WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 69, 22 March 1928, Page 22

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

TRIANGULAR CONTESTS.

A REVOLT AMONG FRUITGROWERS.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. People in Wellington who have given some attention to the vagaries of the various electoral systems smile broadly at Mr. G. W. Forbes' assumption that three-corner contests under the existing law are no peril to majorities. "Many thousands of , Liberals who have been voting Reform or Labour in the past,"'said the member for Hurunui, speaking in Dunedin the other day as the leader of the National party, "through lack of Liberal candidates in the elections, will welcome the candidates of their own politics who will be contesting the seats this year. All the ridiculous suggestions from the present Government that this would tend to strengthen Labour's position will not deter these gentlemen, who know different." The Reform party, Mr. Forbes declared, was simply raising a bogy when it protested that the presence of a third party in the field would tend to give Labour a victory. Everyone who knows anything about the operation of the New Zealand electoral system, however, realises that the presence of a third party in the field will practically assure the return of Reform at the approaching general election. Another Revolt. A considerable number of the apple growers in the Nelson province, representing, it is said, 150,000 cases ot exportable fruit, are seeking permission from the Control Board to sell thelr produce at this end, "free on board," as the term goes. They have an offer which would yield them a profit of some 3/4 or 3/6 a case, and they are very eager to accept this opportunity to free themselves from the inevitable risks of the Home market and the circuitous methods of the board. But so far the board has shown no inclination to accede to their request, fearing, no doubt, that the concession would mean, ultimately, the institution of a free market, with very proper supervision, as in the case of the Dairy 80-ard. The eager growers are petitioning the Government on the matter, and tliev have the support of a very large volume of public opinion. Their request is all the more urg/nt in view of the fact that the London market .does not look particularly attractive at the present time. The buyers cannot be expected to have their offer open indefinitely. Transport Services. A good deal of uneasiness is being expressed in regard to the uses the State and the municipalities are making of the transport services they have acquired during the last year or so. It is roundly stated in some quarters that the resignation of two members of the Railway Board wag not altogether unconnected with the Minister's insistence upon tho Department entering upon a number of road services and still making the lines pay. The Ministers' own confidences concerning the preparations that are being made to "meet competition" are not reassuring to the taxpayers. The new services are bound, as Mr. Coates himself admits, to result in heavy losses for "a year or two," ana bv the end of that indefinite time tT»e whole conditions may have entirely chanced. As for the steps the municipalities have taken in this respect, thev seem to have been designed rather to cripple private enterprise than to provid additional f.iHlities for the ratepayers. The Wellington Oitv Leagit:has been discussing the position, anrt appears to have reached the conclusion *hnt +he authorities are Heavlv hindering the development of the city.