WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 September 1918, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

j THE GENERAL ELECTION, (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Sept. 25. The Labor candidate and_all the Independent candidates contesting' the Wellington Central seat are vehemently deI mnnding tiie restoration of the eonsti- ' tutional rights of the people, by which they mean the right of the electors to I choose a new Parliament at the earliest ' possible moment. The 'Government candidate has no£ yet taken the platform, but as ho is pledged to support the National Cabinet till the conclusion of the I war, it may he assumed he will concur I with whatever determination on this subject Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward may bring back from the heart of the Empire. The Ministers on tlio spot are not disposed to express any opinion as to what the determination of the party leaders will be They point to the fact that the life of Parliament has been extended to December of next year, and they have received no •hint from the absent Ministers that it may lie desirable to disturb this arrangement.

THE 'HISTORIC TENDENCY. Neither the Labor candidate nor any of the Independent candidates, while confidently predicting that an appeal to the electors would result hi the present Ministry being ejected from office, lias yet suggested any alternative to the Reform-Liberal combination. This Is the weak spot in the arguments for a speeedy dissolution. Probably a majority of the electors are more or less dissatisfied with the present Government. It seems to bo the inovitablo fate of a War Ministry, whether it does well or ill, to lose favor m the constituencies. Ili-riory abounds with instances of this lendr-ncy. But here there is no opposition to the Government in the House and no organised opposition in the country. The disgruntled section of the community is without a leader, nnd apparently without anv prospect of finding one- In these circumstances a general election before the conclusion of tho war would be bound to confirm the National Oovornmcnt in office with its term extended to three years. .ELECTORAL REFORM.

The spectacle of six candidates contesting the- Wellington Central seat, one, it may be said, on one side, and five on the other, has directed renewed attention to the need for electoral reform. The subject is being discussed without any party bias, Sir Joseph Ward being as "freely blamed for having chosen the second ballot rather than preferential voting as Mr. Massey is for having abolished Sir Joseph's clumsy expedient without providing some logical substitute, and out of much talk some good should come. Preferential voting, of course, is applicable in the commonly accepted sense, only to sjngle electorates, and the discussion, looking ahead, has led on to the larger question of proportional representation- Preferential voting would solve the difficulty that has arisen in Wellington Central, and save the electors from the certainty of being represented by a "minority" member; but it would not at a general elec- : tion remove the anomalies that are in- , herent to single electorates themselves. | COST OF LIVING. J Wellington people seem at last to have | awakened to the fact that the price ot commodities in connmon use are higher in their city than in any other considcr--1 able centre in the Dominion, and are I making a noise accordingly. This is • one of the results that roight have been expected from the.-,by-election, the coat of living being one of.the handiest and most effective sticks with which the Government can .ha belabored. , Prices in the capital has good reason for'- being proud of its. shipping facilities and'its .business enterprise, are .substantially higher than>:they: are.in I'inany of the small inland.towns drawnig their supplies from this centre-and I out of sight of those being charged in i Aucl'land, Christchurch and' Dunedin. | The Board of Trade has been enquiring | into the matter for some time, far without producing any tangible result?, and now the unhappy custodiers' i are being urged to take action for "their | own protection. ..-.'■