WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 February 1917, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK. COMMISSIONS. ■

(From Our Own Correspondent). Wellington, Feb. 21. In these stirring times the community j is not easily interested in any question ' unconnected with the war, but many I>eople in Wellington arc beginning to take notice of n commission that has been sitting here lor a week or more enquiring into the condition of the rolling stock on the fJovernment railways. This commission was sot Tip in eonsoquonco of some remarks madi! by Mr. Wilfnrd in the House of I'epresentatives last, session implying that much of the rolling' stock had fallen into a sad state of ■disrepair and was becoming a menace to the safety of the travelling public. The Minister promised to obtain a departmental report on the subject and in due course the House was assured that the io.!lin« stock was in excellent order and that every provision was made for maintaining it in this condition, lint apparently the general manager wanted fur- ; (her vindication of his administration | Miid the appointment of the commission was the result. Now the commission is being flooded with iterated and reiterated official statements in'support, of the report presented to the House and its members arc about to start out upon a comprehensive tour of the Dominion in search of further evidence of the same chiiractcr. Of courso, the. .personnel of the commission is an assurance that the enquiry will be exhaustive, but it is ■occurring to many people that the appointment of one independent expert to make a personal exaniination of 'thu rolling stock and the work of the repairing department, would havo obtained equally good results at about one quarter the cost of the present arrangement.

THE lIAWKF/S BAY SKAT

It seems now 1 hat the demon's)ration of rather narrow local feeling.'..which lei Sir John Findlay to renoun/e liis intention of contesting the by-election for the Hawke's Bay toot was'of very little real significance and that, nothing now stands in the way of Sir John re-en-tering the field as the accepted liberal candidate approved by the National Cabinet under the arrangement between the parties. lie will return to the constituency at once and will spend most of the time between thin and the polliir: whether there is to be a contest or net in making himself better'known to the , electors. Apparently the only danger that would confront iiiiu in the. even I. of a contest would he the apathy of the voters on both sides. This danger waunpleasantly exemplified at the Paliiatuelection where an independent Liber l [candidate, who insisted upon standing in spite ol the strongest discouragcmen! from the party leader, ran the Reform candidate approved hv the National Cabinet, to within a few hundred votes and probably would have beaten him but for the obtrusion of a Labor camli date. But it is improbable anything ol this sort will happen in Hawke's Bay. The attempt to oust Sir John Findlay •from the field has put his friends on their mettle and they are not likely to spaiv any ' effort in returning him by a substantial majority.

) LABOR. Tito position on the water-front is still far from satisfactory, the existing relations between the employers and the men being rather of the nature of an armed truce than of a friendly armistice, and no one can say what the next, development will be. The men on their part declare they are anxious to work t_U.fr port without unnecessary friction and are ready to abide by any reasonable agreement that may he reached in a regular way. The trouble in connection with the ''Burton block-taekle," which seemed likely a day or two agri to briny matters to a head, has been submitted to the arbitration of a special disputi committee consisting of two represcnto lives of the employers and two representatives of the men with a chairman selected 'by the four nominated member and the decision of this tribunal is like]' to he made known this evening. Mean while the shipping ?:i port is boiiisr work- i td with rather more good-wi'l than was th.' case a 'few weeks ago and the general cutlook is less d;-:puiet:iig. Many of the men profress to see in the war regulations g;v ng the Government power to take over (ho (or.tiol of the wharves a disposition on the part o' the authorities to deal directly with any trouble that may arise and "their contemplation of the prospect does not appear to be lessening their desire to maintain the peace. FARMERS AND THE WAR. Numbers of farmers called up by the ballot are finding considerable difficulty in making arrangements for the management of their properties during their absence from the country. The matter has been discussed by many branches of the Farmers' Union and various suggestions have been made for triving the men assistance, but none of the suggestions appear to meet the needs of particular cases and Mr. J. A. Yomi«, the member for Wuikato, has come to* Wellington as the representative of the Awamutu Farmers' Union Federation with a proposal that the Government should purchase the properties of 111511 going to the war and. re-sell them to re turned soldiers 011 terms that would In fair to both parties. In the absence of the Acting-Prime Minister. Mr. Voiine ; interviewed the members of the Industrial Efficiency Board "yesterday and ; learnt that the Board already hail stili- ' mitted a scheme on somewhat similar lines to the Government, This scheme | has not yet been considered by a full ; Cabinet, but, it is understood it aims rather at keeping the farmer-soldiers in - possession of their properties than at' putting new occupiers in their place. If this is the case it, will meet with more ' general approval than will the proposal put forward by Mr. Young's principals, 1 ' IMPERIAL CONFERENCE. No word has been received here in eon- ' firmation of the American report that 1 the meeting of the Imperial Conference • has been further postponed in conse- ' (juence of the political crisis in Australia ' People most likely to know what- is go--1 ing 011 do not believe that the represen- ■ tatives of the other Dominions will he > kept kicking their heels in London while 3 the Commonwealth goes about the Self--1 urcly settlement of its rather sordid e party squabbles. If there is a further *' postponement for any considerable time, 1 -they say, either Mr. Masscy or Sir Joseph Ward or both of them will have •; to return to New Zealand to attend to mutters-of importance here. Parliament r ' will have to bo called together before e I the end of June to voto supply and mem--1) bcrs of the House and the country sviV y expect to see at least one of,the pni;tj t leaders of the National Cabinet in hit place. There is less disposition amonj ie the "Independents" to kick over the > twees ithan'then was a jrejwf ago,, bul

