WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 January 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

SECOND DIVISION. TIGHTENING • THE BURDEN". (bpcivil Correspondent). Wellington, Jan. HI. • lir. ..iiisscY, who ,vns among the passengfby the be-fogged and belated Maori this morning, <v'n"ii seen immediate!,' after bis arrival could add nothing to wkat lie, already had said to the deputation which waited upon him in Chi-istcliuich asking that the physical fitness of nembi'i's ot the Second Division .-hcuiio be definitely ascertained before they i,'ere sent into ;amp. He repeated. however, 1 hat it was Ills desire ;jid he '.yf.s sun, vlie desire of the Minister of Defence and his other colleagues that the men should be put to as little inconvenience as possible. It would ,iot be reasonable to expect the Medical Boards to" determine on a preliminary exai".ination whether a man's own idea of his condition was correct or not, but there might lie a quicker ,way of putting it to a practical test than the ones that were m vogue at present. At any rate the Government would do all it could to lighten the burden of the members of the Second Division and to see that thr. need for maintaining the Reinforcements did not press more heavily iipon them than was Absolutely necessary. WHIPPING CENSORSHIP. Sir Joseph Ward also .vas a passenger by the ferry steniear this morning, and though he could not materially supplement the statement he made in the Soutli concerning the censorship of shipping news, he reiterated his assurance that the matter would be very carefully considered by the Cabinet. The censorship was instituted at the instigation of the Imperial authorities and its miturti was precise and well-defined, hut if Australia was enjoying greater latitude than New Zealand was in this respect then there was a clear case for inquiry. The people who complained, however, must remember that the Imperial authorities, with a view of the whole war area and of the operations of the enemy, so far as they could be ascertained, before them were in a much better position to say what was desirable in the way of precautions than anyone in New Zealand could be. At' present he could only say he was most anxious to remove any inconvenience or 1 " disability from which the public was suffering. "MILK SUPPLY. " The milk supply fiasco continues to be the talk of the town and the City Council the particular butt of the newspaper correspondents. Unhappily the abortive attempt of the Mayor and his advisers—who seem, by the way, to be very much divided against themselves — has Been followed by the first hot and sultry weather of the season and the effects of the weather unpleasantly demonstrated in the milk jug are being laid to the charge of the municipal government. This, of course, is scarcely fair, but it is little wonder in the circumstances that the hindering of the Council is being very roundly reprobated by the suffering housewives. The only people who appear to be quite indifferent about the matter are the suppliers, who declare they could dispose of their milk to tlie cheese and butter factories to better advantage than to the retailers, who seem always at loggerheads with their customers and the local authorities. • SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING. . Six o'clock closing r: proving much more effective, in the opinion of the Pro. hibitionisti, and much more disastrous in the opinion of the hotel keepers, than was generally expected. The outward and visible signs of the. working of the experiment are less drunkenness about the streets and brisker business in the bottle departments of the licensed houses. H"ow the two developments arc balancing ono another only a very close investigation and inquiry could show r .U: in the meantime such views as are 1 ,uis( expressed on the point differ very w' leiv. The Prohibitionists are jubilant, predicting that the result will be a distinct step towards the achievement of their ultimate goal, while the Moderates are eonfidentlv silent, declaring that the electors will not tolerate the inconvenience that is being suffered and the injustice that is occasioned. The police decline to express any official opinion oh the subject and privately differ as widely as do the Prohibitionists ftnd the Moderates. FOOLISH REGULATIONS. 'Sir Joseph Ward has oeen asked in C'nristctiurcli to relay the regulations prohibiting tlJc publication of information regarding the arrival and departure of overseas mails and Ik has promised to br:.ng the matter belore Cabinet. The stereotyped leply to requests of this nature U that the arc issued at iiie request oi the imperial authorities, But it is -a tact, nevertheless, that Australia and Canada have not found it necessary to inflict similar inconveniences on theii people. The truth seems to be that the New Zealand Government has followed a practice of adopting Imperial regulations that were drafted for the United Kingdom, where the enemy is near ana tlie submarines are hovering outside- the ports. Australia and Canai da modify the regulations to suit local needs. Their system seems the. better one, THE MOTUIHI AFFAIR Various rumors are in circulation regarding a portion of the 'Defence Minister's recent statement regarding the Motuihi affair. The Minister said that tiie connection of the Commandant of the Forces, General Sir A. W. Robin, with the affair was "untler consideration." It is not the custom to administer reproofs to 'general officers commanding, who arc , regarded as impeccable as long as they .retain their commands. One of the reports ;3 that in the event of the retirement ot tlie present commandant an ' cffii'tv holding a Very high position in connection with the Jiew Zealand Forces in Eiife'laiul will W brought to the Dominion, but there is no official information on which to base any prediction of this kind. AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE. I'o-day's decision of Cabinet regarding tTie wages of married men in tlie public service establishes an important principle though it does not appear that it will affect a, large number of men. The minimum wage for a married man in the „ public service, including the, postal department, is tp.se £3 a week or, £m ;■ year. This rule is already in force in the Railways Department, and the Publie Service Commissioner states that the cases where married men in other branches are paid less than "3 a week are not many. 'i he application of r rule of this kind , presents certain diffieviKcs. If a sL<g>>. ■ anan takes a position at less than £3 a week and then marries, it does not follow in all cases that the pay for that particular position will be increased. But iiflt is liit, the i"an will be tranjfsrre;!. * :The of the Government nicety l' a ('rnand that has long been by Uwjyitlio MjHatfc./"'* T *