WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 April 1921, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE NEW POLITICAL PARTY. ITS CONSTITUTION. (Our Special Correspondent). WELLINGTON, April a. Mr. C. E. Statham, tin* president of the National Progressive and Moderate Labour Party, has been in 'Wellington during the present week and it is understood he and his associates have been employed in putting the finishing touches to the constitution of the new organisation. 'Hie party is O he based on the broadest eoncepti *:i of democracy and its promoters will not proceed to the construction of a platform till it can fairly claim to be representative of the sane progressive thought of the country. Afeanwnile there is a good deal of speculation as to how the movement is going to affect tlie strength of the other parties. Tlu* Alcxlerate Labour members are distinctly interested in the movement .’id the Independents on both sides of tin* House* are awaiting developments with undisguised curiosity. INDEPENDENT PROGRESS.

Hut .Mr Stiitlia m himself ha* no idea ot embarking forthwith upon an ;jgI gressive campaign against any of H'e existing parties. He is not seeking to detach supporters from Mr Masscv or Mr Wilfonl or Mr Holland, but he believes there are a number of memb-ts wlm will be glad to lie released from servile allegia nee to any leader and to be free to support progressive oroposal* that promise to make for the welfare of the country and its people I irrespective of their origin. He realises that so far as the present Parliament is concerned there is no alternative to Mr Massey, least of all among the Prime Minister's own colleagues, hut he believes that there is a great deal of educative work to do in Parliament, and in the constituencies and that in due course- the needs of the situation will produce the man. A FINANCIAL INDIAN. A month ago, when the country race meetings were showing a very material decline in the totalisator business, it was proclaimed abroad that the financial stringency had its silver lining in the blow it was administering to the gambling evil. But it large increase in the amount of money passed through the machine at Auckland a very trifling decline tit Christchurch and now a substantial increase on the first day at Wellington have put a different complexion on the figures. A member u f Parliament, a very sound financial authority stated to-day, that they show clearly enough that the financial stringency is being felt much more severely by the big investors than by the small ones. The land-owners and producers in the country districts who previously gambled in tens and even hundreds, have been brought up with a round turn by the scarcity of money, but the wage-earners who congregate in the cities and bet in single pounds ha. ■ not yet felt the pinch in anything like the same degree. He enforces his contention with quite a wealth of illustration. THE PRIME MINISTER’S PRESTIGE. The Prime Minister appears to have had a triumphal procession through the Taranaki district yesterday where lie hastened to make the vacant Eaten teat secure for his party. Tt is not thal the existence of the Government de-pends-upon retaining this seat, one ~f Mr Massey’s friends explained to-day hut it is of vast importance that the Prime Minister should go to the Imperial Conference with liis prestige .n----impaired by a rebuff in a constituency that has ’ stood by his party for many years. What will help the Reform candidate much more than the obligation placed upon the electors to maintain Mr Massey’s prestige, is the fact that there are two Richmonds in the fv\d on the Liberal-Labour side dividing Hie votes that will be cast without any particular concern for the representation of the Dominion at the Conference.