WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 11 December 1917, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS

WELLINGTON NORTH. PATRIOTISM AND POLITICS. (Special Correspondent). Wellington, Dec. 7. Tf the Prime Minister has made up his mind that Mr. J. I'. Luke is a lit and propel- person to succeed the Hon. A. L. llerilman i u the representation of Wei--lington North in Parliament he \<-ill not be deterred from his purpose by a score of protests, whether from disgruntled member; of his own party or from electors who e'.aim to be placing polities in the background on this osc&iion. Whatever may be Mr Masscy's defects in other respects, there can he no doubt about his persistence am! i-nurajie. Tint it is impossible to disguise ilie fact that in the event of Mr. Luke being put into the 1 i~ts as (lie champion of the National Government he will en.onni.er a good ileal of personal opposition which would i:ot be arrayed , against some of the other oentlcmeji whose names have been mentioned in connection with th'e contest. I.ven his intimate friends are disposed to rely rather upon his patriotic work than upon his political achi •- ernents to commend him lo the constituency, and in this way are suggesting a line of criticism to his opponents which in other circumstances might prove very elective.

Tin; PKKSTifIE OF THE GOVERN'II EXT. Tint patriotism, however it mav be expressed, is going to bo the deciding factor in tin. election Wolllnpton North, like every other electorate in the, l>i> ■ninion. i~ i.ot concerning itself ju--t now with party advantages or party disadvantages. The war is the one thin? thai is encaging its attention. Of course there ar> differences of opinion as to the lnfiriU and demerits of the National Government, but there is no general inclination to throw tlie country buck inJo the throes of sectional squabbles. The party truce is going to 'lie preserved in it; integrity, and while this is the case Mr. on the one side and Sir .locepli Ward on the otlier will have the privilege and the responsibility of nominating the official, candidate, for any vacancy that, may occur in the House of Representatives. Whether or not this is the best arrangement that could have lieen mad? in the unique circumstances mav be disclosed later on, but meanwhile it. is recognised as part and parcel of the intense patriotism by which the whole community is animated. Tt is tolerably certain to carry the Prime Minister's nominee into Parliament in the present instance. i fix o'clock closing The hot.i'l-keppcrs' fir.-t impression of o'clock closing in practice is. anything hut favorable. Xaturally thev are judging the experiment from their own point of view, and its effect upon their takings and their profits. " ; Sor I'ar," a city licensee said to a reporter to-day, ''this has been disastrous. We have lost at least half our bar trade at 0110 fell nvoop, and at present there seems no prospect of the bottle trade making up for the loss. Perhaps it. is too early :to cry out just yet. as some of our customers may accommodate themselves to the shortened hours, but I can say at once that, the first week of early closing lias proved even more costly to us than we expected " The reports reaching town indicate a still worse state of affairs —again from the hotel-keepers' point of view—in all tlu- country districts. A commercial traveller, who may fairly lie accepted as an unbiassed witness, says that all along the Main Trunk lino publican* are declaring the first, taste of early closing iias satisfied them thev eannot. curry on without, large concessions from their laud-lords or material compensation from the State. THE PPOIITBTTIOXISTS' VIEW, Tlie Prohibitionists, both official and unofficial, admit that early closing has J-ad it: the first week a more drastic effect than fifty anticipated it would. Their ov.n observations satisfy them the sale of liquor has been largely lessened. P.ut thev recall that the anti-shouting Iniv in the first two 01 three weeks of its operation also reduced the consumption of drink, only to become practically ineffective when the hotel-keepers and their customers had discovered means, As they say, of getting round its provisionc. Thev want a longer experience of six o'clock closing before forming a definite opinion of its efficiency. A few of them, probably representing only a small minority of the party, would not refuse to discuss the question of compcm -ation if it were ultimately shown that, the land-lords had done all that could be expected of tbcm and that the licensees still were unable to obtain a decent living. Till the experimental stage is passed, however, this aspect of the problem cannot be profitably considered;