WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 June 1917, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

'HE MINISTER OF AGRICRULTUSE.

IMPRESSIONS OI? AUSTRALIA.

(From Our Own Correspondent). Wellington, May Htl. The Hon. W. D. S. iuu'ttona;:;, v.-ho has been so long identified with the public life of this country Unit New iJaalanders arc apt to forgot he is an Australian bred and born, has returned from his flying visit to the Commonwealth with many pleasant impressions of the people of his native land. He stronglv resents the popular assumption that they are less loyal to the Empire and less patriotic in its service than arc the other peoples of the British race, They have been judged, • says, by an unfortunate manifest;:-...in of political wilfulness which was only a passing phase of the volatile .Australian temperament. Of course, there are restless, irresponsible spirits on the other side of the Tasman sea, just as there are on this side, who talk a lot of mischievous nonsense. but- tho heart of the great mass of tho people is sound and their ideals and aspirations are much the same ::s those of the people of the New Zealand. T'HE POLITICAL SITUATION. Australia was just emerging from the throes of a federal'eWtion when Mr. Mac Donald arrived in •Sydney. Though the success of the Nationalists was assured, party feeling was still running (high and many of tho asperities of the contest were remaining. But moving about the country and conversing with members of both parties he found a very general desire to get about the business of the country without any further distractions. The problems ifaeiug iPp politicians in the Commonwealth are very similar to those facing the politicians in the Dominion. Huge sums of money have to be raised for war purposes, increased taxation has to be adjusted to sensitive shoulders, the cost of living has to be regulated as far as possible, and the conflicting claims of capita? and labor have to be reconciled. In these respects New Zealand has not a great deal to learn fr6m its neighbor, but it must not' be imagined that it is far ahead either in effort or in achievement or that it always lias the best of the friendly rivalry between the two countries. THE WHEAT DEAL. For reasons which are more or less obvious Mr. I&eDonald cannot-, at present discuss in detail tho progress of his negotiations with the Commonwealth Government which led up to tlie purchase of a million bushels of / wheat on behalf of New Zealand. Tho Minister had recognised for some time that it might be necessary to supplement the local supply of grain by drawing tipon Australia, but the position was complicated by the fact the Imperial authorities were looking in the same direction for their supplies. The difficulty of moving last season's crop, on account of the lack of shipping, relieved tae tension to some extent and made it possible for tho,New Zealand Government to enter the market as a buyer without prejudicing the operations of the Mother Country. Tho price was rather Tiighcr than Mr. Mac Donald expected to have to pay when lie left New Zealand, but it was lower than values in London aittl America would have justified at tho time. AUSTRALIAN STOCKS. Mr. Mac Donald saw millions of bushels of wheat in store and in stack in Australia, much of it lying in the open waiting means of transit, and he did not like to think how much of it would be lost through, vermin and deterioration On these points ho had protected the interests of tho Dominion by the usual conditions in regard to sampling and examination. Qualified graders, who already have been engaged, would inspect the wheat at the port of shipment and they had instructions to examino every sack and reject any lhat bore the slighest sign of the presence of vermin or pest of any kind. The samples the Minister lias brought back with liim, are of good average milling wheat, not quite so plump as the best New Zealand, but rather thinner skinned and perfectly sound. Should the bulk be as good, there will be no ground for complaint on the score of quality. THE SECOND DIVISION. It is now expected that the first ballot for the Second Division will be taken in September or October, and though the men may not be required to go into camp before December or January the near approach of this scco'.d stage of compulsory servifce is giving emphasis to a number of matters which a month or two ago were occasioning comparatively little public concern. Among other things there is an insistent demand that members of the First Division who so far have managed to evade their gations be brought to 'book before the married men with serious responsibilities are called upon. How many men drawn in the ballots are still unaccounted for it is impossible to learn from official figures, but obviously tho number is not an insignificant one, and in common fairness there must be a vigorous "rourd-v.p" before the leakage is accepted as inevitable.