WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, 19 November 1918, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

parliament. FURTHER ADJOURNMENT DEMANDED. WELLINGTON, Nov JB. '1 r, . „... ... , It is quite possible that when the House assembles to-morrow a further adjournment will be made on account of the influenza- epidemic. A number of members have made representations to the Prime Minister on the subject and with at least ten members laid up and twice as many away at their homes it will not be easy for him to refuse their request. But with the prospect of having to leave for the Peace Conference within the next three or four weeks he does not like the idea of longer delaying the important business of the session, and if an adjournment is made it will be made very reluctantly as far as Ministers are concerned. Private members urge there is no need for the machinery of Parliament to stop when the party leaders go away, but Mr. Massey takes a different view of the situation and probably would prefer holding a second session on his return from London to leaving the House to deal with a number of vital questions'without his guidance.

DEMOBILISATION AND REPATRIATION. Among these vital questions are those of demobilisation and repatriation. These have become specially urgent on account of the events of th* last few weeks, but it is doubtful* if Parliament could deal adequately with them in less than a month. That being the case the Government may elect to take authority to deal with the problems by regulations and trust to obtaining Parliament’s approval later on. The demobilisation scheme is well forward and, of course, is the less difficult of the two, but ,the repatriation scheme will involve the appointment of a Council consisting, it is said, of the Minister of Defence (Sir James Allen), the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald), the Minister of Lands (the Hon, ,D. H. Guthrie), and; the Minister of Education (Mr. J. A. Hahau), a Director of Repatriation and a largo number of district organisations. It is certain that no time remains for, Parliament to work out the details. : LIQUOR REFERENNDUM.

Though more than three weeks have elapsed since the opening of the session, the House so far has done next to nothing towards getting through the programme hy which it was originally faced. * In the peace expectations, the armistice celebrations and the influenza epiedmic it has some excuse Tor its lack of progress, but it will have to bestir itself to some purpose during the next month if it is to assist "Ministers in redeeming their promised to the country. In the minds of many people the liquor referendum has sunk into tiny proportion compared with the other big questions that have loomed large since it was first discussed/ but the supporters of the Efficiency Board's proposal are not going to allow it to slip out of sight in the whirl of post-war problems, and Ministers are being kept up to their pledges. , PROPOSED NATIONAL PARTY.

'Sir Joseph Ward is Taking some pains to dissociate himself from the “National Party” proposal and in doing so seems to have the approval of a large majority of his political friends. The story whispered about after the publication of the resolution adopted at the Reform Caucus was that the two party leaders had put their heads together and devised a scheme for the perpetuation of the party truce. But both Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward have denied any collusion towards this end. As a matter of fact Sir Joseph knew nothing about the proposal till he saw it in print, and as a matter of assumption Mr. Massey, though observing the spirit of the truce, is not in the habit of submitting the proposals ho makes' to his friends or his colleagues on the other side of politics. At the moment the “National Party” idea is tickling - the political imagination of the community to any extent.