WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1916, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

ANTI-SHOUTING. A MISAPPREHENSION. (From Om- Own Correspondent), Wellington, August 28. The "antf&liouting" legislation of last session has been in operation for twelve hours at the time of writing, and the advocate? of the reform are claiming that it already has lessened the amount of promiscuous drinking. Probably they are right. The hotelkoepers have started out with the very proper resolution to observe the law strictly, and people who have visited the bars to-day report that they are being a? good as» their determination. When friends enter a. bar together each of them has to pay for iiis o,\vn drink, and apparently, the only (vay jfco preserve what one of tlio local newspapers has described as a "-pleasant social observance'' will be for the host to distribute sixpenny-pieces -among his guests before they inter t'lic. licensed premises. .Of course, even this would be an offence against the regulation sc far as the host was concerned, but presumably the responsibility of the hotelkeeper does not extend beyond his front door. The official prohibitionists remain sceptical about the value of the reform, holding that the "trade" will find some means of getting round the regulation, but the police believe a very fruitful cause of excessive drinking has been removed. VOLUNTARYISM. The Minister of Defence warmly resents the assumption jf the London Times that the adoption of compulsory service in New Zealand means that voluntaryism has failed here. The Military ■Service Bill, he says, was introduced last session, not because tiie supplj of men under the voluntary system has fallen short, but because the Government wished to be prepared for every possible emergency that might arise. Tlx prospect of an early conclusion of the war was better now than it ever had been before, but 110 one could say with jertainty that it ,vould end this year or even next year. The Government, while hoping for the best, had to prepare for the worst, and compulsory service was a precautionary measure which it could not neglect while doing its duty towards the Dominion and the Empire. New Zealand, if comparisons weVe permissible at such a time, had done its and more than its share in the supply of. men, and at the present moment there ' were four .reinforcements in camp and sufficient men on the roll to fill two more reinforcemerfts. The Government was looking ahead and preparing for whatever might 'happen in the future, but there was not the least ground for the assumption that voluntaryism had Droved a failure in this couptjry, MEAT 'PRICES.

.Notwithstanding repeated explaitations by the Prime Minister, there still seems to be widespread misapprehension in the country «»aramg' till® supply of, meat to the Imperial autn&rities. People who ought to felioiv better-are declaring that the ©l'itißli. Govpynm'ent hits commandeered all the meat available for export from Ne\y Zealarfd at prices far below those the producers could obtain ii. the open market, and to? passed much of it on to so" .'Hess middleman, who are making huge profits out of unhappy consumers t-t Home. The first part of this story iaas absolutely no foundation in fact. What really happened was that the Imperial Government asked t'he New Zealand Governnieiit, to secure all the meat output of this country for military purposes, and that tlio Government, fcfter conferring with the meat companies and representatives of the producers, fixed pricesi which at the time were considered fair to all the parties concrued, and which remain the highest the fanner-: have ever received. There ''as no commandeering by the Imperial uthorities, Had they been disposed to proceed to that length they could have taken possession of the cargoes as they arrived ij. the Home ports and fixed whatever prices they thought justified by the circumstances. By leaving the Whole business to be settled by the New Zealand Government they acted with singular liberality. •

SURPLUS SUPPLIES. Ilie complaint that the portion of the meat required for military purposes is falling into the hands of private speculators seems to be well-grounded—that is, if the New Zealand fanner lias any right,to concern himself at,all about the fate of produce for which lit has received a full price. Mr. Massey lias made enquiries aboiit tbis unexpected development through tlhe High Commissioner without obtaining much satisfaction, and .lie has promised to investigate the whole matter when he visits London; but in the meantime one or two points ought to be remembered by the people who are grumbling at this end. The Imperial authorities did not commandeer the meat, but they did commandeer the shipping. and it is only through their action in this respect that t'he farmers are able to get their produce away. If the carriage of meat were left during the present crisis to private enterprise, the producers would be at the mercy of the shipping rings and would be lucky to obtain anything like the return they are receiving now. If their complaint is that- ihey are not being allowed to make enough out of the necessities of the "Mother Country, it is utterly unworthy of the patriotism they profess; but if it is that their own kith and kin are not profiting by the reasonable prices they have agreed to iccopt, they may rest assured Mr. Massey will do his best to repair this defect in the arrangements.