WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1918, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

» fIHE BX-ELECII^R

3H RATIONAL GOVERNMENT'S

•DILEMMA.

((Special Correspondent;.) '•■ Wellington, Sept. "12.

'From what one can pick up in the "usualh' well-informed circles," the delay in selecting the National Government'scandidate for the vacant Wellington Central seat is not due so much to the multiplicity of aspirants for parliamentary honors as it is to tho difficulty of finding a suitable man ready to enter the contest with the prospect of sitting in the House for only one session and then hav-. ing to face the electors again. Mr. C: Skerrett would be entirely acceptable to both parties represented in the Cabinet, and probably to a large section of the Labor Party, but he is essentially a man of action and can scarcely be expected to make large personal and professions sacrifices for the privilege of playing the part of the "dumb dog" till the termination of the war frees the private member .to take a more active part in the management of the affairs of the .country.. Though he has not yet definitely refused the nomination, his intimate friends think it unlikely he will embark ■upon the troubled waters of politics at the present juncture. LABOR'S PART. Meanwhile the leaders of the official Labor Party, with their freer hand and better organisation, are making prepara--fcions for a preliminary ballot to select a candidate. They are doing this with no personal hostility to the Hon. W. D. S, Mac Donald, the acting leader of the Liberal Party, who happens to be persona grata to the great majority of the workers; but they hold that the late Mr. Robert Fletcher was returned to the seat by their efforts and that they are entitled to the nomination of his successor. This argument does not take into account the fact that the Liberals and the Reformers together constituted a substantial majority of the electors of the constituency in 1914, or the further fact that the two older parties are committed by the "party truce" to the maintenance of the status quo. However, it is not beyond hope that a candidate acceptable to the National Government and to a large proportion of the workers will be found and the spectacle of a sectional contest avoided. THE COAL DISPUTE. Though strict secrecy has been imposed upon both parties represented at the coal mines conference in regard to the progress of their negotiations,, scraps of information hav« leaked out which encourage the hope that an amicable settlement of the matters in dispute will be reached. The owners once having agreed to meet the men, at the earnest instigation of the Government, took up the conciliatory attitude proper to the occasion and made certain proposals which it is hoped will meet with the approval of the unions. Yesterday the conference was engaged in the discussion of a scheme for settling disputes without the men being driven to call attention to their grievances by striking. The popular opinion is that the Conciliation and Arbitration Act makes provision for this, but apparently both the owners and the men have found the existing law an insufficient safeguard. COST OF LIVING. Tho Board of Trade has been busy for some time past in gathering informa- [ tion as to the effect of retail prices and I house rents upon the cost of living in . Wellington. The figures it has collected are the basis of a report it is presenting . to the Minister in charge of its Depart- . ment, and for the present, at any rate, .-'are not available for publication; but . the returns of the Government Statis- [ tician have been constantly dinning it into the ears of the housewives of the [ capital city that since the'very begin- . ning of the war they have been paying ; higher prices for their supplies, with the ! single exception of meal, than have been • current in the other large cities of the ■ Dominion. As for rents, they are some ; 30 per cent, higher here than they are ' in Auckland, and, roughly, 40 per cent. ; higher than they are in Ohristehureh and , Dunedin. Many tenants are actually ! buying their houses as the only escape ! from what they regard as extortionate 1 rates.