WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13972, 19 April 1916, Page 7

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

RACING AND WAR. THE DRINK QUESTION. (Special Correspondent). WELLINGTON, April 14. A . reduction of £10,000, compared with the investments at tho corresponding fixture of last year, m the totalisator business at the Mahawatu Racing Club's meeting seems to suggest that the appeals of the good people are beginning to bear fruit. The M'anawat-u meetings are among the most delightful fixtures m the whole racing calender, and the gathering this week wa* no exception to the mile, tho admirable man-! agement, beautiful weather, and 'excellent sport leaving little to be desired by the most fastidious holiday-makes*- but the gambling, so far as it was indicated by the totalisator, dropped from £60,000 to £50,000. m spite of the widely-advertised fact that all the profits would bo applied to patriotic purposes. Of course the investments may have been restricted to .some extent -by tlio presence, of Desert Gold m the weight-foi>age ©vents, penalties being quite insufficient to bring the brilliant filly back to her opponents, but this would not account for more than £2000 or £3000, and m.. normal times money withheld from one race would be invested, on others. Tho crowds at Palmerston on Wednesday aiuT Thurusday, though perhaps not so largo as those of last year, consisted mainly of prosperous looking local people, who have repeatedly shown that a love of sport is not inconsistent with th? most ardent- patriotism, and it 4 . may i ot ho taking a too optimistic view 6? the decline m the club's revenue to regard it as the outcome of the growth of a sounder public opinion on this subject. military: SETTLERS. Wellington i.-i fortunate just now m having a district land commissioner, Mr G. H. M.cGiure, an officer who has brought from the South Island a wide practical knowledge of land settlement and a firm belief m its possibilities. Mr McClure has made a close study of the legislation of last session, by which it was hoped numbers of returned soldiers would bo placed on the land, and though he thinks there still is something for Parliament to do m this direction, he holds the Government has made .i' very good beginning. He declines, of course, to suggest improvements that might bo made m the legislation — at cny rate to tho casual enquirer — but he is ready enough to show soldiers, now they can make profitable use of the. law even a* it stands. He already has succeeded m finding suitable sections for several men with- only a modest amount of capital, and he has a number of others on his books. The most perplexing problem is tho man without knowledge and without money who has conceived an all-absorbing desire to engage m pastoral pursuits on a large 3cale, but Mr McClure, does not despair of placing .even this impracticable individual m the way .of shifting for himself if ho will somewhat moderate his ambitions and submit to a term of probation. The great need of tho scheme is a. supply of small sections of really good land whero a man's labor with "a very little assistance may become the equivalent of capital. Given this it ought to bo easy to turn several thousand soldiers * into contented and wry useful settlers. EARLY CLOSING. The deputation that waited upon the ' Prime Minister and tlio .Minister of Defence on Wednesday to urgo the institution of wet canteens within the miliI tary camps a-nd the earlier closing of licensed; houses does not appear to have had tho 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 m mentioning them again. Mr Allen has recollections of wet canteen? m his old volunteering days, which forbid him considering their revival now. and Colonel Gibbon attributes the good behaviour of tho men m 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 chance of their prevailing against tho settled Ministerial mind. Tlie early closing of the licensed houses is a more open question, and tho Ministers themselves seem to have some doubt on the subject. : Tho behaviour of the, soldiers while m town • has so vastly improved during the last- few months, that the need for early closing has become less apparent from a military poinjt of view ; but tho same cannot be said for th? civilian population, and many people outside the ranks of the prohibitionists would like to see the bar trade very considerably curtailed during tho course of the war. As a more expedient for saving much -wanted money, it is worthy of some consideration, but af 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 VOLUNTARY SYSTEM. Sir Joseph Ward is confirming his expressed preference for the voluntary system by engaging m a vigorous recruiting campaign that can leave no doubt about the sincerity of his professions. Journeying by the mid-day express on Monday he spent Tuesday m Auckland, taking train from the northern city for Napier at night, and reaching Gisborne on Thuraday morning. He left Gisborne early on Friday morning by motor car, put m *v couple of hours at Wairoa, receiving deputuations, etc., and reached Napier that night. He. will get back to Wellington to-morrow (Saturday), and m the evening will leave Ifor Christchurch m order to address I a recruiting meeting there on Monday. This -is a performance that will compare not unfavorably with the most strenuous of Mr Seddon s hurricane ! tours at election timo, and it ceii^ainly has earned the cordial receptions the Minister has obtained at all his calling places. Sir Joseph has not lost faith m 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 m thp eyeß of the public His meeting at Gisborne ia reported to have been tho most enthusiastic gathering of th« kind hoM m the Enst Const district since the beginning of the war, and all along his route b-» has stimulated local patriotism into most encouraging expression,