WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 122, 22 May 1920, Page 12

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE AFTERMATH.

MR. MASSEY'S APPEAL.

(By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") WELLINGTON, May 21. The Prime Minister had in his mind's eye a much larger audience than the one he approached at the annual dinner of the Dental Association the other night with an appeal for care, economy, and industry. Included in the aftermath of the war, he said, was an enormous growth of private extravagance induced by high prices for the Dominion's produce and the large expenditure of public money during the course of the war. People had lived as. if these' conditions w6uld prevail for ever, and only in the rarest instances had made provision for the inevitable re-action. Mr. Massey did not wish to appear as a pessimist or as an alarmist, but he did wish to impress upon the public the need for prudence and vigilance in private life as well as in public affairs. With these safeguards, he said, the country would pull through all right, but without them it might suffer very serious depression.

IN WHICH SPHERE? The somewhat cryptic statements Sir Joseph Ward made to a privileged journalist before leaving for London yesterday have stimulated speculation concerning the political future of the late Liberal leader. The allusions Sir Joseph made to Imperial politics at the gathering of his friends in Christchurch a week or two back created an impression here that he was more than half inclined to enter public life at Home; but people who may be supposed to enjoy his confidence declare that it is only in very special circumstances he would entertain the idea of cutting himself adrift from New Zealand politics. The circumstances probably would not be created by the present Coalition Government, but might be brought about by a more progressive combination in which constitutional Labour would have its' proper share of representation. The chances are, however, that Sir Joseph will be back in New Zealand within twelve months. ELECTORAL REFORM. Meanwhile Sir Joseph's reiterated appeal for public attention to the need for electoral reform is giving some heart to the advocates of proportional repre, sentation. Nor is it the only crumb of comfort that is coming their way after long years of apathy and opposition. The "Evening Post," which in times gone by was wont to scoff at any interference with the existing system of election, is now burning with the zeal of the recent convert for its commission to the scrapheap. The results of the December election have opened its eyes to the fact that the existing system gives no security at all to majorities, and that the return of a Reform minority 'to-day might be followed by the return of a much less desirable minority to-morrow. Several prominent members of the House also have revised their attitude towards the reform in the same way. It is being assumed that Mr. Massey is opposed to a change, but his eulogies of the principle of proportional representation still stand. . j THE JOCKEYS' DISPUTE.

I Though there remains a good deal of sympathy among race-goers and other, interested'people for the Jockeys' Association in Its efforts to improve the position of its members* the atatements made by the Hon. E. Mitchelsoii and Sir George Clifford have gone far to remove misapprehensions which were prejudicing public opinion against the racing clubs and tflie Racing Conference. It was the reiterated assertion that three jockeys had been disqualified fox daring to promote a "trade union".for the benefit of members of their profession which aroused a certain measure of popular indignation against the racing authorities, but Mr. Mitchelson's plain statements that the jockeys were disqualified for breaches of the rules, and not for anything they might have done in connection with'labour organisation, has placed quite a different complexion upon the matter. The moral for the racing authorities should be to overcome their dislike to -publicity, and for the promoters of the Jockeys' Association to seek a little less.