WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 April 1920, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

! THE HOLIDAYS. FAVORABLE WEATHER AND BIG CROWDS. (From Our Special Correspondent.) Wellington, April 17The Easter holidays were observed by an unsnaliy large number of business people this year for the full period of live days, from Friday to Tuesday inclusive, and favored by fine weather were celebrated with exceptional unanimity and heartiness. The Wellington tramways could provide only a restricted service, but the holiday-makers found other means of "jetting a'bnnl ih.> <"ity and large numbers went further afield by rail, and steamer. The race meetings at Auckland, Wivirarapu, Keilding and Christehurch drew larze crowds, and those who have returned from the two metropolitan fixtures report fine weather, enjoyable sport and record speculation. An enormous amount of money must have been spent dur nthe wee!;, and the cvnics are Eco.'lins afresh nt the complaints concern in g the cost of living when people .n all stations of life have so much loose cash available for pleasure and for the thrills of the totalisator. CLOSE SETTLEMENT.

The Hon. D. 11. Guthrie, who has been able to get away from his .office for one or two days during the week to see some of the solider settlements within easy reach of the town, is growinglv enthusiastic over the possibilities of close occupation and intense cultivation, (.'hatting this morning, he insisted that the salvation of the country lay in evenman adapted to rural pursuits having his opportunity on the land, and putting forth his best elTort. It might have been the leader of the Liberal Opposition that was speaking. "It is the land," he said, "that will enable us to bear without discomfort, the great financial burdens the war has thrust upon T.ct us have production, niore production. and still more production, under the best possible conditions for the producer and for the State, and we shall scarcely feel these burdens except to stimulate us to our best efforts." Mr. (Ultimo has progressive schemes for civilian settlement ns well as for soMicr settlement, but these must be reserved for the approval of Cabinet.

THE BY-ELECTIONS, It is not necessary to assume tfiat the delay in issuing the writ for the .Stratford by-election is due to any desire on the part of the Prime Minister and his colleagues to gain an advantage in the contest. It is obvious, however, after reading Mr. Massey's explanation of the position that if action had been taken by the responsible authorities immediately after the decision of the Election Court-was known, the delav would have been avoided. If the course prescribed by the law prevents a. vacancv occasioned by petition being filled less promptly than a vacancy occasioned by death, then the law again is a "hass," and ought to be promptly amended b'v the new Parliament. As a matter fact. Mr. Masters, who is lighting against forces only the. party in power can set in motion, is likely to suffer more than his opponent. ' from the election be'ng hung up, but it does not follow Mr. Massey desires him to be placed, it this disadvantage. Apinrently it i- the law and olHcialdon liiat arc to blame

THE LIBERAL LEADER. The statement made by the Hon. W. D. S. MaeDonald in regard to the attitude of the Liberal Party towards the Government has received' very geiciMl ar.iuoval, and in some quarters warm eulogy. "Nothing could be better,'' the New Zealand Times says, '-than the eleaj view of the political situation anroiwoed by the leader of the Liberal Party. With regard to the Reform Party, Mr. Mac Donald refusing to accept them as truly representative 'de jure' acknowledge:; their right 'de facto' to govern. Tt is the "attitude, of a man at once honest and sane." Ofiieial Labor is not quite so well pleased by the suggestion of the '-'soft pedal," but Mr. Mac Donald stands well with the rank and file of the workers, and they trust, him to fight when fighting seems necessary. The. Reformers are a little sceptical about the Liberal loader's ability to restrain his more impetuous followers, but they profess to be pleased by his own determination to discourage the bitterness of partv politics.