WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taihape Daily Times, 8 October 1918, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

PARTIES IN PARLIAMENT. EFFECT OP BY-ELECTION. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Oct 7. Before leaving for Auckland on Saturday, the Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald, in reply to a question, said the return of the Labour candidate for Wellington Central would make no difference in the strength of parties at the present simply because there were no parties in the ordinary sense at the present time. He regretted very much that Mr. Hildreth had not received the support he had a right to expect from .the electors to whom he had been induced to offer his services, particularly as the figures showed quite plainly that had these electors done their vious duty he would have been at the head of the poll; but personally he did out grudge Mr. Fraser his success. It was purely the result of superior organisation and would remind all the parties that whatever may be the electoral system of the future they can make sure of their full share of representation only by recording as nearly as possible the whole of their votes. THE SESSION, Though Mr. Macdonald himself adroitly parried all questions on the subject, it is generally understood that when he returns to Wellington at the beginning of next week he will be able to lay down the burden he has borne during the absence of Sir Joseph Ward as acting-leader of the Liberal Party. It is assumed that Sir James Allen, who has been standing in Mr. Massey’s shoes, will obtain similar relief. Neither of these gentlemen has committed himself to any opinion as to the length of the session or as to the business with which it will deal, but the three subjects that loom large in the expectation of the public are licensing:, the general election, and the cost of living. Whether all or any of these problems shall be attacked is, of course, a matter for the party leaders to determine after they have taken counsel with their . colleagues : on •the spot. • ;; v \..V V. .■.. ‘ • LICENSING. ;' .’ Both the ;New Zealand- Alliance and the Moderate League are busy - with their petitions praying for a referendum on the licensing question and: .both profess to have obtained many thousands of signatures supporting , their particular view of the form the referendum should take. The only •real bone of contention between them, so far as the outsider can judge, is the manner; in which the issues shall be presented to the electors—whether •by preference voting or not.- The of? ficial Prohibitionists abhor the idea of State Control as.much as they do the prospect of continuance,, , but haying accepted the principle. of popular .determination. they, cannot deny, the jus-tice-of its jappearance on ' the ballot paper; The Moderate League * maintains that each issue should be decided on its own merits and that the opponents of continuance , should, not be allowed, as it were, to enter the contest doubly armed. THE GENERAL ELECTION.

On the night of the Wellington Central by-election the elated Labour leaders were loudly proclaiming that what they called a vote of “no-con-fidence” in the Government should be followed at the earliest possible moment by a general election. But having had a day or two to think over the matter they evidently are less anxious to appeal to the constituencies than they professed to be in the first flush of their success . To have polled with the very best of organisation in one of their party’s strongholds only a little more than a quarter of the votes on the roll does not look on closer analysis quite such a re-assuring achievement as it did when victory was the only thing that counted. They want time now to educate the electors before leading them on to the political millenium and probably would be very much surprised if the Government should decide to take them at their first word.