WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 4 July 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

WANT OK CONFIDENCE. NUMBER ONE. (Special to “ Guardian ".) WELLINGTON. Jinn- 3tt. The want-01-cntifideucr motion tabled liv .Mr li. E. Holland, the leader "I the OppoMl ion. in the lloli-e nl RcplC—--enuun-es on Tne-da.v. the first workin t; day oi the -e.Gon, can have 50rv,.,1 o" useful purpose even J font the l.ahoti: Party's point of view. Mr Holland and hia follower-; had said Gulin <r the Inter days of the recess all the things concerning the " incoinpeiem \ and " maladministration nl the Government they reiterated in the Mouse, and it was hn l a wa -1 e o I linn* and opportunity to enshrine in " Hansard speeches whieh nlready had done duly from the platform. It cannot he said with truth, however, that the Prime Minister and the Minister of l.ahonr. who hole the hrtint ol the l.ahonr attaek. were much more impressive than their critics. I hey. too. told the House only what they already had told various deputations, ami they did not tell it any more convincingly. It na* no satisfying answer to Mr Holland s impeachment to say that the Government was not responsible tor the existing economie f*omhtions. No one h.nl blamed .Mr Coates and his colleagues for the decline in prices and the excess

of imports over exports. I hese were developments cpiite beyond the control of the politicians. A FRIENDLY CRITIC. ! Sir Edwin Miteheison speaking oil the same subject in the Legislative Council earlier in the day. tinmen almost painfull.v anxious to save the Government from blame, displayed ti milch better sense of proportion than did either of the Ministers in the House, lie did not spare Labour; indeed he said in effect that the workers were, robbing their employers by their persistence in the " go-slow policy : but lie also reminded the Government*

of the duty owed to the public, lie gave the Prime Minister and the Min-; i.-,ter of Finance credit for having urged the public to exercise the utmost oeo-' tunny while the country was passing through an extremely difficult period : but 111- hinted that the Government itself had been unduly lavish in its expenditure in certain directions, and implied that it had not been sufficiently impervious to the blandishments nl importunate deputations. These were gentle rebukes, carefully worded and adroitly attuned, but they were no less pointed on that account. The two best speeches of the session, so lat* as it has gone, have been those of Sit* .Tamos Allen and Sir Edwin Miteheison. two veterans of the eighties, in moving and seconding, respectively, the Address-in-Roply in the Legislative Council. All parties in the House might read them with advantage when they appear in print. | TOTA LISATOIt. i The promoters ol the Gaming Amendment Pill—ehielly. it is understood, members of racing clubs who tire a Vanned by the continued dot-line in their revenue—knew what they wore about when they committed the measure to the care of Sir George Hunter in the House ol Hcpres'ontatives. Sir George, in addition to being personally . popular in the llou-e. lias a very persuasive tongue and a manner as appealing as his speech, lli- long asso : ciat ion with racing has been as advantageous to the sport as it has been creditable to himself, and his custody of this amending Pill implies a cause more than half won. The main purpose of the Pill are to remove ft the present statute the prohibitionagainst (1) transmitting investments to the totalisator by telegram. (-) using; the -i double cietit” totalisator and * (3) publishing beyond the course the. amount of dividends. There will’ be , opposition, but probably by this time many even of the " rabid " opponents of the “machine’’ have come to realise that the suppression of information concerning dividends rather hinders than helps their cause. The two other ] proposals are more controversial and it . is not at til! unlikely that the " unco guid ’’ and the bookmakers in combin- ; ill iin i may succeed in blocking their progress. That the acceptance of those | proposals Mould he of any great advan- 1 . tage to racing has not yet been clearly demonstrated, hut Parliament itself should see that it is not deprived by* a minority of its right to express art opinion on the matter. )

AIORF IXDFPF.XDF.XCK.” All - Contes now Inis been in office I’ong enough nt tlir head ol' mi overwhelming majority to expect the lilllsoutbreaks of " independence ” unions his followers tlmt ms - inseparable from tin - whirligig of politics, lie will not. therefore, ho much surprises! nor greatly perturbed by Mr W. S. (Sionn, the niemher for Rangitikei, retiring with good grace from the ollice of Junior (iovernment AA'itip, which generally Is regarded as a first step towards a. portfolio. This happening was predicted some time towards the close ol the recess and this morning the “ Dominion ” explains the position. “ A desire for the more independent expression of views on political matters, coupi'ed with pressure of business,’ the morning paper says, “ actuated M.r C'lenn in his decision to withdraw from office. A Parliamentarian acting as Party Whip is necessarily restricted in his criticism on account of the information which from time to time is confided to him; and the member for Rungitikei is known to have come to the conclusion that, as he does not always see eye to eye with the Government’s proposals, fie will lie able to serve the interests of his electorate better as a private member.” That probably is the truth of the whole matter. The microbe of independence, however, appears to be particularly alive just now.