WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 3 October 1928, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THOSE PAIRS. RESPONSIBILITY STILL DISPUTED JSrtj* V "■ - ‘ -b (Special, to “ Guardian ”.) - f 5 / WELLINGTON, Octobor 1. ® . Apparently tbe.-nssuinnce of, Mr J. g S.vj Difckson, the. government Whip, that the Hon. W. Noswarthy did jnot .wish to l)q pairqdfjyn the third readihg of the Licensing'‘fell, is not> Accepted 'by Official Prohibition. A telegram addressed to the President of the Ashburton No-Lieense has by the general secretary jwfffch'e *’New. Zealand Alliance in which |||lje. f Prime Minister .-statesji jj‘LYour i-eceived.. Matter of ’pair for oh third reading of vytliicfensnigJ Bill 'has ii 1 ready " bi&V ‘ hrrahgied.” In a ' letter sent to the president of the Ashburton No-License Council • on Thursday last Mr Coates . explains l that bis reply to that gentleihferi 'was sent without sufficient inyquiry> -“..My. telegram on the 20th. tinstfint,” lie writes, ‘‘ whs sent under a misapprehension and at the moment •[whs intended -to apply to the question of the issues abpve referred to.” These issues were the frequency of polls, two-isstoe ballot paper, and the hare majority.', ; ' WAITING AtR NOSWORTHY’S • ■ ' ;:WORD. The general seih’etkfy of the Alliance evi&|i/tly is not, satisfied with the Minister’ 1 ? explanation. “ His perseverance,” ?he says, hlltidi’ng, to Mr Coates’s determination 'to place the material part of his. own Bill upon the Statxite Book, demonstrated bv the-'fact that he refused to arrange a pair for members absent ’on Parliamentary business and the tliird reading of the Bill, when if he had voted for the Bill,'it would have been sent to the Legislative Council with some hope of reaching the Statute Book. The responsibility for the failure to pass the Licensing Bill of 1928 must rest on the shoulders of the Prime Minister and the members of all parties -who opposed the right of the people to decide the licensing referendum on the basis, of a democratic vote.” In the circumstances this.is ungracious. Until Mr NoswVirthy himself has spoken there can he no means of determining the rights and the wrongs of the situation. •CONFISCATED LANDS.

The presentation ;in the House on :’J ‘Ft-lday tfeport' of the Commission -• ■ 4M. ! ! m i f' frdm Sir Apirana L»ata one of ilioso r iitW* with‘which: W dispels 1 the' tedium of ’ Parliament. Members, he said, should forget a good deal of the provocation which; caused the Government of the day to declare war against the Natives. They were nprsud race, and with them the element of self-respect played an

all important part. That self-respect' was connected with land ownership. driven from their homes and theii lands, and made to bend their necks to the position of serfdom. They were not asking for the return of lands, much less for land occupied by Europeans. They were asking, however, for sympathetic consideration .Jlf .their grievances.». * ! It. is much better,, sii Apirana urged, “to have the Alaori people marching forward With the pnlteha than to have, them lingering on the road.” LONG-DELAYED REPARATION.

. j Evening Post” expresses hap--1 pily ‘the Concurrence of the House with Sir Apirana’s appeal. “Those who know little or nothing of the facts,” it says, “ can yet appreciate the wisdom of Sir Apirana Ngata’s appeal for an effort to remove the sense oi grievance which has been a bar to Alaori

progress. Sir Apirana- has proved in bisown district that the Maoris, under jv '|padiesrsh®jraye; fnlly capable of ( the.?ohßtatries which lie in f 'tfieirrSaths. The great essential is the and this cannot he \ rif 'grievances are allowed to if remain '.tying the Maoris to the past. \ The sense df grievance has been, as Sir i l **i Ajyrana. ..expressed it, a mote, in the * eylhlpfc the Natives. They could not r6a^ah.ead of them.’V With removed the; “ Post ” • would the Maoris’ progress. on behalf of the iSb'bie, .expressed '’the same sentiment and 'thb icase for reparation 1 Was' made gbod..-''.! y If 'THE,RETURN TO GOLD. jThe TJhited States Federal Reserve Bulletin for August states that the ree&tablishme.n t" oft he gold standard prance the practical eompleof the-/.world's monetary reconStV,notion, yet a return to gold bases has "'taken different forms in different countries. A complete gold standard.

characterised by the absence of all $ restrictions on gold imports ; or-exports >•. the fpli rpdeemability of notes in anv amount in gold, and the'; unlimited obligation of the Mint to purchase an . feUirgold at a fixed pricb. exists in practice only in the Ini ted States. Other countries have followed Great Britain in adopting the bullioai stand'ard, under which the Central Bank is under an obligation vto redeem the cotes only in bulling Oh* bars of a speciV figj weight of 4(MJozs., worth about 8,000 dollars in Great Britain. The method makes for economy in gold by keeping it from domestic circulation without placing obstacles in the way of international gold shipments. Many other countries have adopted a gold exchange standard, which gives the Central Bank the option of redeeming its notes either in gold or in drafts upon gold standard countries.