WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 May 1916, Page 8

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

;' ITERATION AND REITERATION 1 . ! " " FOR THE WAR (PERIOD. (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, May IS. Tiie Prime Minister's contribution to . the Address-in-Reply debate must have been a little disappointing to those good people who had expected it to raise the discussion out of the rut of rather commonplace iteration and reiteration into which it had fallen during the week. Although Mr. Massey was given an extra •halMiour for the delivery of his speech, he was confronted with such a mass of varied criticism that he had no time to •break fresh ground. On the whole he spoke concisely and well, with more animation than usual and with less party emphasis, but on one or two occasions he was scarcely so frank with the House as he might have been. When answering the criticisms levelled against the War Pensions Act, for instance, he quoted selected and quite improbable figures, with the object of conveying the impressien that the New Zealand soldier was much better treated than the Canadian soldier. In dealing with Mr, Anstey's allegation concerning the- BenI more run, again, he set up successive bogies of his own creation, and proceeded to demolish them as if he really imagined he was demolishing what the member for Waitalci has actually said, But apart from these defects, serious enough in their way, the speech was a useful contribution to the debate, clearing up, more or less satisfactorily, many points on which members desired information, and it should materially assist in bringing the annual orgy of talk to a close. THE COUNTRY'S WHOLE DUTY. During the atternoon Mr. J. McCombs, the member for Lyttelton, in what would have been a very admirable speech but for certain peculiarities of manner and a suspicion of personal bitterness, had urged that the war was rather a married man's war than a single man's war. At least there should be equality of sacrifice and equality of recognition by the State. Speaking in the evening, Mr. Isitt touched on the same theme in his own eloquent way. He deprecated any revival of the old party spirit during the war. Whatever the faults of the' National Government might lie, whether they were many or few, it was j the only Government possible under the existing. circumstances. But this fact should not save ifc from honest criticism, Honest criticism, indeed, was the plain duty of every patriotic member of the House. Having made this point, Mr, Isitt demanded, as Mr. McCombs had 1 done, with the persuasive tact ,which his friend from Lyttelton lacks, that the Government should turn seriously to the consideration of war profits and should see a fair proportion of them applied f o bettering th<> conditions of the married soldiers and ameliorating the lot of the men, women and children remaining 'behind and feeling the cruel pinch of the high prices brought about by the war, and perhaps to some extent by the machinations of greedy traders. The unusual compliment of a hearty round of applause greeted his fine effort. DEFENCE MATTERS.

""-A change that can be felt rather than seen or described has taken place in the attitude «f Mr. Allen's critics since the Parliamentary trip to Featherston camp. Of course, there still are members of the House who continue to scold the Minister of Defence on every possible opportunity, and equally of course Some of the scolding is deserved. Mr. Allen lias the faults of manner which always appear in men of his temperament. He is sometimes impatient, frequently cynical, and always obstinate. His replies to questions, and his retorts to interjections in the House are occasionally atrocious. He is as careless of individual opinion as he appears to be of public opinion. Just what there was in the trip to make his critics take a less censorious view of these defects none of them can explain. They found the camp admirably planned and capably administered, the soldiers in fine health and spirits, and the officers doing their part well. But all this they had known before. There was nothing new in the discovery. Perhaps, however, they realised more fully than they had done at a distance the magnitude of the "job" tin; Minister has on hand, and understood more clearly the harassing demands such a'i undertaking makes upon its executive head. Anyway, Mr. Allen is on better terms with the majority of his critics to-day than he has been for a 'very long time ' past. His dependence upon lus* superior officers is obvious to everyone but this does not deprive him of the credit that is due for their appointment. THE 'NATIONAL CABINET.

Opinions in regard to the National Cabinet have, been freely expressed jn the House during the past week. For the most part they have not been complimentary. The average member regards the "combination of all the talents" as a necessary evil to be endured with such patience as may be till the collapse of the Oierman arms shall make a return to the old conditions decent and tolerable. But the talk of a newparty as an organised fighting force, equipped with leaders, armed with a policy and' aspiring to the Treasury benches, is now shown to be the vainest of vain imaginings. The National Calbinet, for good or for ill, will endure till after the war without any serious opposition, Mr. Isitt put the position very well last night when he said ia effect that everyone disliked the arrangement but could think of no better. This is the general, if not the universal feeling in the House, and in spite of all its sins of omission and commission, 'chiefly omission, the National Cabinet to-day is the most stable Administration that has ever held office in.New Zealand. «