WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 25 February 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

INFORMATION DELAYED.

AN EXPECTANT PUBLIC

(Special to " Guardian.”)

WELLINGTON. l-'flMUJiry 22. No one is to blame in tlic mutter

but it is u little unfortunate that immediately on his return from his education trip abroad the Prime -Minister should have become immersed in tile hundred and one details of the Royal visit. 11cfore lie left Wellington

i meet the Renown in Auckland lie ad time only to acknowledge the c-or-ialitv of his reception, to indicate riefly what lie would have to say

later on and to proclaim that Ihc volume of immigration, meanwhile, was to b" substantially reduced. An interested public hopes to hear much more from him by and by. lhe cable gave the .Dominions only the barest outline of the proceedings at the Im-

perial Conference and this country even yet does not understand the real mean injr and significance of the new status that ha* been conferred upon the outlying portions of the Itmpire. Ah Coates himself obviously is pleased by wbat lias been accomplished, and so far the Dominion is assured that its iiueiosts have been conserved, though it has

only the haziest conception of " hat has | actually happened. New Zealand, in, its whole-hearted loyalty, is not likely i r ( > prove very critical in its survey of ( the new constitution, but natuially, it would like to learn from the Prime Minister at the earliest convenient ( moment the nature of the further | obligations to which it stands committed. INFORMATION AWAITED. It was a diplomatic move, on the part of the Prime Minister to announce immediately on bis return to the Dominion that the flow'of immigration to the country was to be substantially re-, duced. Unemployment was abroad in the land and immigration for the time ( being could only aggravate the trouble, i There are other matters awaiting the j attention of the Aliuister. lioneict,, which will not brook indefinite delay.; The "Post” last evening, for instance.’ returned to the problem of dairy con- ■ trol. " That all is not well with the ■ control exercised by the Dairy Hoard on the British market.” it do-J dared. " is evident from the protest' made by certain Glasgow merchants, j Tlic merchants came into direct touch i with the Scottish retailer and the retailer with the consumer. Between them, so far from stimulating a better consuming-interest in an Imperial pioduet, they will be able to point " ith some truth to attempts made by New Zealand farmers to extract the uttermost farthing from the Scots people by means of holding back supplies and creating a shortage. In such circumstances there would seem to be no other way open to the wholesaler than to seek supplies from New Zealand’s competitors.” It is believed here that Air Unites has returned with very definite opinions concerning absolute control and that he will take the first suitable opportunity to express them. A NATIONAL PROBLEM.

The “ Post,” while striving to hold the balance fairly between the contending parties, stresses the importance ot the Prime Aliniter taking the public into his confidence as early as possible. “The position,” it emphasises, " is not as clear as it might be from this end, haziness being caused by the nr any issues raised by interested parties. But the Prime Minister should be able to make it clearer, because be bus iu.st returned from Ihc field ol buttle; lie has been interviewed by merchants and others engaged in the distribution of New Zealand dairy produce. and lie has seen what cards have been laid on the table. He should know, too. whether the confidence in tim Government representative on the Board in London is well-placed or not. Cnnsideriug the magnitude of the dairy export trade, everyone is concerned; therefore the Prime Minister should see the reasonableness of taking the Dominion into his confidence on this matter at the earliest date. The dairy farmer is primarily concerned, but it is to the interest of all that his great industry should run smoothly and without prejudice in its relations with British consumers.” While at Home Mr Coates, it will be remembered, seemed disposed to uphold the views expressed by the Government’s representative on the London Board, and so far there are only the assertions of Air W. Grounds to suggest that lie lias revised his perspective. legalised gambling.

The totnlisiitor for long has been rewarded as a more or loss reliable financial barometer and for some months past it Ims been pointing consistently to had weather. A decline of fifty thousand pounds in the amount of money passed through the machine at the Auckland Summer .Meeting, compared with the amount handled at the corresponding meeting last year; of £20,000 at the .-Wanganui Meeting; of £IO,OOO at the Mannwotn Meeting, and of smaller amounts at- the less important meetings are taken to mean that the predictions of the pessimists are coming true, it is only the Wellington and tlib Wairarapn Meetings, among those held since Christmas, that have managed to maintain their former revenue amt these two meetings enjoy special advantages which cannot permanently save them from being involved in thee vortex of retrenchment, The same influences, without occasioning any regrets among thinking people, are affecting the art unions which have been thrust upon the community with the connivance of the Government. Tickets are moving off very slowly in these anxious days, and the ultimate results must he much less satisfactory to the promoters than were those ol a year ago. Still, it seems possible by increased effort to abstract substantial sums from a confiding public that loves to gilt-edge its bounty with a little gamble.