WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 October 1918, Page 8

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

PARTIES m PARLIAMENT; EFFECT OF, Bff-ELECTIOI '(Special Correspondent.)' Wellington, Oct. 1. Before leaving for Auckland on Saturday, the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald, in reply to a question, said the return of the Labor candidate for Wellington Central would make no difference in the strength of parties in the House, simply •because there were no parties, in the. ordinary sense, at the present time. He regretted very much that Mr. Hildreth had not received the support ho luyl a right to expect from the electors to whom he had been induced to offer his services, particularly as the figures showed quite plainly that had these electors done their obvious duty, lie would have been at tjie head of the poll; but, personally, he did not grudge Mr. iFiaser his success. It was purely the result of superior organisation, and would remind all the parties that whatever may be the electoral system of the future, they can make sure of their full share of representation,only hy recording a3 nearly as possible the whole of their votes.

THE SESSION. Though Mr. MaeDonabi himself adroitly parried all questions on the subject, it is generally understood that when ha returns to Wellington at the beginning of next week he will be able to lay down the burden lie has borne during the absence of Sir Joseph Ward as actingleader of the Liberal Party. It is assumed that Sir James Allen, who has been standing in Mr- Massey's shoes, will obtain, similar relief. Neither of these gentlemen lias committed liimself to any opinion as to the length of the session or as to the business with which it will deal, but the three subjects that loom large in the expectation of the are licensing, the general election, and the cost of living. Whether all or any o? these problems shall be attacked is, of course, a matter for the party leaders to determine after they have taken counsel with their colleagues on the spot. LIOENSING. Botli thcsNew Zealand Alliance and the Moderate, League are busy with their petitions praying fo;r. on the licensing question, and both profess to have obtained many thousands of signatures supporting their particular view of the form the referendum should take. The only real hone of contention between them, so far as the outsider can judge, is the manner in which the issues sjiall be presented to the electors—whether by preferential voting or not. The official Prohibitionists abhor the idea of State control as much as they do the prospect of continuance, but, having acccepted the principle of popular determination, they cannot deny the justice of its apppearance on the ballot paper. The Moderate League maintains that each issue should be decided on-its own merits, and that the opponents of continuance should not be allowed, as it were, to enter the contest doubly armed. THE GENERAL ELECTION. On the night of the Wellington Central by-election the elated Labor leaders were loudly wlrat they called a vote of "no confidence" in the Government should be followed at the earliest possible moment by a general election. But, having had a day or two to think over the matter, they evidently are less anxious to appeal to the constituencies than they professed to be in the firss flush of their succcess. To have polled with the very best 'of organisation in one of their party's strongholds phly a little more than a quarter of the votes on the roll does not look, on closer analysis, quite such a reassuring achievement as it did when victory was the jonly thing that counted. They want jt-ime'.now tQ educate the electors before leading them on"to the political millenium/and probably would be very much perturbed if the Government should decide to take them at their first word.