WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taihape Daily Times, 2 December 1918, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS

LIBERAL CAUCUS. THE PARTY TRUCE. WELLINGTON, Nov 29. j The Liberal Caucus yesterday adop- ■ ted the resolutions proper to the occasion. It expressed unabated confidence in the party leader and assured him of its continued loyalty and supX>ort, put on record its opinion that Sir Joseph TV ard should accompany Mr, Massey to the Peace Conference and pledged itself to the observance of the letter and spirit of the party truce during the absence of the leaders from the Dominion. It also resolved —as individuals, the official report states —to give all reasonable assistance in expediting the business of Parliament so that the Peace delegates might get away as speedily as possible. Altogether the Caucus was in a happy mood and if there are rifts in the lute, as some people say there are, they certainly were not conspicuous at this gathering. “WILFUL AND WANTON WASTE.” But that pledges to the party truce are not going to tic the tongues of all the critics on the Liberal side of the House was made obvious enough a few hours later. While Defence matters were being discussed Mr. Witty, the member for Riccarton, wanted to know how long the present “wilful and wanton waste” was going to continue; Mr. Anstey, the member for Waitaki, had some hard things to say about the land purchased for soldiers’ settlement, and Mr. McCallum, the member for Wairau, who is not one of the firebrands of the House, asked some pertinent questions concerning the report of the War Expenditure Commission. Mr. Massey and Sir James Allen, rather in sorrow than in anger, protested against the wildly inaccurate statements that had been made, and promised all the information the members required would be forthcoming. THE RAILWAY STATEMENT. The Railway Statement for the year 1917-18 presented to the House yesterday was a more satisfactory document from the financial point of view than was generally expected. The net profit on the working of the lines, that is the excess of earnings over expenditure, was £1,644,793, or only £229,153 less than the amount, realised during the preceding year, j The gross earnings declined, compar- | ed with the figures of the precedin'1 year, from £4,800,810 to £4,687,700, and the working expenses increased from £2,926,864 to £B, while the percentage of profit to capital invested fell from 5.30 to 4.60. -which My Herries says compares favourably with the results obtained from the railways in any of the Australasian States. The.important point about the Statement, however, is the Minister’s insistence upon the need for making an early start with the improvement of the railawy. system that was interrupted by the war. THE SESSION. If the majority of the House remains in its present frame of mind it may be quite possible for the Government to bring the session to a close by the end of next week. This would necessitate, of course, a great deal of the business which would have engaged the attention of the House in normal conditions being left undone, but members who have been urging that the session should continue after the departure of the party leaders are beginning to realise this would be a somewhat futile proceeding, perhaps the worse of what they regard as two evils. The majority feels that with | provision made for carrying on the af- • fairs of the country till the return of j Mr. Massey and. Sir Joseph Ward { from London, both the remaining Ministers and private members could be better employed than in haggling over matters which they could bring to no final determination.