WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 3 December 1930, Page 3

WELLINGTON TOPICS

PROHIBITION. AMERICAN DIFFERENCES. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, December I. The party of American visitors, tour--41 ing the Pacific in the palatial liner Malolo,. made itheir appearance in Wellington on Friday alfternoon and lost no time in making the acquaintance of the capital city, its sites, its shops and they could of its peopfe. Of course, they inevitably fell into the hands of the newspaper reporters and to one or tivo of these they confided their opinions of the operation of prohibition ip the United States. Mr William Hay, a Chicago lawyer, gave it as his opinion that the abnormal amount of crime in the States was mainly due to the Volstead Law which violated the spirit of the I ederal Constitution and instead of decreasing ' drunkenness multiplied crime. Dr. Theodore Richards, an educationist and philanthropist, however, maintained that so far lio State had dared to propose to revoke the existing law, and that if any State did there would be an overwhelming majority against the proposal. Further inquiries left much the same division of opinion. APPROVING PEOPLE.

The American visitors, with only a few hours to make the acquaintance of New Zealand’s capital city seem to have been favourably impressed. They liked the look of its people, they were struck by the cleanliness of the streets ana they were surprised by the appearance and the resources of the shops. Wellington, indeed, seems to have won the approval of the travellers all round Some of them were glad to see the city had 'not adopted prohibition, and others were pleased to find no drunkenness in its streets. A few of them weie disappointed to meet no “black people in its streets. A- fewETAO in its streets, as they had heard so much of the superiority of the Maoris over their own coloured population, but they were reassured when they were told they would find numbers of them as they travelled further north. I lie commercial members of the party were particularly anxious to learn more of New Zealand trade and commerce, but seemed on the whole already well informed on these subjects. “DANGER OF DRIFT.”

Addressing a . gathering of his constituents last week the Right Hon. J. G. Coates the leader of the Opposition, urged strongly that the National Industrial Conference of 1928 should be revived and that all the political parties should assist in solving the new problems which have arisen during the last'two years. “1 am not an alarmist,” he told his audience, “and I am * convinced that this Dominion, provided that it is prepared to face the position with courage and common sense, can rfe-establish its public finances and its industries upon a sound economic basis Qur only danger lies in the continuance of- a policy of allowing matters to drift.” .No one who knows Mr Coates at all intimately will doubt tor a moment his sincerity in making this appeal. But he is more than a little unhappy in implying that the party in possession of the Treasury, Benches tor the time being is “allowing matters to drift.” If his words mean anything else- than that the United Party is allowing matters to drift he should let the. public know. , DIFFICULTY IN THE way. Speaking in Christchurch on Saturday. Mr J. A. Young, Minister for Health in the last Reform Cabinet, pointed out to his Chief and to the community at large that “The National Government,” as suggested by the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, could; be only temporary unless it led to and brought about a change from the British constitutional tradition of appointment of members of Cabinet by the leader of a party entrusted with the formation of the Government.” Mr Young need not worry himself. Mr Stewart is not asking for a place in the present Government or any succeeding Government, but he is anxious that mere party quarrels should he set aside and that Parliament should get down to the work the Dominion sadly needs. Mr Young believes that a National Government—national in reality and not merely in name—is unattainable in this country, and he is perhaps right. But the obstacle in the way is not so much the lack of means as it is the absence .of patriotism.