WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 77, 30 March 1920, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

SIR JAS. ALLEN'S RESIGNATION ELECTION OP. SUCCESSOR. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, March 26. Sir James Allen placed the resignation of his seat in the House of Representatives in the hands of the Prime Minister I before his departure with the Samoan party, and its gazetting may be taken as an indication that Massey is sufficiently recovered from his recent operation to dispense with the assistance of his first lieutenant, and is anxious to get his new team into harness as speedily as possible. In all probability the polling for the return of Sir James' successor in the representation of Bruce will take place towards the end of next month, and though the result cannot materially a£fect the strength of parties in the House, it will be awaited with considerable interest in political circles here. •There is some talk of the Labour party | putting up a candidate with a view to i diverting votes from the Liberal nomi|nee. but though tactics of this kind admittedly were employed at the general 'election, it seems unlikely they will be I repeated on the present occasion. I THE LIBERAL OPPOSITION. There is a good deal of the canny Scot [about the Hon. VV. D. S. Mac Donald, 'and he is not inclined to blazon abroad ibis intentions in regard to the two im--1 pending by-elections. But the new 'Leader of tho Liberal Opposition does bel:evp the progressive forces in the jcountrv are permanently estranged. j There "arc. he says, quoting Mr. Asquith, many roads they can travel together, and one of these, he thinks, is towards tee unoflicii:! constitution of a strong Opposition in the interests of the country as a whole. Having regard to some I recent utterances by the Minister of Lnpds. he f-ars there is a disposition on the mrt of a certain section of - ,% e Cabinet to renounce some of the first principles of progressive settlement, and if this is so* it is a menace to the community that will have to be watched very closely. Then the Government can be kept up to tbe mark in other respects only by an effective Opposition, and it is here Liberalism and Labour can find a common ground for effort. ; ' THE LAND BOOM. j Though husiness men in the city deprecate striking any note of alarm, many of tli"m agree with the "Auckland Btar'' in its comments upon the sensational "land sa'e at Feildipg this week. The high pr'ees heing paid for dairy land, they point out. hang entirply upon the i h ; gh pricp being realised for butterfat. I Neither moat nor wool can be produced nt a profit nn small areas costing from £150 to £190 an acre. But so long as the price of butterfat continues to soar it is ensv eboue*! for the firmer to see a profit evn at lnitre figures. The rlant'er is tht>t with all the worM driven to as seem= inevitable, a lessonc! demand for milk products will hrirtT n'hout nn ovr supply and a drop j in prices wMI be immediately re- j fleeted In the value of Ipnd. But whether this peril : s an imminent one or not. ! every lli = 'ntprcctpd authority io : T.<J ' with thp " c tar"' ip thinking the elitniI nation of th" speculator in dairy land :a consummation to he wished. I THE LIBERAL DEFEAT. I An old member who will sit on the | I Reform side of the new House gave it as ! his opinion this morning that Sir Joseph : I Ward was quite mistaken in attributing the defeat of his party at the December elecion to religious bigotry. " Thank j J God." he said, "the country is free from j |that iniouity." But apart from the re!a- ' : tive me-its of the policies put forward ' jby the party leaders, there were three factors, he contended, which contributed j 'to Mr. M-assey's decisive minority vici torv. First of all, there was the definite 'split between *he Liberals and Labour. | That meant about halving the strength of thfc o'd Opposition in the, country. 'Then there was a larsre transfer of Projhibition voters from the other two parities to th» Reform party. Rightly or wronelv. the Prohibitionists thought Sir Jospph Ward was a friend of the Liquor .Trade, and they knew Mr. Massey as the author of six o'clock closing. This, per- j haps, was th" most important factor of I I thp thrpe. "Finally, there was the far better organisation of the Reformers asI<anrip<r the co-icpntrnt'on of their forces. . jTbp P.P. A_r| ; d not influence a couple of thousand votes outside Sir Joseph's own constitupnev. LTRER\LTSM AND LABOUR. The "Dominion" is ft little exercised by the fact that a Tabonr candidate has mot v"t pptpred the contest for the ; Stratford seat. It ha? bp»n stated by one of thp n»ner« pubVshod in the conpfifppppv +h«f Mr. Masters is the nominee of the T iberal and Tabonr pnrtips. and the Wel'tngton paper wants to know if Labour has abandoned th" sturdy inrfp-ondpnee 't "roused and I practised at tbe s-eneral election. "There «■»» n +<~>i» iot en lontr aeo," it says, "when officii" I Labour threatened to contest every vacant seat, vet there are two : hv-e!petion= -'""t. and not an official I Labour cand ; dite in sight." Of course 'there was pot a "Labour candidate in 'either the Stratford or the Bruce seat lla*t December, and tlipre is not likely t* ]he one at either of the. by-elections, but lit is obvious that the chances of the party in power would be vastly improved if T abo„ r could be pursuaded to enter the contest. BOARD OF TRADE. Mr. W. G. McDonald, the chairman of the Board of Trade, has given to the newspapers a statement concerning the oDerations by the Board, which contains one or two crumbs of comfort for the (public. He states that in spite of the fact of a rise in the price of sugar in (Australia there is no immediate prospect of a rise in the price here. He admits the method of distribution is not entirely satisfactory, but the Board is i#ing to effect an improvement. If there is any hoarding it is on the part of consumers, | not on the part of speculators, and, in any case cannot be on a large scale. The cement position is being daily improved owing to the be>er supply oi coal, and it :s honed that in the course of a few weeks the shortage will be relieved altoge ' er *£ As for petrol there are now sufficient stocks in sight to satisfy all i normal requirements, and there is no longer any danger of dairying opera- | tions being interrupted through the lack of driving power for milking machinery.