WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 30 November 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

15 KG INNING OK THK KXD. JETTISONING BILLS. (Special to “ Guardian.”) WELLINGTON, Nov. 28. It. is expected 11 1 ;it when the House el lieproseu to t ivos meets this afternoon—iiii hour hence—-the Prime Minister will announce that the amending Licensing liill and Conciliation and Arbitration Hill will lie dropped tor the present session and that the Government. will proceed only with such other measures as seem unlikely to encounter serious opposition. Probably the abandonment ol the Licensing Bill, shorn of its ‘'six year's tenure” and its “ fifty-five. iorty-five majority, will raise a protest Imm the ardent prohibitionist x in the House, but the majoritv ol tile members will realise tliat Mr Coates, having framed bis Hill with a view to compromise between the two contending parlies cannot reasonably be expected to persevere with the measure alter it has been whittled down to represent the aspirations of only one party. The prohibitionists lv j|| Pave an opportunity next session to introduce a liill providin'' lor the two-issue ballot paper. Mr Coates has done nothing to prejudice their rights in that direction. lie has cleared tin* way for them, indeed, by demonstratin'. that a majority of the present House is opposed to the "Six year's tenure ” and the " fifty-live, fortyfive ” majority. lie has played the came, not tactfully, but frankly. I)KLAYING LEGISLATION.

The policy of the Prime .Minister in delaying some of the most important and most controversial business ol the session till long past what should have been the end ol' tbe session is quite another matter. The only purpose of this ill-advised proceeding must have been to hurry such measures through the House when members were weary of talking and anxious to return to their constituencies. Mr Coates may plead that it was the long time the Licensing Hill and the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill lingered holme the sessional committees, that delayed their appearance in the House; hut he should have known that by introducing these Bills earlier than he did and giving the committees to understand they were to exercise reasonable expedition, both these measures would have reached the committee stage much earlier than they actually did. The tactics he employed were not previously unknown in the House, of course, hut lii.s predecessors ill office knew a little more than he has yet had an opportunity to learn nbouL the strategy of leadership. As it is, he has left both licensing reform and arbitration reform in the air, and it is cpiite possible that next session he will have to face these two problems in u still more embarrassing guise than they have presented this session.

It A 11,WAY BI SKS. The Prime Minister announced in the House on Kriday that the Government had .succeeded in purchasing the business of the bus service known as the " Community Buses ” running between Wellington and Petiine. and that the six buses su acquired " would lorin the nucleus of a fleet which the Itailwa.v Department would run in conjunction with the railway service.” The proprietors of another line ol buses running between Wellington and l ppor Mutt, and so covering the ground traversed by the " Community Buses,” writing to the ‘'Dominion” this morning, protest against the policy ol ** absorption ” and make a spurting offer to the Government in connection with the Hastings buses, one ol its other acquisitions. "Wo are prepared.” they say, " to take over the Government buses at Hastings, charge less

fares, run a more frequent service, pay till fees as at present, and give the Department a minimum of 22.090 a year for tlie privilege. The trains, already losing money, would still not have to run. and the above sum would he clear gain.” Other challenges of this kind have previously confronted the Government ; hut the Railway Department persists in its contempt for private enterprise and is confident ol making a success of the Wcllington-Pctone route, the best "pitch” in the suburbs of Wellington and daily increasing in value.

DAIRY EXPORT. It is understood that the operation of export shipping licenses ol dairy produce was the subject ol an animated discussion at the meeting of the Dairy Board last week, and that the whole matter was finally referred to the board's legal adviser lor an opinion. Mr W. Gooill'ellow. the very capable chairman of the hoard, still lias a warm regard for "absolute control,” and the conditions of the export shipping license have afforded him some consolation for the loss ol that edict. 11 let' enable the hoard to demand from the shipper a*n authority to inspect the records of the purchaser to whom Ids produce is sold and to make sure that lie is handling his purchase in a manner that will prejudice the interests of neither the seller nor the producers generally. The demand is an extraordinary one, quite unknown, it is said, among the British middlemen, and naturally it has aroused both surprise and a measure of indignation in London. The opinion of the board’s,solieitors has not yet been disclosed, hut other authorities declare with confidence that no such demand can lie made legally upon the buyers. "Whether the demand were lawful or not, however, its exercise certainly would occasion a good deal of friction among the parties immediately concerned.