SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 13210, 25 July 1917, Page 2

SIX O'CLOCK CLOSING.

THE OTHER. SIDE.

(Special Correspondent.) Wellington, July 23. The "six o'clockers" are making light of the case of the deputation, representing the liquor trade interests which i waited upon the Prime Minister and the j Attorney-General on Saturday with au i j'offer to close the bars an hour earlier! i in -return for the withdrawal of the j regulation against- shouting. They de- j ! clare that- the proposed compromise does : not represent as much as they are cer- j tain of obtaining from Parliament by a direct vote, and that the anti-shout-ing legislation should be considered altogether apart from the question of early closing. On the first point they probably are speaking by the book. At i least half-a-dozen members of the House I who would not vote for closing the bars at 6 o'clock would .support a proposal l'or closing them at 8 o'clock, and it will not be surprising if this hour is deckled upon. The offer of the trade to give up alv hour is being interpreted in many quarters as an indication of its readiness to surrender another in order to reach finality for the period of the war. PARTY. While the selection of the Sessional Committees was in progress in tho House the party spirit, which was to have died with the formation of the National Cabinet, came perilously near to 'reasserting itself. The trouble began with a protest from Mr W. A. 1 Veitch against the composition of the Land Committee. The member for " Wanganui has been singularly punc--1 tilious in his observance of the spirit of the "truce," occasionally to his obvious ' personal advantage, but he did not api prove of a majority of land-owners, and • Reform land-owners at that, being J placed upon a Committee •which should be specially looking after the interests ' of the landless people. Sir John Find--1 lay followed in a similar strain, urging f that the sooner the House freed itself . entirely from the trammels of party the better it would be for the public and - the country. Dr Thacker and Mr s Payne were more direct in their criti--1 c-ism of the composition of the Commits tees, and drew one or two pointed retorts from the Treasury benches, but the Prime Minister refused to take e them seriously, and in the end consented only to the appointment of Mr _ W. T. Jennings, 'the member for Taumarunui, to the Lands Committee as a concession to the views expressed by j Mr Vcitch and Sir John Findlay. ' " STATE CONTROL. e The Prime Minister's allusion to State control of the liquor traffic when t addressing the representatives of the e "trade" on Saturday was strictly non- - committal, but there are a Liood many p people hopintr Mr Massey will ultimate- , lv accept this solution of the eternal problem. First of all there are the people honestly believing in tho righteous- . ness of "continuance," who think they t see in the addition of State control to i the ballot paper a certain means of e breaking up the solidarity of the pro--1 hibition vote. Then there are the peo. 2 pie intimatelv interested in the traffic . who would like to have their capital t, more securely invested, and finally r there are the people who are convinced , the extinction of the proprietary in- , terest is the only road to safety. But ith^Pe^haiee^.elgQifnts w.idfjly^-iupa^t;. in'their' views "arid tlieir 'aspirations'that a precise Ministerial statement of what was contemplated by State control prob- . ablv would; throw two or them into opposition _ sid»- by side -with tho official prohibitionists. So far no one in auj thority has ventured to say what he would have the. reform really mean. 1 Mr Massey is not likely to break the silence. THE SESSION, j- The general opinion in the lobbies is tb'it tho debate on the .Address-in-Re-T>ly will be kept going until the end of ~ the week unless Ministers see some good reason for bringing it to a conclusion * eafllier. The matter rests, of course,

entirely in their hands. It is- probable the Budget, which we all continue to call the l-'inancial St'-atement. will make its appearance shortly after the Ad-dress-in-Reply is out of the way, but here again the convenience of the party leaders will be the deciding factor. The document is being awaited with unusual interest and curiosity, as the signs and portents have suggested it will contain •some drastic taxation proposals and indicate .some new lines of policy. A large number of private members are urging heroic measures for the promotion of national efficiency, and it is not unlikely the Budget will afford some idea how far their views are to be expressed in ■ legislation. The phrase "equality of sacrifice" is on everyone's lips and is being associated in the popular mind with the conscription of wealth simultaneously with the conscription of men. If the Government decides upon a big effort in this direction, basing it on sound and equitable principles, it will find the House ready j and eager to follow its lead. 1