WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 23 October 1928, Page 7

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN

SIR JOSEPH WARD AT AUCKLAND

(Special to “Guardian”.)

WELLINGTON, Oct. 18

Rolli t!i<; political and the personal friends of Sir Joseph Ward are much elated by'the reception accorded to the leader of the United Party at the Auckland Town Hall on Tuesda , evening I Jus speech was full.v reported in the local papers and many messages of congratulation were addressed to him • yesterday. Presumably the speech embodied the policy propounded by Sir Joseph at the gathering of United candidates here a little while ago. By his political friends it is being proclaimed as sound and practicable and by his political opponents as crude alnd unconvincing. Just where the happy mean lies still has to he determined, but meanwhile it is obvious that a considerable section of the doubting electors have been impressed Equally successful meetings in the other big. centres of the Dominion would bring tbe United Party distinctly into the limelight and quite likely would materially effect the distribution of votes at the approaching genera 1 elect i on. LAND TENURE.

The Hon. G. W. Russell, whom, it will be remembered, was Minister of Internal Affairs in the National Government set up during the war, replies tersely .in the correspondence columns of the “Evening Post” to the assertion of the Minister of Agriculture that the question of tenure was finally settled bv the' Reformers when they came into office sixteen years ago and that “they don’t want to go through the dispute about it again.” “And what was the final settlement” Mr Russell asks, and forthwith proceeds to answer his own question. With the authority of the Government Statistician, he states that of the 7059 selectors who took up land under the nine hundred and ninety-nine years lease system only 1,824 have converted their holdings into freeholds; that of the 2,190,140 acres leased under the system only 213,169 acres have been converted, and that of the £13,101,581 spent upon the purchase of estates for settlement only £892,634 has been recovered by the sale of the freehold. Herein, apparently, is the cause of the Hon. 0. J. Hawken’s disclination to reopen the tenure question. 1

PRIME MINISTER’S CAMPAIGN. According to the report appearing in the “Dominion” this morning the Prime Minister had a “wonderful reception’ ’in Christchurch last night, “was in great form” and with his “facts and figures at his finger-tips” turned all the attempts at interruption to his own personal and political profit.. It is a fact that Mr Coates has vastly improved as a public speaker during hisi three years of supreme responsibility, and with a fluent tongue added to his personal advantages of tact and manner he makes a very special appeal to a popular audience. Finance, however, is not his strong suit, in the eyes of many of his critics, and when he claims, as he appears to have done last night, to have reduced the cost of living by abolishing the duties on cliinawnre, linoleum, silks and building material they laugh derisively. Nor are they particularly impressed when he claims to have opened a new post office every third week and saved the country from disaster by instituting a Science and Research Council. But the personality of the man remains. LEGISLATION BA 7 ORDER IN COUNCIL.

Under this heading in its leading columns the “Evening Post” reiterates its protest against the Government’s (use of Orders-in-Counoil as a means of getting over its difficulties. “It was by the mere fiat of the Government” it says, “that drastic ‘Board of Trade" Regulations’ were issued to deal with motor-bus traffic and by the same power the fees of doctors, lawyers and architects might apparently be fixed to-morrow.” Jt was expected that during the session just closed steps would he taken to remove the obnoxious “war scare” provisions from the Board of Trade Act, the Minister in charge, indeed, was understood to say that* lie had a Rill prepared with that object in view; but in the closing hours of the session it was announced that the measure would be held over to a more convenient season. The hesitancy ol Ministers in this matter is responsible for the story that they still have uses for the fruits of the war scare.