“was marked by the utmost good feeling and it" is hoped a fruitful bone of contention is now safely out of the way.