NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

Taihape Daily Times, 17 January 1918, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

WELLINGTON NORTH ELECTION,

NEW CANDIDATE ANNOUNCED

WELLINGTON, this day

Mr. A. N. Poison, formerly private secretary to Dr. Pomare, and for ton years, connected, with, the Ministerial Private Secretarial Staff, has announced his candidature for Wellington North as an Independent Liberal in the event .of. the Hon. Mr. Herdman resigning.

THE N, Z. DIVISION

SOME PERTINENT POINTS OF

PROTEST

AUCKLAND, Jan 16

Referring to the recent announcement that the New Zealand Division had been attached to the British 'Army Corps Association, Mr Parr, MP., has addressed a letter to the Minister for Defence, in the course of which he says: “May I respectfully ask the import of this change? Does it mean that the relationship between the New Zealand and Australian forces is to be permanently severed, and, if so, may I ask if the official reason for this step is available? Is there to be any alteration in the army command ft as a consequence of this change, and if so, can you tell me who is to be the commander of the new army corps to which the New Zealand force is attached? Naturally, parents and relatives of our soldiers are keenly interested as to the army commander, and j if you can give us any information on this point, I am sure it would be welI corned.”

THE TRADE OF INDIA*

N, Z. TRADE COMMISSIONER

CONSULTED.

WELLINGTON, Jan 16.

Following upon the offer made by the Imperial Government, the Government of India expresses a desire to utilise the services of His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner in New Zealand in the interests of the Indian trade. 'As the result of this arrangement, which is part of a larger scheme for fostering Imperial trade, Mr Dalton Will be prepared to answer inquiries regarding the trade of India, and to communicate with the Government of India in cases where the required information is not already available In this office. Inquiries may be addressed to His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner, 11 Grey Street, Wellington

WELLINGTON TOPICS.;

SECOND DIVISION.

LIGHTENING THE BURDEN,

WELLINGTON, Jan. 16

Mr. Massey. who was among passengers by the be-foggec and delated Maori this morning, when seen immediately after his arrival could add nothing to what he already had said to the deputation which waited upon liinl in Christchurch asking that the phy-

sical fitness of members of . the do* cond Division should be definitely ascertained before they were sent into camp. He repeated, however, that it was his desire and he was sure the desire of the Minister of Defence and his other colleagues that the

men

should be put to as little inconvenience as possible. It would not be reas- 1 enable to expect the Medical Boards to determine on a preliminary examination whether a man’s own idea of his condition was correct or not. but there might be a quicker way of putting it to a practical test than the ones that were in vogue at present. At any rate the Government would do all it could to lighten the burden of the members of the Second Division and to see that the need for maintaining Eeinf ore omen ts did not press more heavily upon them than was absolutely

necessary. SHIPPING CENSORSHIP,

Sir Joseph Ward also was a passenger by the ferry steamer this morning and though he could not materially supplement the statement he made in the South concerning the censorship of shipping news he reiterated his assurance that the matter would be very carefully considered by the Cabinet. The censorship was instituted at the instigation of the Imperial authorities and its nature was precise and welldefined, but if Australia was enjoying greater latitude than New Zealand was in this respect then there was a clear case for inquiry. The people who complained, however, must remember that the Imperial authorities, with a view of the whole war area and of the operations of the enemy, so far as they could be ascertained, before them, were in a much better position to say what was desirable in the way Of precautions that anyone in New Zealand could be. At present he could only say he was most anxious to remove any inconvenience or disability from which the public was suffering. MILK SUPPLY. $

The niilk supply fiasco continues to be the talk of the town and the City Council the ji ar J^ cu^ar of ’the newspaper correspondents. Unhappily the absortive attempt of the Mayor and his advisors —who seem, by ; -the way, to be very much divided agippst .themselves —has been followed by|jthe first hot and sultry weather yof Hhe .season and the 1 , effect of the weediicr unpleasantly demonstrated in the ipilk jug are being laid to the charge" of like; municipal government. This, of course, is scarcely fair, but it is little wonder in the circumstances that the blundering of the Council is being very roundly reprobated by the sufferoing housewives. The only people who appear who appear to be quite indifferent about the matter are the suppliers who declare they could dispose of their milk to the cheese and butter factories to better advantage than to the retailers who seem always at loggerheads with their customers and the local authorities.

SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING. Six o’clock closing is proving much' more effective, in the opinion of the Prohibitionists, and much more disastrous, in the opinion of the hotelkeepers, than was generally expected. The outward and visible signs of the working of the experiment arc less drunkenness about the streets and brisker business in the bottle departments of the licensed houses. How the two developments arc balancing one another only a very close investigation and inquiry could show and in the meantime such views as are being expressed on the point differ very widely. The Prohibitionists arc jubilant, predicting that the result will be a distinct step towards the achievement of their ultimate goal, while the Moderates are confidently silent, declaring that the electors will not tolthe ineonvicnce that is being suffered and the injustice that is occasioned. The police decline to express any official opinion on the subject and privately differ as widely as do the Prohibitionists and the Moderates.