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WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE LIQUOR QUESTION. . WHERE THE PARTY LEADERS STAND. ; (Special Correspondent). Wellington, Nov. 2. The statements made by Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward in the' House yesterday in regard to the licensing question are of general interest on account of the light they throw upon the party Jeadcrs attitude towards a problem that is calling aloud for a satisfactory solution. While the Prime -Minister has declared he does not like the idea of State Control of the liquor traffic Sir Joseph Ward has said he believes this to be the only way out of the. maze of bias and prejudice that i s perpetually confusing the social and political life'of the country. Both the Ministers were perfectly consistent in the remarks they made yesterday. They deprecated the suggestion that at such a time as this an attempt should bo made to finally dispose of the licensing question. Desirable as a permanent settlement might be, this was quite impossible 'while fhe whole country was distracted by the needs and anxieties of a great war. So far the two leaders were in perfect accord. , A REFERENDUM. But their agreement .proceeded little further. Mr. Massey talked of submitting to a popular referendum the proposal of the Efficiency Board for national prohibition during the course of the war with compensation to the people financially affected while Sir Joseph Ward, without offering any objection to the electors settling the question for themselves, urged the paramount necessity of maintaining every possible source of revenue lill the end of the costly conflict was in sight. 'He did not wish to go back on anything he had said in the past, nor to commit himself to an Undemocratic policy in the future, <bufc his duty in the present was to the finances of the country and this he wa» de-' termincd to discharge to the best of his ability. Maybe it was not a very politic speech so far as the constituencies are concerned in their present temper, but it certainly had a very genuine ring of »incerity, THE CIVIL SERVICE BONUS. It may bo permissible io say in the circumstances that the very general assumption of a week or two ago that the bonus to civil servants would not bo paid this year rested on the very high. authority. It is rumored now that there was a marked difference of opinion in the Cabinet on the matter of exempting teachers from military service, was the occasion of the tension in which some people saw the possibility of a very pave ministerial crisis. The tension is relaxed now- and the Cabinet is a happy family again but the position was very critical for a day or two and it. looked at one time as if anything might have happened. One member of the House who enjoys some reputation for being able to read the signs of the times, expressing himself in the terms of the racecourse, said during the week-end he would not lay two to ore the present Parliament would endure till the close of its extended term. SOME ANOMALIES. Wellington is not the right place in Which to obtain an unbiased opinion as to the propriety of paying a war bonus to civil servants when thousands of people i» really straitened circumstances with no prospect of increasing their [earnings arc being taxed in one way or [ another for the maintenance of the country's army in the field. In the capital city the civil servants and their dependents and sympathisers form a very large proportion of the population and the popular judgment is not unbiased. But reports from the provincial districts show there is a good deal of feeling among people who may be supposed to take an impersonal view of the matter nnd that invidious comparisons are being made between the pay of men and women in private employment and those in the public service. This, of course, does not settle the propriety of the matter, tyit it suggests it may be further j discussed when the next general election [, comes round.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19171106.2.33

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 6 November 1917, Page 5

Word count
Tapeke kupu
678

WELLINGTON TOPICS. Taranaki Daily News, 6 November 1917, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS. Taranaki Daily News, 6 November 1917, Page 5

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