WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 160, 28 July 1916, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

(Special Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, July 26

One of the less admirable effects of the party truce and the existence of a National Cabinet is a marked decline in the vigilance of the private member of Parliament. There ane exceptions to the general rule, of course, but the average member seems to have fallen into a state or listless apathy which at times borders very closely on culpable negligence. The accepted explanation' of this stat e of things is that the discussion that matters has been removed | from the floor of the House to the jCabinet room. When twelve Ministers rhave settled their differences by compromise, by the toss of a coin or by whatever other means they may employ and vote with a single voice, irrespective of party traditions and party prejudices, the private member, without organisation and without leadership, is reduced to the status of a mere automaton. He may talk to Hansard for the sake of his constituents, or perhaps for the sake of himself, but he talks without hope of moving the Ministerial mind by even as much as a hair’sbreadth. The position is non e the less unsatisfactory from the outsider s point of view by the fact that the National Cabinet itself is controlled by thnee or four men.

PRICE OF MEAT

Speaking in the Hous e last night the Prime Minister, Avho has not yet thrown off the effects of his recent severe illness, said he hoped to have an opportunity in the very near future to look into the London meat trade on the spot. He was replying to some remarks made by Mi: Witty and Mr Pearce concerning the commandeering of New Zealand meat on account of the Imperial authorities, and admitted that he was not [altogether satisfied with the arrangements made by the British Board of Trade. The member for Patea had protested against New Zealand mutton and lamb, vastly superior products, being sold in London in the open market at lower prices than were quoted for South American meat, and Mr Witty had declared that owing to the lack of proper arrangements at this end local consumers were paying substantially higher

pnices than they should be paying without conferring the slightest benefit on the farmers. Mr Nosworthy’s contri.butiOn to the discussion was an assertion that the brewing monopoly of New (Zealand was >as nothing compared with the meat i monopoly at Home. Mr j Massey promised to look into all these matters while he was in London, and left the House with the impression that he. would-be setting out om his-travels within a few weeks. ■ .lomnooi

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REFORM. | The Legislative Council Act, Amendment Bill did poti get through, the Upper House without; provoking a vigorous protest from the new progressive I spirits remaining in the nominated i Chamber, but it is likely to encounter still greater opposition in the representative- branch of the legislature. The measure seeks to keep the nominative system alive till January 1, 1920—more than two years after the first election .would have been held under the original *Acf-—and to secure councillors appointed between now and then in their seats i till January, 1924. It is understood, on the very best authority, that during the interval appointments are to be made “turn and turn about” by the 'party leaders, but as the Reformers will start off with a majority of nine or ten, without taking the life members into account at all it is difficult to believe the Liberals in the House will consent to this arrangement. The election of councillors which in the ordinary course would have been held next year, simultaneously with the election of members of the House, is to be abandoned, and from this the lobby gossips are assuming that the life of the present Parliament is to be prolonged without waiting for further developments in connection with the war.

THE LIQUOR PROBLEM

The discussion of six o 'clock closing has wandered into various devious channels leading to nowhere in particular, but it has disclosed the fact that the "Trade" would not be disinclined to consider a "reasonable proposal" for the nationalisation of the liquor traffic. The matter has not been discussed in any official way, and the organised prohibitionists are known to be bitterly opposed to everything in the shape of State control, but both sides have realised how much easier it would have been to deal with the early closing problem if the proprietary interest had been eliminated from the traffic. Naturally the proprietors of the hotels having paid, as they contend, for certain privileges, are not disposed to surraider these prvileges without adequate compensation. Just as naturally, though perhaps not quite so logically, the proihibitionists argue that the issue of a license does not deprive the State of its right to regulate the traffic in the public interest. Th e controversy between the parties is not going to affect the early closing decision one way or the other, and the difficulty always will be to got them to agree to a basis of negotiation, but the "Trade," by announcing its readiness to consider* a proposal for State control, has probably scored with the casual observer, who still retains his faith in regulation, and looks upon this as a business question rather than as an ethical one.