WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 January 1919, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

RELIGIOUS OBJECTORS. R A BOARD OP lIsQUIRX (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Jan, IS. The Minister of Defence, who ail along has beeu much more tolerant towards the religious objector to military service than a majority of the members of Parliament have been, has set up an unofficial board to advise him in the exercise of his discretionary power in the removal of names from tho defaulters' list. The members of the board are Cxs Rev. J. 1! Biugia, chaplin to the f. rass, who lia? done excellent service the front, the Rev. J. G. Chaplin, . well-knoivn non-comformist minister, I'r M. J. Mack, a Labor representative. and Mr 0. E. Matthews, the Inspector of Prisons. Tt i.< expected that if the board can advise the Minister that in its opinion a defaulter liar jjona fide religion objections to military service be will bo released and relieved from the penalty of disfranchisement imposed by law The board already lias commenced its ' work.

PUBLIC WORKS. From the statement issued by the Acting-Minister of Finance, tho Hon. A. M. Myers, yesterday, showing the revenue and expenditure for the nine months of the financial years ended on December 31 last, it appears that only £706,052 lias been expended upon public works during the period. The expenditure authorised by Parliament amounted' to nearly two millions and a half, and the Dominion, commenting tbia morning upon the figures, says they disclose a very serious state of affairs. "The extension of roads tus-< railways is demanded urgently," it si'. 'in ordinary justice to numerous settlers and their families now isolated in the •back-blocks and as the only means of enabling them to take an ellective part in building up the wealth of tho Dominion and promoting its progress " The blame for the tardy progress that has been made rests upon the Minister of Public Works, not upon the Minister of Finance, and Mr Fraser passes it on to the scarcity of labor. LABOR AND SETTLEMENT. There can bar. > doubt that t'.ie difficulty of o.i'i'iung suitable labor lor public works lias been largely increased by tho exigencies of the war. Not only has there been the demand for men for the reinforcements, but there also has been tho demand for men for the various industries. A representative of labor speaking this morning said men for road and railway works was largely accentuate"? by tho Department's refusal to pay tho wages such men could command in other employment. "While such men can make £4 or even £5 a week in other jobs," lie said, with some show of reason, "they are not going to accept £3 or £3 10s a week for harder work and less comfortable conditions." It was only the other day that a Wairarapa farirer was speaking to a similir effect, and this aspect of the question might be worthy of further consideration.

ORDERS, DECOR AT..O!v? AND MEDALS. A >rood deal of more or less cheap witticism has greeted the instructions regulating the wearing of orders, decorations and medals and the selections of dress for State occasions and public occasions just issued in a special general order from Defence ITrad'viarters. The average New Zcalander does not set much store on this sort of tiling, but. apparently someone in authority is iinxious to arouse him to a proper recognition of his social obligations- He is told, among many other things, it will be "correct" for him to wear evening dress at various functions that may occur long before noon, but if lie does not possess the necessary garment, ''it will he quite appropriate for morning dre3S t" he woin at other than evening, functions." At evening functions it seems lie must either borrow the "glad nigs" of his neighbor or deny hi;' the privilege of attending.

MILITARY DEFAULTERS. Since the signing of the armistice a dozen or more military defaulters haw been attested and sent before courtsmartial for trial. Several have been sentenced to terras cf imprisonment and others are awaitiiij trial or the promulgation of sentence. It appears that, this process will continue for a long time to come, 0 the Defence authorities and the police are going to continue an active search for the men who evaded service during the war. At the end of )s>.«t year thero were over 1200 defaulters for whom warrants were in the hands of the police atia whom the polico had failed to find- Fiftyseven. of these were drawn in the first 'ballot, forty-four in the second ballot, forty-five in the third ballot, and so on-' Rome of the defaulters, therefore, had evaded the polico for over two years. It is admitted that a substantia propor-. tion of'the men for whoin warrants lia.ve been issued probably are not in New Zealand at all, Unit undoubtedly thero are some hundreds who havo succeeded in escaping dri'CLi'ion and arrest. - The authorities believe that, a few are st'll camped in the bush in back-block districts. These men will not find, it easy! to resume their ordinary avoeatioiia without attracting more attention to' themselves than, they desire, ifiie publication of names in the defaulters''list ;tnd the consequent joss of civil will not itelievo tlie] uefaulten.i irja£ other penalties. '

BAN ON CAMERAS LIFTED. Tim ban against the use of cameras on the wharves has been lifted at last, and Wellington 'amateurs aiv> hoping that yomo of the strangely decora tod' ships seen here (luring the war Will rc<i turn before the art of marine camouflage is relegated to the past. In the meantime much interest is being taken 'in the American sailing craft that are here just now loading wool and heinp for tho Gnitcd States. Their lofty spars rise high abovo the 'millings along the. water-front and tiring to the minds of many Wellington people memories of other daysTHE H.M.C BITTIJOMEL.. TT.M.S. Philomel, the New Zealand cruiser that did such srood work in the Bed Pea mid tho Persian Gulf <. irty in the war. lay alongside a wharf i:i Wellington haivor all last year. last week she w°nt. on to th" patent slip' here for nnrne roHl tinf* ar>d 'iba ?W now ready for Seta service,.again. ..•■■■■