WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 August 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE GOAL FAMINE. ! STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. (Special Correspondent.)' Wellington,, .July 29. Yesterday Wellington was congratulatin? itself upon having reached the end of the cold boisterous sou'-west weather that has been sweeping across Cook Strait for nearly two months with scarcely an hour's intermission. The wind dropped, the rain ceased, the sun shone and quite a number of people ventured out to the long abandoned sea-side resorts. But this morning the city was plunged back into mid-winter again and at noon the outlook is as unpropitious as ever. The troubles of the citizens under the extremely disagreeable conditions that have prevailed, and are still prevailing, have been greatly aggravated by the acute shortage of coal. None of the dealers are supplying mere than a sack or two at a time' ex.Copt to' their best favored customers, land there arc scores of houses in which the meague stocks of dust and rubbish, passing as coal, arc being eked out with coak and cinders and chips of wood.

THE SUPPLY. In some quarters the Minister of Munitions and Supplies, who has been entrusted with the distribution of the available supplies of fuel, has been blamed for the existence of this extremely disagreeable state of affairs. It even lias been stated that many of the yards are full of coal and that if an equitable distribution were made no household need be without the absolutely necessary supply. But as a matter of fact it is only through the close supervision and impartial administration of the Minister and his staff that a much worse catastrophe has been averted. The coal yards practically are as bare as are the family scuttles. The rough weather lias delayed the supplies by sea and the reserve stocks.of indispensable works—electric light and power, gas, freezing, shipping and railways —have been greatly depleted. The Hon. A. M. Myers made a statement on Saturday showing in plain figures the actual position, and though the Minister takes an optimistic view of the future it is evident he must insist upon the strictest economy till further supplies are in sight.

MUNICIPAL MILK. The City Council's miik scheme continues to he dawned by faint praise. Those of the critics not absolutely opposed to interference with private enterprise admit that the scheme has good points and that reform of some kind is very necessary; but they contend that the Council's proposals, though ambitious enough in their way, are not going to remove the existing evils. "The three great faults of the City milk supply," the New Zealand Times says in the course of an editorial this morning, "are that it is dear milk, stale milk, and dipped milk." None of these faults, it seems is to be removed by the Council's scheme. The milk still will be dear, will come from far afield and will be delivered in the old inefficient way. It, is the Council's very natural and proper desire to cause the present suppliers as little loss as possible that is hampering the way of reform, and at the moment it looks likely to become the rock on which the whole scheme will split.

PARLIAMENT, Though Ministers are very reticent on the subject and private members' views in these times count for nothing, there is a very general feeling here that the agitation of the Prohibitionists for a licensing poll at the end of the current year will not succeed. The best the promoters of the agitation can hope for is that the Government will not ask for a further prolongation of the life of Parliament and that the licensing poll will be taken in the usual course with the general election at the end of next year. It is being argued that if the Imperial Government sees no objection to consulting the electors while the war is on there can be no grave impropriety in the New Zealand Government seeking a verdict from the constituencies a year hence. The result, assuming the conditions remain unchanged, probably would be similar to (lie one foreshadowed at Home, a working agreement between the official Reformers and the official Liberals, hut it would at least give the National Government the justification of a mandate from the people.