Bruce, has fhwolved himself in an unfortunate quarrel with the organization representing the returned soldiers—a strong body with very definite opinions of its own. It was necessary to have an Official to act as ce-ordinating officer in Australia in_connexion with the forthcoming Empire exhibition in London. Applications were invited, amd many returned soldiers applied. The position went to a man. who wag not a returned soldier, and, so the soldiers say, had not even applied. The Government is pledged to give preference to returned soldiers, other things being equal, and after a good deal of controversy the executive of the Victorian Soldiers' League passed a resolution saying that it did not consider the Bruce Government sincere in its protestations of giving preference to soldiers. There does not seem very much in this, but the Prime Minister, prompted possibly by some evil official genius, wrote and said that
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.