WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, 10 August 1918, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

EFFICIENCY CAMPAIGN. THE PROHIBITIONISTS ’ EFFORT. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, xkugust 9. At the meeting hold in the Town Hall last night to the three Canadians who have come across ta assist the Prohibitionists in their ‘Efficiency Campaign," the Rev. R. S. Gray, the organiser of the movement. stated quite explicitly why he - and 'his-$\ follow workers had waived their objection to compensation being paid for the extinction of licenses. It was, he said, to secure a quick decision that the Alliance had adopted the Efficiency Board’s proposal to pay a maximum sum of four and a half millions to secure the immediate extinction of the liquor trade. The Prohibitionists realised they would be twitted with inconsistency, but they also realised the Trade was costing the country ten millions a year, five millions directly and the rest indirectly, and they were prepared to accept the recommendation of the Efficiency Board in order to stop this "frightful and disastrous waste.” What his party would stand for firmly was the bare majority and this, he believed, was in the mind of the Board and hoped would be in the mind of the Government. THE GOVERNMENT’S ATTITUDE The report of the Efficiency Board * did not disclose the views of the members in regard to the majority question but, it is pretty generally understood, as such things come to be understood, they are favourable to a bare majority vote. It is being recalled, however, that they did not commit themselves to a precise amount of compensation. The four and a half millions they mentioned was simply an estimate which might be varied by the official valuers. The attitude of the Cabinet towards; the proposal is still only a matter for speculation, which must continue till Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward return to the Dominion, but there is a. growing feeling that the size of the petition presented to Parliament in favour of a poll being taken at the end of the current year will be the deciding factor in the Cabinet’s ulti-' J mate decision. This, again, will ‘be largely a matter of organisation and with the Rev. R. S. Gray, at the head of the movement it is tolerably safe to predict it wull_ not suffer for lack of sustained and judicious effort. THE COAL DISPUTE; b /* The secretary of the Employers’ Association, who is conducting the case for the mine-owners in ‘ the coal dis-

1 pute, carries too many guns as a conj troversialist for the other side. Whatever may be the justice of the : men’s cause it is suffering by each exchange j of statements in the newspapers. The V men have finally based their claim, for . increased pay on the increase in the 2 cost of living and Mr Pryor has an- , swered them by showing that while the 1 t average increase in wages since .the ! ?■ beginning of the war has reached at! . least 3S per cent, the average increase j } in the cost of living in the cetres near* , est their employment has increased [ only 23 per cent. Of course these fig- , ures do not entirely dispose of the matj ter, as the cost of living is not fin- , ally decided by the prices of food or , by the rates of rent, but they consti- . tute a reply to the men’s representa- , ions that cannot be controverted by [ the reiteration of mere generalities. , COST OF 'LIVING. , As it happens on this cost of living question Greymouth, one of the chief mining centres, provides a very strong argument in suppert of the mineowners’ contention.. On the outbreak of war the index figures of prices of the three food groups in Greymouth. was 1167, the highest of any centre in the Dominion. The figures for Auckland was 1090, Wellington 1083, Christchurch 1049, Dunedin 1042, Hamilton 1093, New Plymouth 1119, Wanganui 1030, Taihape 1144, Palmerston North 990, Blenheim 1066. Oamaru 1086, and Invercargill 1064. The figures for these representative centres now are Auckland 1513, Wellington 1518, Christchurch 1408, Dunedin 1486,. Hamilton 1451, New Plymouth 1451, Wanganui 1458 Taihape 1554 Palmerston North 1459, Blenheim 1476,. Oamaru 1495 and Invercargill 1505, while Greymouth stands at only 1499. The next word on this aspect of thedispute must come from the men.