WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 February 1921, Page 11

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE WATER FRONT. NO CHANGE IN THE POSITION. (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Feb. 21. No change in the situation on the .waterfront has taken place during the week-end, except, of course, that the passage of time inevitably has. brought the d'ay of settlement or of open rupture so much nearer. The shipowners seem prepared to look after their own interests at every point, and from this* fact the watersi-ders are arguing that the employers are the aggressors and that the unhappy workers again are the victims of a “capitalistic conspiracy.” But their logic does not hold good. The owners undoubtedly are better prepared than the waterside.rs are, but the real strength of their position lies in their reliance upon the existing agreement between the parties. In this country, at any rate, public opinion is the main factor in determining the outcome of a strike and in this case the great bulk of public opinion is with the party that stands for democratic constitutionalism and the observance of agreements. THE THIRD PARTY. The Welfare League has been putting the case for the public in the present turmoil very zealously and very sanely, saying things that the local newspapers and the local politicians have failed to say, and saying them in a way to attract attention. Its main point is that both the shipowners and the watersiders having failed to take either an economic or a patriotic view of the situation, Parliament should step in and see that the public is given adequate representation upon every body devoted to the settlement of industrial disputes. That the League will obtain a favorable hearing from either (Jie Government or organised la-bor appears improbable, but its idea already, has made an impression upon thinking people who realise that under the existing arrangement the great third party, the public, receives onlj) the most perfunctory consideration from the other two parties, Mr. Massey claims, as his predecessors did, that the Government is the representative of the public, but unfortunately Governments in matters of this sort are never free from the reproach of partiality. THE GAMING ACT.

Zealous advocates of the purification of the racecourse had honed that the case heard in Christchurch last week would show them just how far the recent amendments to the Gaming Act would help them in their campaign against the bookmaker. But the points reserved for the Court of Appeal may delay the final decision for an indefinite period, and meanwhile the reformers are faced with the fact that the layers of totalisator odds and of other kinds of odds have taken heart of grace from the failure of the Wellington cases and are carrying •on their business almost as openly as •they did before parliament decreed their extinction. The responsible Minister declares his intention to see the matter through, but he evidently is not very confident as to where his good intentions will land him. It is doubtful if all the racing clubs are doing their duty towards the law very whole-heartedly. It is notorious, in any case, that some owners and racing officials are among the bookmakers’ biggest customers.