WELLINGTON NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 293, 20 May 1915, Page 2

WELLINGTON NOTES.

(From Our Own Co-respondent). THE BY-ELECTIONS. Wellington, .May 17. The writs for the two by-elections are expected to bo issued on Friday week at latest, and in the meantime the parties are busy enrolling those of their supporters who did not vote at tin; general election. One hears complaints from both sides regarding the state of the rolls, the complaint of the Taunianmui Liberals being particularly loud. A certain amount of purging follows <'\ery election, and in tho present case tho blue pencil seems to have been used with more than usual freedom owing to the disclosures of irregular enrolment during the Court proceedings. Presumably active, organisers will be able to cover most of the ground in the time at their disposal, however, and protests against the rolls have, become part of the routine of an election in this country. Well-informed opinion in 'political circles inclines to tho view that these byelections will not change the relative strength of the parties in Parliament. The natural assumption is that the electors have not changed their political allegiances since last December, when the Government won the Bay of Islands seat and the Liberals were victorious in Taumarnnui. In the latter constituency the candidates who met in December are In the Held again, and though the margin between them was not very large, the factors that gave the Liberals the majority then do not seem to have changed. Two new candidates are appealing to the electors in the Bay of Islands, but the Reformers have the more "likely" man, and their majority was ample six months ago. Mr. Wilkinson, who stood as a supporter of,the Government in 1011 and again in 'l9l-1, has announced that he will not take part in the contest. Mr. Vernon Reed won the seat

in spite of the handicap of a divided Reform vote, but his position in the electorate was exceptional, and his Liberal opponent was on the wrong side of a. color line that appears to be drawn fairly firmly in the far north.

COMPULSORY RECRUITING. At the moment no special effort to stimulate recruiting appears to be re(luired. The men are coining along as fast as, or faster than tlie Defence Department can take them into camp, and there is no indication that tlie supply is going to fall away in the near future. But your correspondent has good reason for believing that the powers thai

be have already taken into consideration some of the questions that will bo raised if tlie war is continued into next year, and tlie necessities of the military situation demand the increase of the rate, of contribution in men. The word "conscription" has been given a new significance in the Mother Country during the last few days 'by the utterances of Lord Haldane, one of the most notable champions of the voluntary system that is now being "tried out" in the Empire's greatest war, and it will be heard in this country if the supply of recruits falls short of requirements. Of that there is no doubt whatever. The Minister of Defence is not willing at this stage to discuss tlie point, but those who know Mr. Allen best are confident that if tlie occasion arises he will propose tlie measures that will ensure New Zealand's quota of trained men going forward as they are required. The statutory powers already in existence are a good deal wider than many people are aware.