WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1917, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

CLOSE OP THE SESSION. THE END IN SIGHT. (Special Correspondent). Wellington, October 15. The Prime Minister is still hopeful of cloning the session by the end. of the month, but during the last- few days a number of matters have cropped up which seem likely to make the task he lias set himself one of no small difficulty. The usual incentives towards expedition, the shearing and the Canterbury Carnival Week, have lost some of their force during the war and of course they appeal only to a comparatively small proportion Of the members. On the other hand there is a proposal to set up a parliamentary committee to investigate the defence expenditure, which could scarcely get to work within the next fortnight, the report of the Cost of Living Committee to be discussed a further Loan Bill to be passed through all its stages, the final touches to be put to the Pensions Bil! and the Legislative Council's amendments to the Sale of Liquor Bill to be considered. Here is work enough to keep Parliament going for a month if it were left to its own leisurely way. DEFENCE EXPENDITURE. Mr. Massey has raised no objection to the appointment of a parliamentary committee to investigate the defence expenditure, except- the very obvious one that it would be able to do very little in the dying hours of the session, and it is quite probable the idea may be carried out in some other fashion. The Dominion which recognises the need for enquiry, suggests that a small commission of business men under the presidency of the chairman of the Efficiency Board, if his services are available, would bring about practical and perhaps valuable results. The need for an investigation of some sort is generally recognised in the lobbies. It is admitted that the Minister of Defence has done all that one man could be expected to do in this direction, but he has had no time to give personal attention to all the financial details of his Department and with the expenditure rapidly mounting up to two millions a month the representatives of the taxpayers are naturally becoming a little anxious about the future. THE LIQUOR-BILL. The delay in pushing on the Sale of Liquor Restriction Bill, while ensuring the acceptance by the House of the Council's amendment deferring the. operation of the measure from November 1 to December 1, has given rye in prohibition circles to some uneasiness concerning the fate of six o'clock closing. It is announced, presumably with authority, that the Government will not ask the House to accept all the other amendments made by the Council, and it is suggested that an obstinate disagreement between the two chambers at this stage of the session might result in the abandonment of the whole measure. But there is not the least , danger or hopeaccording to the point of view—of this occurring. Possibly there are one or two members of the House who would like to reconsider their votes on early closing, but the general feeling is that the original decision must go through and that the material features of the measure must be retained.