WELLINGTON NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 262, 15 April 1915, Page 2

WELLINGTON NOTES.

THE NEXT REINFORCEMENTS. Three transports, Nos. 21, 22, and 23. arc lying at the wharves in 'Wellington liarbor, and the v.-.y casual observer can gather that they lire nearly ready to sail for their destination somewhere on the other side of the world. Sentries with fixed bayonets guard the gangways, and pickets are at work on board the vessels. Mountains of hay, chad', mattresses, cases and barrels are rapidly disappearing into the holds of the transports, and horses destined for the battlefields of Europe have become a familiar sight on the wharves. The date of departure is an official secret which a mere newspaper man may net whisper even if he "kii-jws it, but it cannot be far away. One cruiser is"lying in Wellington and may be used as an escort for the troopships on tho first stage of their journey, but it is not certain that any escort will be needed. The seas are clear of enemy ships, except in the immediate vicinity of vie United Kingdom, and statements published in Australian newspapeis show that the last batch of transports from the Commonwealth had no better escort than one Australian Submarine, which was on its way to a field of possible usefulness in tho fighting area. A pair of quick-firing guns have Imisii a conspicuous feature of the deck equipment of more than one large liner recently departed for Great Britain, and there can be no doubt that the wen. pons would come in very handy indeed in case of attack by one of the roving German submarines. The transports have no mercy to expect if they shoi;':l meet a hostile warship of any kind. But doubtless the Government is guided in matters of this kind by the Admiralty, which seems to know its business uncommonly well. Many hundreds of tho isands of British and colonial troops have been .transported by sea during the present war without the loss of a single man by action of the enemy. MUNITIONS OF WAR. The Minister of Defence, talking to a representative of a Wellington newspaper on Saturday, said that the Empire's need of munitions of war was urgent, and suggested that New Zealand could help the Motherland more by - •opplying ammunition than by sending additional men. The statement r.vols rather curiously in view of the f.v..i that tho works of tho Colonial Ammunition Company, the only concern in New Zealand capable of producing cartridges for the service rifle, are not working at high pressure. A certain amount of overtime is being worked at the factory, but no attempt appears to have been made to arrange a doulie shift, and the cartridge machines are not running up to their full capacity. For all practical purposes the works of the .Colonial Ammunition Company are under the direction of the Government at present time, under the very wide powers that have been conferred upon the Ministers in connection with tho prosecution of tho war. Why, then, is not New Zealand making the fullest use ol the plant at its disposal for the production of munitions that the armies in the field require? A full knowledge of conditions connected with tho raw Material required by the factory probably would supply the answer to that question, and such, knowledge is not available outside official circles. The nation has to trust its executive officers in the present circumstances, and it is only fair to assume that the Minister of Defence and his subordinates arc doing all that lies in their power to increase New Zealand's contribution to the effective defence of the Empire on the battlefields of Europe. The community at large can do no more flian remind Ministers that no consideration of cost or inconvenience should be allowed to weigh against the larger issue.

THE PRICE OF WHKAT-THli CAUSE.

Townspeople are (|iiick to talk of keeping down tlie cos: of living by (ho simple expedient of telling the producer that he must not accept increased prices for the commodities lie produce. Their point of view is easily appreciated, and it is possible to adduce weighty argument in support of their claim, But there are two sides to the matter, and the farmer's side seems to be receiving rather less attention than it deserves. Who can say what the price of wheat would have been this year if there had been no war? Your correspondent put a question on this subject to a Wellington merchant the other day, and the answer was a statement that the loaf would probably have cost ninepeace in Wellington'to-day even if nothing more serious than the closing of the Dardanelles had occurred in August last. The strait through which Russian and Roumanian wheat reaches the world in normal years might have been closed for a prolonged period by a Russo-Tur-kish war in which no third Power was engaged. "The supposition may be far fetched," said the merchant, ' "but it will illustrate what 1 mean. The closing of the Dardanelles would have held up many millions of bushels of Russian and Roumanian wheat, just as that wheat is being held up at the presmt time. The drought in Australia would have taken place, in any case. That drought has reduced Victoria's wheat harvest from about 113,000,000 bushels in 1013-14 to rather less than 4,000.0)10 bushels in l!)14-lo. The maintenanco of peace, would not bave given the Lnited States a considerable surplus of wheat for export, and it would v.ut have prevented the actual shortage which has been shown to exist in NewZealand. The price of the loaf, in mv opinion, would have risen in any case", and I believe it would have reached ninepenee. before the new wheat tunic if there had been no war. Don't blame the farmer for everything." On the other hand, one hears stories of pnormous profits made by bakers and millers who bought wheat before the rise. The poor consumer, struggling to make ends meet under the new condi' ')ns, does not know whom to believe. ROTORTJA'S CLORY. The great Waimangu, biggest ami most aggressive of geysers, is' reported to be active again after a long period of i-"st and there is rejoicing in the olliees of the Tourist. Department. When Waiinangu ceased to spout hundreds ol' feet into the air and became a mere lake of bubbling mud. it was felt that the Dominion had lost one of its imv.f. important attractions from the point of view of the visitor from abroad. The fame of the great geyser and of -Peh.rous .bii-k" (now gone for ever, it is feared) had spread into corners of the world where New Zealand mutton was

not known. Thousands of people came to New Zealand and asked for Waimangu, only to be disapopinted. The Tourist Department considered seriously an adventurous proposal for scooping the mud out of the crater of the sleeping giant, and so giving play to the forces that were believed to bo r livestill in the depths below. But the job was not one to attract a contractor who valued his life. Waimangu might have responded to treatment too suddenly for the safety of the men who 1 were doing the scooping, and the proposal was dropped. Now the geyser lias wakened once more of its own volition, and exports say that a period cf strenuous and picturesque activity may be expected of it. Whether it will resume its old regularity and retain its old vigor remains to be seen, but in any case Rotorua will feel a glory has been ■ restored.