WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 January 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

MUNICIPAL ENTERPRISE BREAKS DOWN. (From Our Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Jan. 11. After years of preparatory discussion and months of deliberate preparation the milk distribution scheme conceived and organised by the, Wellington City Council broke down hopelessly after a few hours' trial on Wednesday, and yesterday was "temporarily suspended" by the Mayor, with the approval of the Health Committee. The case of the council cannot be compared with that of the unwise man of the parable who built a hou»e without counting the cost. The Mayor and his councillors, have been counting j the cost of t>.e clearing station and its equipment for half a decade, and quite . possibly their desire to make this as low as possible is the cause of the whole trouble. Anyway the scheme would not work. The milk suppliers were, not sympathetic, the railway authorities were dilatory, and the consumers were sceptical. The net result was a delay of many hours in the delivery, and the practical abandonment of the scheme. The clearing station remains as another monument to the ineptitude of the municipal management of the capital city. WELLINGTON JfORTH. It is reported now that the delay in the Hon. A. L. IJerdman's ,i:ition of bis seat in Parliament is du<* u. Sir John Denniston's retirement from (the Supreme Court bench being postponed for a few weeks. This is scarcely correct, or. at anyrate, it is not the whole of the truth, there being other reasons why Mr. Herdman is not making the contemplated change just now: but the delay will not iie unacceptable to the Prime Minister, v.-lio has not yet succeeded in persuading his political friqnds in Wellington North that Mr. J. P. Luke is just the man that should step into the Attorney-General's vacated shoes. The Reformers in the constituency have been diligently searching for another candidate, and there is •;ome talk of Mr. A. E. Whyte. the secretary of the Wellington Racing Club, a son of an old-time member of the Legislative Council, contesting the scat. Mr. Wlivte himself, however, is not looking favorably upon the proposition, and it is likely his friends will have to go further afield. THE RAILWAY'S. The publication this, morning ot Sit Joseph Ward's statement of the public revenue and expenditure for the nine months ended on December 31 last has directed renewed attention to the declining earnings of the railways. The Minister of Finance, of course, makes no comment upon the matter, but it is an open secret that some of his colleagues, perhaps not so discreet as Sir Joseph always is. have no sympathy with the present policy of the Railway Department. It is pt.ill firmly believed by the man-in-tlic-street that the restricted services and in creased charges are primarily due to the quarrel between the Minister of Defence and the railway authorities in regard to the application of conscription. So far as the public can see there" is no lack of workers to prevent the lines being run up to their full earning capacity, and there certainly is no lack of rolling-stock. The layman's opinion may not" be of much value, but it is more and more inclining to the view that tiie public finances are suffering through the persistent obstinacy of high officials. FARM LABOR. The departure of a. number of harvesters for the South ftland has been followed by reports from the country districts of an acute shortage in the supply of farm labor. Harvesters in the graingrowing districts of the North Island arc said to be demanding 2s fid an hour, an advance of Is an hour upon the rate prevailing last season, and apparently the farmers are at tha mercy of the workers. The Government undertook, when it. was urging the farmers to sow more wheat this year, to see that the necessary labor was available for gathering the crops, but it seems to have taken 110 authority to regulate the wages, and the, guaranteed prices may be seriously discounted in this direction. There is little suitable farm labor left in Wellington. and consequently 110 prospect of the growers obtaining relief bv drafts upon this source. ' * '