WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 March 1921, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

WATKKSIDK DlSlT'i K. I SKTTLKMF,NT IX SK.iIT. (Our Special Correspondent). \\ KI.LINGTON, .Mairli !> Tin sit Lin- time of "riling there no official announcement of the settlement of the waterside dispute, tlieye ure plenty ot indication:! that the trouble has passed the aeue static and that the employers have got their way. The representatives of the parties were in (enlereme lor several hours \ esterda v with tile Prime Minister, "ho prevHourly iiad indicated his readiness to assume the role ol conciliator, and tlie\ are closeted with him to-day. It is understood that the general principles insisted upon hy the shipowners luive been accepted hy t!.e lepresentatives of file men and that, iin the other hand, several minor concessions have been made to 1 lie men which will somewhat improve their ecndd'ons ol employment. The parties had practically readied this stage oil Saturday, ‘ but the necessity ol communion i ing " itli tin. various brandies of tlie \' ateiside Federation entailed some delay. TIIK I'TTFH K. The unde rt.a kino of the ateiside. > to abandon the “go slot' ' policy and tc discontinue pin-pricking la ties will be recorded in tile most, impres. ive niaiinei possiide; but its observance still wd remain merely a moral obligation ol the parL of the individual; and some •> the employers liave grave doiihts as its fulfilling its pttrjmse. due of then stated to-day that his experience dm ' iuo- the war load inclined him \m. > strongly towards State control of th< wharves. The present system, lie said | had proved enormously costly as wd I as ineffective and gave owners am * shippers no assurance for even ill 1 immediate future. The average Slat | management might not he as good a the ideal private management, Imt a I least it would save the country l ei 1 the repeated interruptions of t’"dh that were '“playing the very dickens I with its trade. I WHKAT I’HICKS. , Tfm lone delayed wheat prices are a 1 last announced and seem to be givin | satisfaction to no one. 1 lie laimeis sa ■ they should have heeu substantial! | higher. The subsidised millers eonleii | the time lias arrived lor a free market B the bakers declare they are left with n 8 margin of profit, and the consumci I eoiuplaiu the price of bread is too Idyl a A factor bearing on the subject bein n discussed here is the pioduetion < 9 wheat in Hie North Island. The trad | lion that tin* Dominion must remai 1 mainly dependent upon Canterbury IV 1 its supply of bread studs lias bee S shaken to some extent by the liarves H ing of many excellent crops betwoe 8 this and Auckland, hut it still porsis in the official mind and no system at - attempt lias been made to exploit tl potential wheat-growing lauds on tit side of the Strait. The matter is likel to he brought under the notice of tl Council of Agriculture. TUF SHOUT SKSSfON. The preparations at Parliament Built jugs are now complete for the openin of the short session and many tnembei of the Council and of the House nr in town. Following precedent, the Gi vernor’s Speech will he kejrt uitlii modest dimensions and will avoid tis ia as possible controversial subjects. Tl militant section of the Labour Part “may place on record” its pro ter against the Prime Minister leaving th ■Dominion at this critical time and tli consequent postponement of the regulf session, but it will receive no encoui agement from other sections of th House and its little demonstration car not be long sustained. Ministers hop . to he able to release members at the en of a couple of weeks and only a ver small minority of the rank and file wi desire to stop longer.