WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 June 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

AUSTRALIA AND NIAV ZEALAND. HON. A. D. McLEOD RETURN'S. ! (.Special to ■■ Guardian ”.) WELLINGTON, June 0. The Hon. A. D. McLeod, the .Minister of Lands, returned from his trip tn Australia yesterday much impressed I,v the hospitality and enterprise of the Dominion’s neighbours on the othet side of the Tasman Sea ; hut not very sanguine, it would seem, nl thoii adjusting their Customs trail!' forthwith to the views of the New Zealand primary producers. "Of course, objection cannot he taken to this policy.” he said, referring fo Australia's concetti for its own dairy producers, hut, in view of Australia’s desire to extend trade with the Dominion in other commodities. some way out of our difficulty ought to he found.” It. is obvious that .Mr Mef.eod. observant man that he i'. realises the futility of urging Australia to open its doors widely to New Zealand butter while the Dominion is praetiealJy excluding Australian wheat. The .Minister discovered, however, that it was not the wheat growers, hut the flour millers in the Commonwealth that were calling out against the Dominion’s increased duty on Hour. The wheat growers, lie

said in the course ol a chat this mornjug. were raising no objection to New Zealand’s discrimination against Australian Hour, indeed many ol them never had heard of any controversy on the subject, and the agitation was purely a miller's affair. TTe liupcfl. however, that some reasonable coinpromise would be arranged and that the commercial relations between the two countries would become as cordial ns he had foil ml their social relations. I’i’l.ME .MINISTER'S CHAMPION, j Probably the Prime Minister, wlm hears the inevitable penalties ol great-, ness with exemplary resignation, was not greatly perturbed by Mr William j Grounds’s inuendoes concerning bis attitude towards the Dairy Hoard and its prire-iixing polity; hut his trusty colleague, the .Minister ol Health, has regarded it as his duty to take tip the cudgels on behalf ol his philosophic chief. Mr Young thinks it "little short of tt studied insult" for the chairman of the Dairy Hoard to state, as he did from a public platiorm a little time ago. that while in London Mr Contes hnd shown a disposition "to run with the hure and hunt with the hounds.'” and most people who have followed the •'control'' controversy at till closely will he inclined to share his indignation. Rut the friends of the Prime Minister who attempt to excuse him for having maintained a strictly judicial attitude towards this (|UOsLinii while investigating the lacts go perilously near to giving effect to the familiar old Eretteh proverb. Ihe Minister's grave mistake, in the judgment of most sttne people, was not in allowing tin* law to take its course, hut in allowing it to appear on the Statute Hook. It is now his business to deter-

mine whether or nol it shall remain there. A GAMING RILL. The " Evening Rost ” take-, it lor granted that an amending Gaming Hill will he introduced during the approaching session of Parliament and tlmi it will provide for the publication nl dividends. a double event iotalistor and the transmission of investments to the machine from places beyond the course. H is claimed that the adoption of these provisions would go far to arrest the persistent decline in the totalisatm* revenue of the clubs and to lessen the volume of illicit betting. I hat these claims are well founded could he determined only by actual experience. The opinions of racing folk on the point seem to he sharply divided. A leading figure in a metropolitan club, who sees no harm in the publication of dividends. predicts that the double event lotalisator and the transmission of investments would prove intolerable nuisances and would not pay tbe cost ol administration. An official ol a nearby provincial club declares that the adoption ol the three proposals would mean the financial salvation of the sport. The average race-goer does not appear to he greatly interested in the matter. TTe holds the State taxation responsible for the parlous condition of many of the country clubs and does not see how they are going to bei helped by further expenditure. Apparently the proposals are not going to be greeted with any great enthusiasm on' the part of the man in the street.

DAIRY CONT ROL. A great deal of interest is centreing around the meeting ol the Dairy Board to he held on Thursday of next week, the day following the closing ol the ballot for the three seats on the board to become vacant at the end of the month. It appears likely that All II i no. die “free-inarketinjl” c-anclulate, will defeat Air Forsyth, the “independent” candidate in the “Taranaki” constituency and that Air Goodtellow, now also an “ independent,’.’ will be successful against Air Lye, the “ ireemarkoting ” candidate in the M aiknto constituency, thanks, it should he said, to the sitting member's renunciation of compulsion and price-fixing. In the South Island constituency Mr Thacker who remains faithful to compulsion, Is being hard pressed by an inexperienced campaigner, hut by his personality alone may manage to pull through by a narrow majority. The results of these elections, however, are being anticipated with less curiosity than is the appearance of Air Toms, who has just leturned from the London Agency, at the hoard’s table. It is expected that Air lorns will have something to say in reply to statements made by Air Goodfellow and Air Grounds and that he will throw a good deal of light upon the working of the London Agency and upon the dairy business generally as he has seen it from a commanding vantage ground. Contemplating the possibilities of this meeting one must regret that it will not he open to the representatives of the independent press.