WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 160, 14 August 1916, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

PAHIATUA ELECTION. MILITARY MATTERS. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, June 11. Notwithstanding the very explicit statements made by Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward on the subject, there seems still to be some misunderstanding as to the attitude of the two main political parties towards the Pahiatua by-e'lect,ion. Several newspapes haye referred to the matter as if the appearance of Mr R. B. Ross in the contest was a breach of the agreement between the party leaders but there is not the slightest ground for this assumption. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have done everything within their power to give effect to the esprit of the compact between the parties. That of course, was expected from both of them But Mr Ross, while standing as an Inder pendent Liberal and a supporter of the National Cabinet; denies the right of any leader to interfere with the choice

of the electors in this fashion, and a good deal might be said on broad democratic grounds in support of his contention. But obviously the existence of the National Cabinet depends upon the maintenance of the party truce, and just as obviously the party truce could not endure if the parties flew at- one another's throats every time a casual vacancy in Parliament had to be filled.

Labour and License

The position in Pahiatua is complicated to some extent by the presence of a Labour candidate in the field, aryl by the Reform candidate's declaration in favour of the bare majority and a referendum on the licensing question. Labour declined to subscribe to the party truce and to accept representation in the National Cabinet, and is, therefore, free to do what it pleases in this contest, or in any other contest of the kind that may arise. But while not specially well-disposed towards the no-license movement it is pledged to the bare maority and the referendum, 1 and may find" itself helping the Inde'pendent Candidate, who is frankly, opposed "to further concessions being made to the prohibitionists, by diverting votes from Mr Smith. Then ,Mr McCombs, the member for. Lyttelton, is in the constituency, carrying on Ithe campaign commenced by' the Hon J. T. Paul, on behalf of the Labour candidate, and he will have to satisfy his prohibition friends that Mr MaefarJaiie," with.only an academic regard for majority rule, would serve their interests, in, Parliament as welt as would the Reform candidate. Altogether this election appears to 'present as many -cross problems as three-cornered contests usually do.' ? Camps and Campers. Many stories are rife again concerning the health of the men at Feather-

ston and Trcntham, The wet, cold weather of the last three or four weeks has made the conditions in both camps extremely disagreeable, and it would not bo surprising if the amount of sickness had materially increased. But the Minister of Defence denies that anything of the kind has happened, and the official returns support his denial. Probably the fact that the medical authorities have been devoting very special attention to the camps during the la,st month, as a precautionary measure, has given rise to many of the prevalent rumours and the disposition towards grumbling which bad weather provokes, may account for the r>est The one thing certain is that the medical service under the direction of General Henderson is as complete and efficient as the ingenuity of the trained mind and practical experience can make it. It is still debatable whether or not Trentham is the best site that could have been found for a military camp from a health point of view, but everything possible has been done to repair any defects it may present in this respect.

State Control. The advocates of State control here, who claim to be ready with a better means than prohibition for the removal of the evils of the liquor traffic, made light of Mr Isitt's objection to their reform. On the closing day of the session, commenting upon some remarks made by Mr "Wilford, the member for Christchurch North said that substituting community interest for private interest would be like jumping out of the frying pan into the lire. "The Trade," lie protested, "would develop into the most effective political machine ever seen here Tammany, of New York, is simply 1 lie development of the saloon.'' "This." said one of the State' Controllists to-day, "is so characteristic of Mr I silt. One of the earnest men in the House on almost every nlher question, on the liquor question lie is most illogical. The trade already is the most effective political machine in New. Zealand, and Tammany is a product, of private arrogance. and p'eod. not: of Stat*! Control." But vli'e point this critic wishss to make is that at present it is not a question whether State Control is a good thing or a bad thing, but whether this additional issue should be

' placed upon the ballot paper. He wants j to..know how Mr Isitt, as a good Dej mocrat, can deny the people an extended choice..

Cost of Living. The Board of Trade obtained such a ; bold advertisement from the eulogies \ of the Prime Minister and the Minister i of Finnance during the later days of | the session, that it ought to be kept j busy during the recess. Its members j have just returned from visits to Wan- | ganui and New Plymouth, where they I were able to wilder good service to a | large body of consumers without j quarrelling with anyone. Next week ; they will go down to Christchureh, and I probably on to Dunedin, where certain | prices have shown a disposition to j mount up unduly. The Board is still ! hampered in its operations by the i Minister's rather narrow conception 1 of its functions, but now Mr Massey [ has frankly recognised the value of the ; work it has done he may see his way to enlarge its powers Locally there | has been another rise in the price of i butter, not justified even by the law ■ of supply and demand, and this surely is a development the Minister might , f meet with an exhaustive enquiry, if , only to set the public mind at rest.