A LEAGUE OF ADMONITION.

Free Lance, Volume XIX, Issue 1029, 17 March 1920, Page 6

A LEAGUE OF ADMONITION.

Philosopher, Counsellor - and Friend ?

TT has been , permeating the: conscicusness of the public for some time past that the Welfare League, like the old lady from the country has come to make a prolonged stay. In fact the] further we consider her as a* proposition the - closer does ' the analogy develop. You know the old lady from the country, a sort of ; distant relation, whom you have not seen for years, and"'who suddenly decides to visit her relations? She "duly arrives, is given the best bedroom in the . house, is told to stay as long as she likes, and isi fussed over generally, as becomes the best traditions of hos-'' pitality. , After a- while the shyness wears off, and she begins to take an interest in the handling of the domestic ship, and even evinces a desire to i take a trick at the wheel; At this i stage of the game, if the host and hos- ' tess are young and inexperienced in the ways of old ladies from the country . and, these symptoms of aggressive activity are. left unchecked, the visitor may develop the tendency of the cuckoo, and the house will siuddenly. grow too small for its: occupants.

.Now, between the Welfare League and the old lady from tiie "conntiy, is a surprising number of points of resemblance. The Welfare League lay low for a very long, time after its organisation, but' lately it has been taking an interest in current affairs. It. has been supplying—free, gratis and all for nothing, it is presumed—informing • articles on-- industrial, questions . to the newspapers, articles pro-, fessedly : free . from partisan bias, the object being to. reveal to the public all the aspects of a question, and- the League's viewof the rights of the case. On such important issues as; the coal dispute, the seamen's" demands,; and the : watersiders', the League has published maiiy ■ columns. Up' to that point the .methods of the League were beginning to be understood, though it must be confessed that neither Capital nor Labour' had been , able wholly to rid themselves of the suspicion thats the League had an axe to grind.- •

But the bread crisis last- and the threat of the master bakers to quit baking unless they - got what they , considered a fair deal in the matter of prices, brought £ne; old lady out into the street in a state of great exciter ment, with a slipper in her hand, looking for some bakers to spank. In the columns of the daily... press she told these : naughty master bakers exactly what she thought of them. This was the "Welfare League in a new. role? "Will the role be an .effective'- one? If the League really wants to justify itself, it should declare immediate war on all profiteers and never let up ; till it has brought some of them to book. Then will the public really believe that the League really is for it, and not for some mysterious something in the background. . -

General regret is felt and expressed in Wellington at the death on Thursday last of Mr George Mee, the oldest established chemist in Wellington. For many years he was the chairman'of -the Terrace ' School Committee, and in, the eighties and. nineties he was one of Wellington's foremost yachtsman. He was one of the founders of the Port Nicholson Yacht Club, and in turn held the positions of commodore and 5 vicecommodore. He was principal owner of the crack yaciit Maritana, which was built in Auckland and after sailing in many a well-contested match in Wellington was eventually sold to Mr C. Y. Fell, of Nelson. The late Mr Mee was a true sport and a gentleman. He is survived by two sons; and two daughters—Messrs George Mee,' farmer, of Waitotara, and Aubrey Mee, who is carrying on the business' of his late father in Lambton Quay, and Mrs Dykes and Airs Cooper, wife of Lieu-tenant-Commander Cooper, R.N.

Followers of billiards are looking forward with interest to the nest meeting of Clarke MeConaehy . and Alex Crossan, which takes place in the Empire Billiard Parlonr on Monday next, 22nd rnst. The game is to be 750 up, McConachy conceding his opponent 350 points. It-is anticipated that Cros■san, who is gaining confidence, will put up a better fight than in his 'last effort. Mr Tremaine, proprietor of the Empire Saloon, _is preparing ail excellent table for the event. It is being re-covered, cushions renewed, and everything is being done for the comfort of those who v attend. . The match commences at 8 o'clock sharp, at the conclusion, of which the two men will engage in a game of snooker at which Crossah: excels.