NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 647, 26 October 1909, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

■ The Prime Minibter came through' his ordeals with'. the N6 r LioonßO party and with tho, 'anti-gambling ■; deputation- very, wall. Ho may not -have .'satisfied cither, but he throw a sop to each'and postponed the: evil day when the Government will havo to tako a definite'course. If was a foregone conclusion that nothing would ■be done this session in the - matter of altering the three-fifths majority,; or' in,re-; . instating the Dominion option : issue; ■ It must havp been obvious to the deputation that.; there'is 1 no chance of legislation bearing' on.these .important;changes' get-. ting, through, this session.,;: Nor ..do we' look for any material' alteration being mado during % present Parliament. l In the matter of anti-ganibling legislation the position is different.; While: the Government, judgingby;its Dill of two.years ago. which placed the bookmaker on a ; legal pedestal, has no real sympathy with the anti-gambling movoment, it is. not prepared to openly, resist it.; Tho small proprietary clubs apparently aro to' be; sacrificed, to the outcry, and the. larger clubs controlled by the Racing Conference will :have.to fight for their lives' at the ballot-box. ' The issue, will np l ( doubt relate entirely to';betting 'at racecourses, but'soeing that the clubs depend-mainly on tho revenue derived from tbo.totalisator'"and- from bookmakers' fees to 'pay the stakes provided for the racing, they must' languish should the totalisator and the! bobkrnakcr both be abolished. ' The necessary legislation to,give';.effect to the Prime Minister's proposals _ will :prob-' ably meet with strong-opposition from those members who believe that it is'wiser to regulate gambling than' to attempt to; eradicate■ itTjy Act,of Parliament: The weakest spot in the case of .those who are fighting the anti-gambling' movement is. the marked increase in the- number of days in the year on .which horse : racing takes place. . Unless; some ..restriction, is imposed,in this respect the racing clubs will find the-ranks of their opponents swelled by that'large section of the public which, while prepared to support a reasonable amount of horse-racing,; will not tolerate the excessive growth of. the sport which: appears to be taking place. '

Lobby- gossip is usually very unreliable. An- idea : is -jiut forward -by -a.-'member,' and as. it circulates.' which it; is pretty certain-to do, if it bears on _any subject of interest at the,. moment, it is embellished and finally emerges as a fact,' or as a probability "based on the best authority,'" Therefore when lobby gossip proclaims that Mr. T;- E. Taylor is likely to secure,the. .vacant portfolio in■ the Ward Ministry, it must not be taken too seriously. 'How the rumour,first came to bo set afoot "may be" guessed if]--.--Mr. Taylorls a.fine debater, and he has made it apparent on a good many occasions that ho does not,like the Opposition. He , would "certainly strengthen tho debating I power.'of the Government, which is very moderate indeed at present. Also he is regarded as a, power in the ranks of the Prohibitionists. Ministers stand very well with "the Trade,'' and- if,they,could get the Prohibitionist's into, their-camp as well'it would indeed bo v,'4mr.<wv. No doubtthis condition of things could not it would servo its purpose for tho time being. Wo have seen on more than one occasion in recent times that the safest way to'-silence a sharp' critic's tongue is totakohim into the Ministry, whore personal views must be subordinated to the decisions of Cabinet. ,So recently *as,the present session Mr., Taylor has expressed the opinion that Mr. fowLPS oouldnot be blamed for.suppressing his views on Single Tax while - a member ' of - tho Cabinet;, presumably, thoroforo, Mil. would ecc no objection tq .putting l his views.on Prohibition into the background if given a seat on ' the' Government benches..: No; doubt these,, or'similar, considerations have- led to. the circulation of the rumour regarding Mr. Taylor's probable inclusion in the Oovcrnmont, J3ut against theso arguments must be placed the ■ fact; that Sir Joseph'-'Warp has boon subjected to sc.verer criticism from Mr. Taylor than from any other merobov of the presont P jr-.Hfeenfc:..-I.t.w.Qul.4b;p.jsurprißinjtiftd«d^in.

ister take suggested. 'Moreover, Mn. Tayloh'is not a member of the Government party, and whUt would jjo' the feelings of those faithful followers who have stood bo staunchly i.y _M.inip.irrs- to find thoraselvcs again passed over for. an outsider 1 The elevation of ■ Mn. T. Mackenzie to the Ministry still rankles-with iii'my members of the Mi:,i.=.i-<rri,>l party. We suspect that mention of Mn. Taylor's name was" made as an idle speculation, and that there is nothing in the rumour. It is probable,, however, that the Prime Minister will not troublo to allay tho anxiety of the numerous aspirants 'to the ; office. A vacant portfolio is a vcrv useful bait to keep dangling before'members. We should not bo ■' surprised t ' u m, no appointment was made at all. There certainly is no need: for it,

The deputation.from tho Trades Coun- v cils' Oongresß which waited upon the Minister for Labour last evening will havo the sympathy of the public in its endeavour to secure for hotel and restaurant employees one day's freedom from work in each. week. No doubt there may be, some'slight difficulty in . adjusting matters at first, .but the case made out by the deputation unanswerable, and a mere matter of convonionce should not be allowed tp.stand in the way of this class of workers securing -redress.,-- The Minister appeared to havo prepared a Billon the subject, but its provisions wcro not fully satisfactory to tho deputation, whoso primary object was,to ensure that hotel and restaurant employees should be able to look forward to one clear day's respite from work in each week. This'concession has, apparently, been granted in New South Wales, and it is surprising that New Zealand should lag behind in a matter of this.kind.' . , • "■'•