WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 November 1918, Page 7

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

£: DEFENCE ADmiSTRATION; ■« ! SAViNG GRACE OF SUCCESS t , ' i (Special CorrospxiednO Woiiiugron. Nov. 4. The deb.'ite on the Address-in-Reply will be resumed in the House of Kepicseniatives to-morrow and probably will conclude before the end ui the Wuck The House, in its present frame of m.'iid lui:s not nearly so much to say against the "Uovernment as the political prophets expected it to have. The cheering war news has taken most of thp sting out of the debate- Lobby gossip during the last day or two has dealt less with the sins of the National Government then with the possible and prcbahle developments of the political situation after the declaration ot' peace. Members who. taik of peace before tie end of the year and of a general election early in the new year may be over sanguine, but they have 'been getting a hearing. At anyrate, with the war over, neither Mr Massey nor Sir Joseph Ward will anxious to prolong the present arrangement unnecessarily. No doubt their closer association has strengthened their personal regard for each other, but it has not bridged their political differences'. A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE. Perhaps the most significant indiCi* ticn of a change of temper on the part of the House is the attitude; of members generally towards the Minister for Defenqe. There is time jet for Sir James Allen's critics to resume their fire of previous sessions, but at present the Minister is receiving singularly little of their aggressive attention. It appears from the galleries that members realise more fully than they did a year ago tile splendid results of New Zealand's military effort and are less disposed to quibble over details of Defence administration. When the Minister for Defence stated in the House the other day that he had been informed by high military authority that the New Zealanders were "the finest storm troops on the western front" and that "any eorps commander would give his eyes to have them," he was malting an effective reply to a great deal of the angry condemnation that has been heaped upon him in the House and out of it.

THE SCHEME OF FORESTRY Statements made to Farmers' Union delegates by the f'rime Minister and the Minister for Finance show that the Department of Forestry is going to be made an effective industrial and economic force without delay A sum of 050,000 is to bo placed on the estimates for forestry this year, and Mr Massey wishes this vote to be regarded as a pledge of the Government's sircerity and not as the limit of its financial support to' the great scheme of forestry Sir Francis Bell is anxious to Ifunch. It is scarcely too much to snv that hitherto forestry has received no practical attention at all from the Government or from the local bodies of the Dominion. Prisoners have been employed planting trees in "locations teuitable or otherwise, but quite rightly the authorities have been more concerned for the physical and moral well-being of the men than for the future of the trees. Now tree planting is to become a scientific branch of forestry and the most approved methods are to be adopted in developing and. as far as possible, restoring one of the greatest of the country's assets.

A BIG UNDERTAKING New Zealand will bav» to folllow the example of older countries hy reserving existing forest areas and making them permanently productive. A large force of trained foresters will be required to trim and prune, remove unnecessary undergrowth, construct roads, cut fire-be!t» and maintain an output of timber 3jy felling each vear a certain number of trees A forest handled in this fashion wilt provide employment for more labor than a similar area of grazing land will do; it will give an annual, return far larger than ingst people imagine to he possible and it will maintain its output of timirj) for all time. The Minister for Forestry realises that his first step must be' the engagement of some experienced forestry officers, and it is probable that he will have to look for them outside New Zealand. The imported experts, however, will be only imported teachers, who T?v stimulating .ocal interest and attention will do for thr. timber mdusfrv what the Importfor