WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 May 1921, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

THE LABOUR SET-BACK

(Our Special Correspondent!

WELLINGTON, May 2

The somewhat extravagant jubilation of the local newspapers over the “set■back” of the Labour Party at the municipal elections has brought the inevitable retort from Mr Peter Fraser, the recognised publicity agent of the Social Democrats. The Citizens’ Party, representing a coalition of the various forces : definitely opposed to extreme Labour having woii tlie mayoral contest by a | two to.one majority and returned thir- ' teen members out of fifteen to the Council, might have been excused a little vigorous flag-waving. But their journalistic friends went further than this. They declared, in effect, that the Labjour Party was ‘‘down and out”, that its race was run, and that it stood rejected and discredited before an enlightened and indignant public. But Mr Fraser shows that the Labour poll so far from going back at the recent election actually went forward by some 670 votes, and contends that under any fair and logical system of representation, the

‘‘Blues,” as he calls the victorious party, would have won only eight seats, Labour five and the Independents two. This, lie maintains, would have left the “Blues” with a majority of onefifteenth in the Council instead of one of thirteen-fifteenths and thus would have made it truly representative of public opinion in the city. THE ROLL. There are many obvious fallacies in Mr Fraser’s presentation of the case, but there can be no doubt he is justified in warmly denouncing the conditions of the municipal roll. Even the retiring Mayor, Mr J. P. Luke, who must realise he is responsible in a measure for its defects admits the roll was very far from being complete. Tlie special committee set up two years ago on the suggestion of the Returning Officer to devise a better system of registration had done nothing and it was notorious that hundreds of people qualified to vote had not been enrolled All that Mr Luke had to say about the matter is that it would have cost money to place the names of those people on the roll

and that the money could he better employed upon necessary works within the city. The Council had done all it could by advertising and it took no further responsiblity. The result was an extraordinarily large number of omissions from the roll and Mr Eraser declares the Labour Party was the chief sufferer. From such facts as can be gathered it seems likely there is some ground for

his complaint. TECHNICAL SCHOOLS

On his return from Auckland on Saturday. Hon. J. C. Parr, the Minister of Education, made a very spirited reply

to the complaints coming from Dunedin concerning the new regulations for the classification and payment of teachers in technical schools. The .Minister’s critics, it seems, had assumed that the

regulations had been framed with the express purpose of centralisng in Wellington the control of the schools and depriving the local boards of all authority. ' Air Parr marvels that such a tra-

vesty of the facts should have gone about. The regulations, lie says, simply put the employment, classification and payment of technical school teachers on a proper footing and are hound to make for a more satisfied and a more efficient service. • There is no wish at all on the part of the Department to interfere with the authority of tlie local boards, but a very earnest desire to cooperate with them in making technical education the force it should he in moulding the commercial and industrial destinies of the Dominion. COAL SUPPLIES.

There still is no indication of the intentions of the Miners' Federation in record to* the owners’ refu’sal to consider the demads made bv the men at the recent conference. Tt is being assumed that the miners, realising the futility of being led into a struggle with the employers at the present time, have refused their leaders the necessary authority to embark upon such a hopeless cn terprise. This, however, is mere speculation. There is no authority whatever for saving there are differences of opinion between the executive of the Federation and the rank and file of the industry. But while tlie negotiations between the parties have been dragging on the stocks of coal within the Dominion have been largely increased by importations from overseas. Though this may not affect the price of coal during the present winter, it will greatly relieve the position in respect to supplies. It is not at all likely the scarcity of nine or ten months ago \vi 1 1