WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 January 1918, Page 8

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE CIKIJIIAN KSCAI'KIW cornr nr ixncmv. ,'Special Curi'u.-'.pontlciif) Wellington, Jail. fl. rise iij;oii tin; escape (if tin 1 German pri-.oiiers from Motuilii J-l;iml i'hiih tin much the linos everyone who rend the new-paper reports of the evidence must have expected. Acting' upon t]>i> findings liie Cabinet lias decided that Colonel Turner shall lie eourt-inartiallcd. that Colonel Patterson and Major Lilly shall appear before a further Court of Inquiry, and that the extent of the responsibility of Major-General Sir A. Robin, the Commandant of the New Zealand Forces, shall he. considered. Any subsequent proceedings lr. regard to Colonel Patterson and Major Lilly will depend upon the report of tl'.c further Court of Inquiry, while the result of the consideration of General Robin's responsibility is a mat ter only for speculation. This is as far as the mere layman in view of military custom, precedent and etiquette may go at present, but it is an open secret that Cabinet, which sat for long hours on Monday and Tuesday, was very much exercised over the whole affair and that Ministers were by no means unanimous in the final decision;.

•>T:FEK(.T .EXPENDITURE. ' A substitute on the War Expenditure Commission for Mr. .lustice Stringer, who was unable to undertake the duties of the chairmanship, has beeh found in Brigadier-General Sir Robert Anderson, who is said to possess very special qnali(ications for the position and who recently conducted a similar inquiry for fhe Australian Federal Government. Sir Robert was a. banker in civil life, but lately lias been serving the Commonwealth Defence Department as a business man and the high rank he holds testifies to the success with which he has borne Ins responsibilities. An idea has got abroad that Sir .Tames Allen, has beer opposing the appointment of the Commissioii and that his attitude has occasioned tiie delay in its constitution; but from such reliable information as can he obtained the stories to this effect that have been- going the round are entirely without foundation. There have been some differences of opinion in Cabinet as to the order of reference, but these have been amicably settled nn.' thoroughly comprehensive and searching' investigation is now assured.

COST OP LIVING. The Board of Trade lias been making some inquiries into the prices of groceries in Wellington, which in respect to some articles compare very unfavorably, from the purchaser's point of view, with the prices charged in other centres and evm in some remote hamlets, but so far it has not obtained sufficient information jto make any definite recommendation to the Government. The fact of the matter seems to ho that t'he prosperity of the capital city, due in a measure to conditions brought about by the war, is largely responsible for the increase in the cost of Ih'ing within its boundaries. The grocers arc- paying high rents and high wages and high prices to the wholesale houses, which in turn are paying high prices for their supplies, and it. is difficult for the Board of Trade, with all it? good intentions, to discover where the cutting should begin. It is scarcely likely to find any relief for the consumers till the end of the war and even then Wellington may have to tolerate high prices for a year or two. In the meantime the citizens aro enjoying the consolation of being 'highly prosperous themselves.

F. LECTOR ATJ. The death of Mr. Taere Parata, the member for the Southern Maori District, who was one of the most conscientious and one of the best informed representatives ever sent to Parliament by the Maori electors, will necessitate another by-election in the early future. Maori members are not always over-firmly rooted to their party allegiance, but Mr.' Parata was such a staunch Liberal by inheritance and disposition that, there can be no question of the "color" of his successor under the conditions of the party (ruce. Already the names of several likely candidates arc being mentioned, but the contest, if there Is a contest, will not excite a great deal of interest outside the ranks of the electors immediately foneerned. As regards tin impending by-election in Wellington Xorth, it is understood that the Hon". A. L. Ilerdimm's elevation to the Supreme Court Bench, has been postponed and that no vacancy will occur in the representation of the constituency for a month or so. All Mr. Ilerdman's friends will deeply deplore the cause of the postponement. but probably the postponement ilself is a relief to t'he Prime Minister, who seemed a little while ago confronted bv a grave split in his own party over the choice of a candidate. Time land circumstances may solve tile problem land make the return of a worthy successor to Mr. llerdman an easy matter.