WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1918, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS

PARLIAMENT. ' MARKING TIME, (From Onr-Spoeial Correspontfent.) Wellington, Oct. 28. After the adjournment on Friday many: ■members left for their homes, and during the week-end the lobbies laave worn a deserted appearance. Mr. G. J. Anderson, the member for Mataura, will move the Address-iu-Reply, and the'n the rank and file of the House will be free to talk at large to their constituents and the rest of the community.ou- overy conceivable subject under the sun. It is expect-' ed that the debate, as all this by courtesy is called, will last for a fortnight, and t'hat then the serious business of the session will begin. Ministers are showing no disposition to hurry members, and doubtless are relying" on thegeneral desire to reach the prorogation-, before Christmas to save them-trouble later on. A FULL PROGRAMME. It is not easy to see, however, how tho Government is going to manage to get through even tho programme indicated in tihe Governor-General's Speech during the six or seven weeks of thepresent year that will remain on the conclusion of the Address-in-Reply debate. There already are a number of private members' Bills and notices of motion upon the Order Paper, and though these need not impede the progress of business if the Government cares to keep them out of the way, the House is not in t'iie humor to submit to tactics of that kind. Then, whatever happens, the liquor question, an item omitted from the Speech, is hound to provoke a great deal of talk, and so far no royal road to unanimity on the cost of living problem has been suggested. DEFENCE MATTERS. The batch of questions concerning Defence matters that have been put upon the Order Paper show that the more persistent of Sir .lames Allen's critics are still dissatisfied with his administration, but the general attitude of the House towards the Minister is certainly less hostile than it appeared to be a year or two ago. Several members who were in the forefront of the fault-finders in the early stages of the war now frankly admit that Sir James in many respects has done extraordinarily well, and that by "delivering the goods", as it is colloquially expressed, he has made amends for most of bis early mistakes. It seems likely that he will encounter less heckling this session than he has for several sessions past. THE LABOR MEMBERS. The little group of Labor members, strengthened by the appearance of Mr. P. Praser and Mr. S. G. Smith in the House, now makes quite a respectable show on the cross benches. They have distributed themselves over a wider area of seats than would indicate entire unity on all questions, but probably they wiil be found voting together and expressing very similar aspirations. The new member for Taranaki sits some distance away from his colleagues, perhaps to mark his disapproval of their lack of enthusiasm over the war, but he is not going to be ''dumb dog"' of the. group, and already has been welcomed by other "Progressives'' in the House as the son of "a. father who strove very valiantly for the cause of the "bottom dog".