WELLINGTON TOPICS.
the railway commission. ITS GENESIS. (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Feb. 245. A note which- appeared in this column referring to the 'Railway Commission last week, did some injustice to Mr. T. M, Wilford, the member for Hutt, "who was represented as having brought about the appointment of the Commission by implying in the House of Representatives that much of the rolling-stock on the railways had fallen into sad disrepair, and was rapidly becoming a menace to the travelling public. It was Mr. Veitcli, the member for Wanganui, not Mr. Wilford, who, when the railway statement was laid on tin* table of the House, made a speech in which it was implied, roundly asserted indeed, that the maintenance department was allowing its work to get behind and was doing much of it in a slipshod fashion. It was some time later that Mr. Wilford asked the Minister, without implying anything at all, if lie was aware of certain rumors in circulation regarding the rolling-stock, and if he would make inquiries concerning their accuracy. The result was a report from the bead of the department declaring that everything was well, and Mr. Wilford heard no more of the matter until he was invited to attend the sitting of the Commission in Wellington. He clearly is not responsible for the expenditure that is being incurred in providing a number of officials with an op-' portunity to assure the public at large that they are doing their job satisfactorily. , i MILITARY SERVICE. The controversy that has been going on lately over the liability of clergymen for active military service has incidentally raised another question of some importance. Tile churches, of course, are not objecting to their priests and pastors doing their full share towards winning the war. The Roman Catholics, .who stand on one side of the controversy, have given gladly of their best for work at the front, and the Methodists, who stand on the opposite side, have actually closed up their Theological. Training College in order that every able-bodied man of their creed may be' available for the fighting line. But people avlio gratefully recognise the work the doctors and dentists have done are now asking why their professions should be treated differently from the professions of law aM engineering or the callings of banking and journalism. In short, they want to know why doctors and. dejit'ists of military age should not bo called up for service at a living wage, just as solicitors and bankers and farm laborers are called up, and put to the work for which they are best fitted. At present the docors and dentists are given <good fat jobs at home, and the advocates of logical democracy are asking' why.
HAAVKE'S BAT BY-ELECTION 1 . Conflicting reports continue to reach Wellington in regard to the prospects of the Hawke's Buy by.election, but llierp is a growing feeling hero that tiie result will largely depend upon the interpretation the local Roformers place on their obligation under the party compact. If a large number of them abstain from voting, as a large number of Liberals'undoubtedly did at the I'aliiatua by-election, on the contention that it is the business of tiie electors immediately concerned to settle their differences between the National Government will have some difficulty in returning its candidate. Mr. Lan Simson and Mr. A. L. D. Fraser are definitely in the field as Independent Liberals, and though they have none of Sir John Kmdlay's ability and knowledge of affairs, they have the advantage of being local men and of appealing to the .parochialism which must afflict every constituency so long as 'Parliament remains largely a glorified board of works and a dispenser of loaves and fishos. Sir John Findlav is throwing himself wholeheartedly into the light, and is receiving the loyal a.ssitance of official Liberals and official Reformers,, but in a poll which may not reach half the size of that recorded at the general election almost anything may happen. LABOR. The Conciliation Council, conferences, disputes committees, and the various other devices for averting labor troubles are still holding on their beneficent way, and at least are tending to bring about better personal relations between the workers and their employer*. TUo
miners, popularly supposed to ho firebrands, both industrially and m of the Labor Party, are still conferring I. with the mine-owners, and so far the d negotiations appear to be proceeding l- amicably enough. This must not bo taks- en to mean that all the obstacles to an e. agreement have been overcome. It may 1- be that the more formidable of them 3s have not yet been approached. The watersiders and the employers have ■s unanimously decided, under the gentle a guidance of the Conciliation Conimis- ;• sioner, that a Dominion conference should ) be held to discuss the conditions of work p and the. rales of wages in relation to all New Zealand ports, and for the present 7 the status quo will lie maintained. This, 1, of course, is not the end of the trouble' but it is the adoption of a much more t- reasonable attitude by both parlies and , ought to make for a satisfactory peace. Masters and men alike bear witness to the admirable manner in which Mr. Iluggar presided over their negotiations. THE COAL MINERS' TROUBLE. . _ The conference between representatives of the coal.miners and the inine- [ owners, concerning the proposals of the .. miners for a new- agreement, was con- . tinucd to-day and adjourned until toI morrow. The proceedings appear likely to occupy several more days. The par- , ties admittedly are finding' it difficult to attain common ground in their discussion . of conditions and wages, and if times - had been normal the delegates might havo parted some days ago without a settlement-. -But. both sides recognise that a quarrel. at the present juncture is highly undesirable, and they are try ing earnestly, and not altogether unsuccessfully, to reach agreement on the ! various points under discussion. The most knotty question of all remains to be considered in detail. 1 Representatives of the seamen are to i meet the shipowners this week to discuss proposals for a new agreement, i and the watersiders' dispute, which has been considered by the Conciliation Council, is still unsettled. It apparently i cannot rest indefinitely at the present , stage. Any prediction regarding the ■ course of events in connection with these - grave industrial questions would be rash, but one may say that the attitude of all parties suggests a desire- for peace, possibly even at the price of compromise. A factor in the promotion of settlements is the hint given more than once by the Government that no suspension of industry can be tolerated at the present juncture, WAR PENSIONS. The War Pensions .Board reports that up to the present time tiot)4 war pensions and allowances have been granted, representing to-day an annual liability of £2G3,!)00. It will be remembered ( (hat when he was introducing the War Pensions Act in the House of Representatives in llll'o, the Hon. Sir James Allen predicted that the annual charge would amount to £1,000,000 before the close of the war. The estimate does not look as excessive as it did at the time. , The pensions already granted cover the' returned discharged men and the depend cnts of disabled men and of those who have fallen. The permanent pensions number slightly under 2000, but many of the allowances will ultimately be eonverted into pensions, when the phvsiael and financial conditions of the persons concerned have been determined. The soldiers who are at present in hospital's, j either here or in the United Kingdom, and their dependents have still to present their claims. Nobody can say what further -casualties will have to be *e. ported before the war ends.
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Taranaki Daily News, 1 March 1917, Page 7
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1,293WELLINGTON TOPICS. Taranaki Daily News, 1 March 1917, Page 7
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