WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1916, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

< A WAY ROUND, : \ " OHAXGE FOR A SHILLING." ] (From Our Own Correspondent). ' Wellington, September 13. J The fact that the Christchuroh Prosby- t tery "is pained at the nerveless way in ( which our National Government lias dealt , with the liquor evil and at its callous , indifference to the waste of national Tesoiirces in gambling," is not' bringing a , great deal of comfort to the liotel-keej>- < ers here. They are still suffering very severely from the "anti-shouting" regu- , lation, and some of them are protesting that thoy would liave lost less business ' through 9 o'clock closing than they arc • losing through the suppression of the ' "pleasant social 'habit" which contributed so generously to their takings. The • official representatives o£ the "Trade," • however, ara by no means eager to have ■ the question reconsidered with a view to substituting early closing for "anti-shout-jng." They admit tlvat the hotelkcepers , have been hit very hard by the encouragement of what t'hey call "solitary drinking," but they 'believe the soiiable British public will ultimately find some means of exercising its hospitality in spite of the prohibition, and that the increased bottle trade will make up for the losses at the bar. In the meantime the demands made upon ipassing,(pedestrians for "change for a shilling" arc increasing in frequency, and the circulation of sixpenny pieces' must have substantially increased since eadh thirsty soul was required to pay for his own

drink. Gut the police are watching even this development, and, on the whole, are discharging their disagreeable duty (tactfully and well. i SOLDIERS' VOTES The announcement from Sydney that the New South Wales Government has decided to Adopt the proxy system to enable soldiers on active service to exercise theii votes at the next general election in tlie Mother State has set people here talking afresh of the feasibility of adopting a similar system in New Zealand. Last session Mr. J. C. Thomson, the member for Wallace, drew attention to the subject by introducing a Soldiers' Voting Bill, but, of course, the measure went the way of all other private members' proposals and was scarcely mentioned even in the lobbies. In Franca and in the Mother Country, however, as well as in Australia, there is a very general demand that the soldiers in t'he trenches should foe given facilities for recording their votes at the polls, and New Zealand should not be lagging behind the older communities in this respect. Even with the next general election deferred till the end of 1918, there probably will be thousands of soldiers unable to appear in person at the polls. These men will have at least as much right to a voico in the mi'.nagement of the affair of the country as will the shirkers who lave dodged both the recruiting sergeant and the ballot, and Parliament ought to see it is secured to them. The Ministers in town decline to discusa the matter at this stage, but they all express sympathy with the political claims of the soldiers and raise no serious objection to the proxy system . Probably Mr. Massey and Sir' Joseph Ward may be able to obtain some useful information on the subject—when they visit London. <

"•POLITICAL PLOT." ' The story of the "political plot" in which the 'leaders of both parties were : reprcsentc4 as assiduously grinding their . own axes at the expense of the vest of i the community lias fallen very flat after i all. No one is scolding Mr. Massey and j Sir Joseph Ward nor debouncing t!he National Cabinet with more fervor than he ; did before, and generally the story is re- [ yarded as an ill-timed jest whicSi has . ,sadly miscarried. At the same time . there is "undoubtedly a feeling abroad [ that the National Government >vould ; manage the war no worse and the do- • mestic affairs of the country much better if there were a National Opposition in existence to keep it up to the mark. Probably it was a realisation of this fact rather than any desire v.o obtain office for themselves that maui: the leaders of the Liberal Party so reluctant to enter the National Cabinet. Being there, ) they must "play the game" according to [ the prescribed rules, but had they re- , mained outside, say as members of the ' Defence Committee proposed by Sir Joi Ward, a committee with administrative powers, they could have kept an I eye on both domestic legislation and doi mestie administration without in any - way impairing the unanimity with which 1 all parties were bent upon doing every- - thing possible towards winning the war. i Australia, even friendly critics of tlio National Government are pointing out, has managed to maintain an effective Opposition without involving itself in a national catastrophe.