WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 December 1917, Page 4

WELLINGTON NOTES.

WELLINGTON NORTH. PATRIOTISM AND POLITICS. (Out- Special Correspondent) Wellington, Dec 7. If the Prime Minister has made up liis mind that Mr J. P. Lnke is a fit aud proper person to succeed ■ the Hon A. L. Herdman in the representation of Wellington North in Parliament Ire will not be deterred from his purpose by a score of protests, whether _ from disgruntled members of his own party or from electors who claim to be placing politics in the background on this occasion. Whatever may be Mr Massey’s defects in other' respects, there can be no doubt about his persistence and courage. But it is impossible to disguise the fact that in the event of Mr Luke being put into the lists as the champion of the National Government he will encounter a good deal of personal opposition which would not be arrayed against some of the other gentlemen whose names have been mentioned in connection with the contest. Even his intimate friends are disposed to rely rather upon his patriotic work than upon his political achievements to commend him to the constituency and in tliis way are suggesting a line of criticism Jo his opponents which in other circumstances might prove very effective. THE PRESTIGE OK THE GOVERNMENT. But patriotism, however it may be expressed, is going to be the deciding factor in this election. Wellington North, like every other electorate in the Dominion, is not ' concerning itself just now with party advantages or party disadvantages. The war is the one thing that is engaging its attention. Of course there are differences of opinion as to the merits and demerits of the National Government, but there is no general inclination to throw the country back into the . throes of sectional squabbles. The j party truce is going to be preserved I in its integrity and while this is the ! case Mr Massey on the one side and Sir Joseph Ward on the other will have the privilege and the responsibility of nominating the official candidate for any vacancy that may occur in the House of Representatives. Whether or not this is the best arrangement that could have been made in the unique circumstances may be discussed later on, but meanwhile it is recognised as part and parcel of the intense patriotism by which the whole community is animated. It is tolerably certain to carry the Prime Minister's nominee into Parliament in the present instance. six o’clock closing. The hotel-keepers’ first impression of six o’clock closing in practice is anything but favourable. : Naturally they’ are judging the exj periment from their own point of j view and its effect upon their takings and their profits. “So far,” a city licensee said to a reporter today, “ this has been disastrous. We have lost at least half our bar trade at one fell swoop and at pre ■ j sent there seems no prospect of the ; bottle trade making up for the loss. ! Perhaps it is too early to cry out just yet, as some of our customers . may accommodate themselves to the shortened hours, but I can say ! at once that the first ( week of early closing has proved even more costiy to us than we expected.” The reports reaching town indicate a still worse state of affairs—- ' again from the hotel-keepers’ point l of view—in all the country districts. A commercial traveller, who may fairly' be accepted as an unbiased witness, says that all along the Main Trunk line publicans are declaring the first taste of early closing has satisfied them they cannot carry on without large concessions from their landlords or material compensation from the State. THE PROHIBITIONISTS’ VIEW. The Prohibitionists, both official and unofficial, admit that early closing ha'k had in the first week a more drastic effect than they anticipated it would. Their own observations satisfy them the sale of liquor has been largely lessened. But tliey r recall that the anti-shout-ing law in the first two or three weeks of its operation also reduced the consumption of drink, only to become practically ineffective when the hotel-keepers aud their customers had discovered means, as they say, of getting round its provisions. They want a longer experience of six o’clock closing belore forming a definite opinion of its efficacy. A few .of them, probably representing only a small minority of the party, would not refuse to discuss the question of compensation if it were ultimately shown that the landlords had done all that could be expected of them and that the licensees still were unable to obtain a decent living. Till the experimental stage is passed, however, this aspect of the problem cannot be profitably considered.