NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1916, Page 3

NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL.

FIJI'S MYSTERIOUS SHIP. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, March 8. A statement published the other day to the effect that a mysterious threefunnelled ship had been seen off one of the Fijian Islands has been added to the dark suggestion made in Sydney that some peculiar danger threatens Australia, and the product is a circumstantial story regarding the presence of a German raider in the Pacific. It is wonderful how these tales improve in the telling as they pass from mouth to mouth. But nobody need be alarmed about that nameless ship until its presence is revealed by the surest of indicators—the insurance rates. The feats af the Moewe may shake one's faith in the absolute inviolability of the British cordon in the North Sea, but they do not prove that a German cruiser could reach the Pacific. When an enemy ship succeeds in doing that we are not likely to lack definite, if unpleasant, evidence of the fact.

TOO PATRIOTIC A LEAGUE. Members of the Anti-German Lt>ague have been very active lately, and have given a share of their attention to tho self-imposed task of sorting out alleged Germans from among the officers and men of the Expeditionary Forces. One oi their "picks," at any'rate, has been an unfortunate one, the officer in question having obtained permission to stay here for a few weeks while he institutes legal proceedings against the people who have made unfounded statements about his nationality. Your correspondent has had opportunities to investigate several of the "scandals" produced for inspection by the persons who insist upon believing that the Defence Department has a particularly friendly eye for men of German extraction, and in every case the charge has proved utterly mistaken. The Department has plenty of faults, and it owns some officers whose regard for red tape methods i 6 very annoying indeed to soldiers, recruits and the public alike. But there is nothing wrong with the Department's patriotism, and there are some 12,000 pairs of fairly sharp eyes at the camps, where Germans would riot be welcomed as comrades. Naturally the soldiers at the camps are not concerned about the fellow whose grandfather or great-grandfather came to New Zealand as a missionary or settler in the days before the German Empire was fashioned. PACIFIC ISLANDS RECRUITS. The Defence Department does not expect to draw any more recruits from ' the Pacific Islands. Tbe patriot spirit | displayed by the brown-skinned second cousins of the Maori is admirable,, but the islanders are not fitted for the soldiering business under modern conditions. They cannot wear soldiers' clothing, and particularly soldiers' boots, without becoming clumsy and unhappy. They cannot eat soldiers' food without incurring stomach disorders, and many of them find it practically impossible to assimilate European ideas of military discipline. Then they do not mix successfully with the Maoris, and the military authorities will find it very difficult to work them into the New Zealand Division at the front. THE REAL TEST OF RECRUITINB. The Prime Minister stated this evening that he was not at all dismayed by the prospect of a shortage in the infantry' section of the l'4tii Reinforcements, which are being mobilised this week. The men would all be found within the next week or two at most, and the important task in the meantime was the organisation of the new recruiting system and the setting in motion of all the machinery. The response of the local bodies and the recruiting committees was, on the whole, exceedingly encouraging. The real test, Mr. Massey added, would come within the next few weeks, when the personal canvass had been begun in all parts of the country and the Recruiting Board was getting exact information regarding the extent of the response. He believed himself that when the urgency of the appeal was brought home to the individuals by the methods the recruiting committees would adopt, the necessary number of recruits would be forthcoming. NEXT SESSION OF PARLIAMENT. A good deal is being said still regarding the possibility of an early session of Parliament. The position at present seems to be that the National Government has formed no definite plan pending the development of the recruiting scheme. If men come forward readily, the other matters requiring the attention of Parliament could wait, and the Ministers might be in no hurry to meet the Legislature unless events had moved very rapidly in Europe, If the men do no come forward freely, then Parliament must be summoned to face the situation before the shortage of recruits becomes acute. The indications are that Parliament will p-.eet in Apri] or May. THE BOARD OF TRADE. The Board of Trade is not going to produce results quickly, but the members are setting about their new duties actively and within the next week or two they will be engaged in u comprehensive survey of existing conditions relating to the prices of commodities and the cost of living. The appointment of a secretary probably will be announced to-morrow. The Prime Minister indicated to-day that the Board's first task will lie the examination of the prices of necessaries of life, with the object of ascertaining what increases have taken place i-'.nce t'lio outbreak of the war and what 'causes have contributed to tho? ■ increases. The detailed information with regard to tho course of prices will be easily available. The Labor Department iias same of the figures, and others me obtainable from accessible sources. The difficult part of the investigation will relate to causes, and the work of tiie Board in this respect will be watched with keen interest. If the members probe deep enough they will get some valuable results. What use the National Government will be able to make of the Boards' report is another question. A POSER FOR THE PREMIER. A Canterbury farmer who took to heart the Prime Minister's abjuration to grow cereals, and put down one thousand acres in wheat this season, reckons his loss at £3OOO, and wants to know what Mr. Massey is going to do about it. His crop averaged eight bushels to the acre. The farmer mentions in the course of a communication to the Prime Minister that his land tax last year was some £I4OO, and there is a substantial increase this year owing to the extra war taxation. The moral seems to be that wheat growing is a speculative business, and Mr. Massey ought to have a fellow feeling for sufferers from the uncertainties of the wheat market. He is still the holder of 900,000 bushels of the wheat lie bought in Canada last year I on account of New Zealand, at the time . when there was thought to be a shortage I is 69Ufli f . ,