WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLII, Issue 12821, 17 April 1916, Page 1

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

KACIXC AM) WAII. THE DHIXK giriCSTIOX. (.Special Corresponent. Wellington, April 14. A ieduction of £IO,OOO, compared tvith the investments at the corresponding fixture of last year, in the totulisator business at the JVlanawatu Racing Club's meeting seems to sug-ue.-t that the appeals of.the good people who want to moderate the ex-

penditure upon sport and gambling during the war are beginning to bear mi it. The Manawatu meetings are

among the most delightful fixtures in the whole racing calendar, and the •lathering this week was no exception to the rule, the admirable .management, beautiful weather and excellent sport leaving little to be desired by the most fastidious holiday-maker, but the gambling, so far as it was indicated by the totalisator, dropped from .(.'60,000 to £50,000 in spite of the widely-advertised fact that all the proJits would be applied to patriotic purposes Of course., the investments may have been restricted to some extent by the presence of Desert Gold in tho weight-for-age events, penalties being (|iiite insufficient to bring the brilliant filly back to her opponents, but this would not account for more than £2OOO or £3OOO, and in normal times money withheld from one race would be invested on others. The crowds at Palmerston on Wednesday and Thursday, though perhaps not so large as those of last year, consisted mainly of pros-perous-looking local people, who have repeatedly shown that a love of sport is not inconsistent with the most ardent patriotism, and it may* not be taking a too optimistic view of the decline in the Club's revenue to regard it as the outcome or tho growth of a sound} r).iblx- opinion on this slllijppt. .MILITARY SETTLERS.

Wellington is fortunate just_ npiv in having :i district land commissioner, Mr G. H. M'Clure,, ;an officer who has brought from the .South Island a wide practical knowledge of land settlement and a Jirm belief in its possibilities. Mr MClure has made a close study of tlie legislation of last session, by which it was hoped numbers of returned soldiers would be placed on the land, and though he thinks there still is something for Parliament to do i;i this direction he holds the Government has made a very good beginning. He declines, of cour.se. to suggest improvements that might be made in the legislation— at any rate to tho casual' «'iu|iiirer —but he is ready enough to show soldiers how they can make profitable use of the lav even as it stands. He already has succeeded in finding suitable sections for several men with only a modest amount of capital and be has a number of others on his books: The most perplexing problem is the man without knowledge and without money who has conceived an all-absorb-ing desiro to engage in pastoral pursuit on a large scale, but Mr M'Clure does not despair of placing even this impracticable individual in the way of shitting for himself if ho will .somewhat moderate his ambitions and submit to a term of probation. The great need of the scheme is a supply of small sections of really good «land where :i man's labor with a very little assistance may become the equivalent of capital. Given this, 'it ought to Ikeasy to turn several thousand soldiers into contented and very useful settlers. EARLY CLOSING.

The. deputation that waited upon the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence on Wednesday to urge the institution of vet canteens within the military camps, and the earlier closing of licensed houses does not appear to hare had the support of any great weight of public opinion. Wet canteens are so strongly opposed by the military authorities, from the Minister downwards, that the deputation was only-wasting its breath in mentioning them again. Mr Allen has recollections of .wet canteens in hi.< old volunteering days which forbid him considering their revival now, and Colonel Gibbon attributes the good behavior of the men in camp largely to the absence of facilities for obtaining drink. There may be arguments on the other side which might commend themselves even to temperance people, but there would not be the slightest chanco of their prevailing against the settled Ministerial mind. The early closing of the licensed houses is a more oj>en question, and the Ministers themselves seem to have some doubt on the subject:' The behavior of the soldiers While in town has so vastly improved during the last lew months, that the need for carry closing has become loss apparent from a military point of view;" but the same cannot lie said for the civilian population, and many people outside the ranks of the prohibitionists would like to see the bar trade very considerably curtailed during the course of the war. As a mere expedient for saving much wasted money it is worthy of some consideration, but if the problem were dealt with from this standpoint the extravagance induced by theatres and /picture shows and even by tea shops would have to be also reviewed. THE VOLUNTEER SYSTEM.

Sir Joseph Ward is confirming his expressed preference for the- voluntary system by engaging in n vigorous recruiting campaign that can leave no doubt about the idncerity of his professions. Journeying by the mid-day day express on Monday he spent Tuesday in Auckland, taking train from the northern city for Napier at night and reaching Gisborne on Thursday morning. He Arill get back to Wellington to-morrow, and in the evening will leave for Christchiirch in order to address a recruiting meeting :nere on .Monday. This is a performance thai will compare Hot unfavorable- with the the most strenuous of Mr Seddon's hurricane tours at election time, and it certainly has earned the cordial receptions the Minister has obtained at nil his calling places. Sir Joseph has not lost faith in the voluntary system, though he frankly admits that "unless there is a satisfactory response to this final appeal compulsion will be inevitable, and he is leaving no stone unturned to justify his optimism in the eyes of the public. His meeting at Gisborne is reported to have been the most enthusiastic gathering of the kind held in the East Coast district since ihc beginning of the war, and all along the route he lias stimulated local patriotism into most encouraging expression.