WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1918, Page 8

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THK GERMAN ESCAPEES, APPLY INC. THE LESSON 'Special Corre^oiulent) Wellington, IN- .11. YTeafovrr may he the limling of tlic ! Court 'of inquiry or*of any l'uvthcv tvi- ; huuar that maybe sot up to investigate ''lll.- Grange happenings Jil: Motuihi Is'hud. il is certain Count von Luckner ; am! his merry men will not. lie allowed to ; prolit hv lie "open door" policy £iL;ai]K ; The Prime Minister anil tiie Minister of | Defence are very inucii in earnest about | the matter. Tliey realise that- New Zoa- .; iamt as a custodian of war prisoners had I -been made, a laughing-stock for t!t/o j whole world and particularly for the I Herman ration and that, this is not the j kind of distinction the Dominion should jbe enioyiV.tr just, now. The Count's proi! tc-N again'! being lodged in the comi mor. </oe! in Auckland while more suit- : able accommodation is being provided for I himself and his fellow escapees elsewhere ! have been disregarded, and many of the j privileges he enjoyed' at Motuihi have ! been permanently withdrawn. There will be i:o retaliation, but there will be much more security. ! CABINET RUMORS. The rumors of plain spenking in Cab- , inet concerning the incident persist, and | some of them are obtaining a certain amount of color from official statements. Of course neither Mr. Mas.-oy nor Sir ;.lames Allen is indicating by as much as the elevation of an eye-brow or a shrug of tiro shoulders to whom they ivoiild attribute the blame for what has occurred. They both have too nice a regar;' for tiie proprieties to be betrayed into any indiscretion of that sort. But they both are obvionslv vexed and even angered and determined Ihe whole ail'air •hall be sifted to the bottom. There is nothing tangible to suggest thai the reports of Sir James Allen going ilome to attend the meeting of the imperial Cabinet have anything to do with what ha~. happened, but public opinion is' inclining to the view that the Minister ol Defence may l>e persuaded to make the trip and Hint the Prime Minister ;n,'i.\ take over the administration of il.e Defence Department,.during his absence DEFENCE EXPENDITURE. 1 The stories that are in circulation alleging serious dissensions in the Cabinet, over the appoint m-nt of the commission to inquire into the expenditure of the Defence Department may be dismissed at oi:ce as having no foundation. The order j of reference iias caused some discussion and the appointment of a chairman some delay, but on all cardinal points connected with the commission Ministers are now agreed. Sir dames Allen, very naturally, is anxious (hat the inquiry shout,] be conducted with perfect fairness to his responsible ollieers, and, perhaps a { I'tde quixotically, that any blame (here j may be to distribute should fall primar- ; iiy upon his own shoulder?. His attiti'de in the latter resppct may prove somewhat embarrassing to bis colleagueswho want frankly to'got at, the heart of things, but it is not going to bring about the Cabinet crisis some people are predicting. MINISTERS AND'HOLfDAVS Pontine work in the public oiliccs has been suspended during ihc holiday season, but Ministers have been kept busy in various dirotions. The Prime Ministur, accompanied by several officers of the Department ami the chairman of the Land PuroTiase Board, returned to town just before •Christmas lyith a largo amount of information concerning soldiers' settlement which will be turned to account early in the New Year. Sir Joseph Ward has made two Hying visits 1n the south, taking his work and ids office slnlT with him, and the Hon. A. M. Myers : jias been attending to the affairs of his in Auckland. The Hon. W. D. S. V.wPonald has been inspecting the .State farms aid the Hon. 0. Y\". Russell jias been occupying hijnself with the var jo-.is institutions under iijs control. The i Hon. A. I- Herdman. preparatory, no jdfliDit, U> the more restful sphere that: lies before hivit. has been taking a raIfiounl holiday, but the rest of the Ministers have spent the greater part of I (he festive season in |,titni« only a lij,Jje hess Btremious than (liu<p lliflt rominp'j|lhs,e their ener«ie-« t\ w veur I'OUfl^