WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1921, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

ARMOUR AGAIN.

THE AMERICAN PROTEST.

(Special Correspondent.)

The United States Government is showing no disposition to allow the Armour incident to rest where it stands at present. Through its Consul-General in Auckland, it is protesting strongly I against the action of the New Zealand Government in refusing to issue a, meat export license to the American firm. The effect of this refusal is to leave the firm with some 300,090 eareases of mutton on its hands, running up a big account for storage and not improving in quality. The ’’Americans, with undoubted zeal since the war for the w eifare of their overseas trade, are not going to submit to this kind of thing in silence. They have told the New Zealand Government as much in so many words, and Sir Francis Beil, remembering the constitutional usage, has referred them to the Foreign Office in London. Previously he had mentioned to the ConsulGeneral, almost flippantly, that commercial methods which could not be tolerated in the United States would not be endured in this country. The truth ; of the matter is that America’s persist- i ence has carried the incident beyond I the range of colonial diplomacy and j given it the significance of an interna- . tional problem. THE PREMIER AND THE SESSION.

If Mr. Massey is to be back in the Dominion at the beginning of October, {as indicated by a cable message yesterday, he will have to leave London not later than five weeks hence. When he left New Zealand he expected to be on his way home at the beginning of August, but the Imperial Conference, while demanding his close attendance, has not ! made very rapid progress with its pro- ' gramme and the other important matters requiring his attention appear to, be in much the same ease. According to the arrangement sketched out by the Prime Minister himself, Parliament was to be called together two or three weeks before his arrival, so that the prelimi-' I nary work of the session, including the: 1 Address-in-Reply, might be got out o* ' the way before he took his seat. But in I political circles it is thought his col- ! leagues will be anxious to cut down j this “marking time” period to the smallest possible dimensions. Sir Frau- | cis Bell's tactful guidance will not he ; available in the House, and without this little useful business could bo done Parliament almost certainly will have ! to remain in session over the Christmas • holidays, and this being the ease, there * would be little advantage in saving a day or two in September.

BUTTER. The removal of the prohibition from the export of butter means that the local demand has not been sufficient to absorb the whole of the output from the factories since the termination of the contract with the Imperial authorities. Now the consumers, as .well as the farmers, are speculating as to what will happen when the Government subsidy terminates t at the end of next month. In the ordinary course the price should the London parity, and at the moment there seems no likelihood of the natural operation of the law of supply and de- 1 mand being disturbed. The recent ad- | vance in the prices at Home, however, 1 has inspired many of the producers with 1 the hope that the rate here will be 1/9 ‘ or 1/10 at the beginning of next season, : with an upward tendency. Locally the farmers would not be grudged their good fortune, for the public, while still . resenting the inequitable operation of i the last butter subsidy, have come to realise during recent months that the prosperity of the man on the land is» essential to the prosperity of the rest j of the SGHuauaitjl <