they will want information osiotftW of subjects that can be supplied Mr. Massey or Sir Josepn Wiird. '

CABINET RECONSTRUCTION;, EJ ' There vis much speculation in tlie poJh tical circles lying just outside the holiefs of holies concerning the filling of Dr> McNab's place in flic Cabinet. Minis' ters, of course, will say nothing foi} ' publication on the subject. What IS known is that Mr. Mac Donald has been appointed acting leader of the Party during the absence of Sir Joseph Ward and lias taken over temporarily the most important of Dr. McNab's portfolio*. It is reported that Mr. Hanau . has been relieved from a somewhat anomalous position by a re-arrangement of salaries and that his appointment as Minister of Justice may be regarded as a permanent one, permanent, that is, .30 far as the niinisterial fife of a politician may be measured. Mr. Russell, who came next in precedence among thp Liberals in the official list, niight havo * reasonably looked for appointment to the temporary leadership, but if hj« i# disappointed by the promotion conferred upon Mr. Mac Donald be /5 disguising feelings uncommonly well.

THE NEW MINISTER,, But the rearrangement o: portfolio among the present Ministers ia interest! l ing the gossips less than is the Beloe* tion of a new Minister. The Libera? leader is in the more or less embarrass-* i ing position of having both to nominate 1 a candidate for Parliament and to practically appoint a successor to Dr. McNabi : in the Cabinet. A picturesque specula* tion to which this position lias given some remote color of possibility is tkat ', in the event of Sir John Findlay being returned for Ilawke's Bay he. and Sif Francis Bell with ministerial rank will go to London to attend the Imperial Conference and thus release Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward for the still mora important work awaiting them hers. No one pretends to have any warrant for dreaming of such an arrangement, but there certainly is a growing feeling here that the absence of the two Ministers directly responsible to the country for the administration of its affairs should not be prolonged for a single day more than is absolutely necessary. '

THE POLITICAL SITUATION. Tlapfrily these questions have ariaea nt a time when the political situation is calmer than it has been for many years past. The war Ims silenced the party polilicians and is oa a fair way towards banishing party politics. This miracle ia all the more wonderful by the fact that political convictions and political as* ' pirations remain just ftp strong and jjusS as intense as they were three years ago. Simply the politicians and their parties, in the face of a great national crisis, have dropped their unworthy suspicion of one another and have united in a. common effort to reach a common goal. Hut this is not going to save the Nations . ' al Cabinet from criticism when Parn'ai Client meets. On the contrary, the very Security ,of the party truce is going to unloosen the tongues of the critics and '" without fiippnnoy and without bitterness the private member, on whichever side of the House he Bits, is going to be a more independent and a more effective person than lie ever has been before, j ,