WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 March 1920, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

(Our Special Correspondent). SIR JAMES ALLEN’S RESIGNATION. ELECTION OF SUCCESSOR WELLINGTON, March 26.

Sir James Allon placed the resignation of his seat in the House of Representatives in the hands of the Prime Minister before his departure with the Samoan Party and its gazetting may he taken as an indication that Mr Massey is sufficiently recovered from his recent operation to dispense with the assistance of his first lieutenant and is anxious to get lis new team into harness as speedily as possible. In all probablitv the polling for the return of Sir James’s successor in the representation of Bruce will take place towards the end of next month, and though the result cannot materially affect the strength of parties in the House it will bo awaited with considerable interest in political circles here. There is some talk of the Labour Party putting up a candidate with a view to diverting votes from the Liberal nominee, but though tactics of this kind admittedly were employed at the general election it seems unlikely they will he repeated on the present occasion. THE LIBERAL OPPOSITION.

There is a. good deal of the canny Scot about the Hon W. ,D. S. MacDonald and he is not inclined to blazon abroad bis intentions in regard to the two impending bye-elections. But the new leader of the Liberal Opposition does not believe the progressive forces in the country are permanently estranged. There are, lie says, quoting Mr Asquith, many roads they can travel together, and one of these, he thinks, is towards the unofficial constitution of a strong Opposition in the interests of the country'as a whole. Having regard to some recent utterances by the Minister of Lands lie fears there is a disposition on the part of a certain section of the Cabinet to renounce some of the first principles of progressive settlement and if this is so it is a menace to the community that will have to

be watched very closely. Then the Government can be kept up to the mark in other respects only by an effective Opposition and it is here Liberalism and Labour can find a common ground for effort. THE LAND BOOM.

Though business men in the city depreciate striking any note of alarm, many of them agree with the “Auckland Star” in its comments upon the sensational land sale at Fending this

week. The high prices being paid for dairying land, they point out, hang entirely upon the high price being realised for butter-fat. Neither meat nor wool can be produced at a profit on small areas costing from £l5O to £191) an acre. Hut so long as the price of butter-fat continues to soar it is easy enough for the farmer to see a profit even at these huge figures. The danger is that with all the world driven to economise, as seems inevitable, a <os ened demand for milt-products will firing about an over-supply and a drop in prices which will b" immediately reflected in the value of land. Hut whether this peril is an imminent one or not every disinterested authority joins the •‘Star” in thinking tho elimination of the speculator in dairy land a consummation devoutly to be wished. THE LIBERAL DEFEAT.

An old member who will sit on the Reform side of the new House gave it as his opinion this morning that Sir Joseph Ward was quite mistaken in attributing tho defeat of his party at the December elections to religious bigotry. ‘‘Thank God,” he said, “the country is free from that iniquity.” Hut apart from the relative merits of the policies put forward by the party leaders, there were three factors, ho contended, which contributed to Mr Massey’s decisive minority victory. First of all, there was the definite split between the Liberals and Labour. Tlint. meant about halving the strength of the old Opposition in the country. Then there was a large transfer of 1 rohibition voters from the other two parties to the Reform Party. Rightly or wrongly the Prohibitionists thoug.it Sir Joseph Ward the friend of the Li--0,,0r Trade and they knew Mr Masscy L the author of six o’clock closing Tli is perhaps was the most important of the three. Finally there was the far better organisation of the Goformers assuring the concentration ot their forces. The P.P.A. did not influence'a couple of thousand votes outside Sir Joseph’s own constituency.