WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 14053, 25 July 1916, Page 7

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

mm THE INFLUENZA FIEND. PROGRESS OF BUSINESS. (Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, July 21. The influenza fiend has retained its hold on. Ministers during the week. Mr Massey and Mr. Allen made their reappearance m the House on Wednesday afternoon, after an absence running into a couple of Aveeks, but they did not remain till the end of the sitting, and have not yet ventured out m the night air. Sir Joseph Ward, muffled up m coats and Avrappers, stuck, to his post till he got the- Land and Income Tax Bill through on Tuesday evening, but he could bear up no longer, and is now confined to his bedroom,- where he is carrying on the Avork of his various Departments. The three Ministers hope to be themselves again Avhen the House resumes next Aveek, and to be able to clear up the remaining business of the session within a fortnight. On the latter point they probably are a -little too sanguine. The House has not been Avearied by late sittings, and it has lots of talking poAver left, which it will be inclined to employ if congenial subjects are offered for discussion. Ministers are now shoAving no disposition to unduly hasten matters, and there is a feeling abroad that the "trip Horn©" Avill not be alloAved to alter their attitude m this respect. WAR REGULATIONS. Neither of the party leaders was iri the House when Mr. Herdman introduced the War Regulations Amendment Bill on Wednesday, and the task of expounding the Government's) policy m regard to the various matters ' dealt with m the measure was left to the AttorneyGeneral himself and, the Minister of Health. At the commencement of the proceedings Mr. Hornsby suggested that as some ol!- the subjects to be dis J cussed Avere of an extremely delicate nature, it Avould be well to hay© ,the galleries cleared of ladies, and the Speaker, though explaining ho had no authority to issue orders m the matter, appearing to concur. Avith the view expressed by the member for Wairarapa, the ladies m ihe gallery withdrew. Mr. McCombs then pointed out that certain clauses of the Bill were of vital conj cern to the Avomen and children of the ' country, and contended there could be no possible objection to matrons watching the proceedings on their behalf. The Speaker reiterated his statement that it Avas a matter entirely for the judgment of the women themselves, and later on five or six. ladies returned to the gallery and retained their seats there throughout the debate. It soon became evident there was.not. not the least need for any of the AA-omen to have retired. EARLY CLOSING. The House listened to Mr. Herdman's .explanation of the contents of the Bill with no display df particular interest till the Minister -.touched upon the question of early closing of hotel bars, wliich, of course, was not mentioned m the measure at all. The Attorney-Gen-eral is frankly opposed to the imposition of further : restrictions upon the liquor traffic — so frankly and so honiestly, indeed, that the prohibitionists, Avhile regarding him as, the -most doughty of their opponents, respect him for his candour and his sincerity.' He said — meaning and f eeling every word he uttered —that after the publicans had acquired rights under the law s of the country and had invested their money m certain property, "it Avould be a gross act of injustice if Parliament Avere to curtail the right of these individuals and take away their property-. "' He resented the suggestion that early closing .was necessary m the interests of the soldiers or m the interests of the community, and auoted /statistics and Police reports to show that the soldiers at Trenfham were the most sober people m the Dominion, and that Wellington Avas the most orderly city m the Empire. The Minister's own belief m the literal accuracy J of his assertions Avas bhvious for everyone to see, and was ' positively pathetic m its intensity. ' * THE OTHER SIDE. The prohibitionists m the House, Avith the single exception. of Mr. Ritt, scarcely did themselves oi* their cause justice m putting their side of the question before th© House. They vehemently denounced the linubr traffic, lock, stock' and barrel. Avithont making any pretance at giving judicial consideration to the 6 o'clock proposal, and so one after another laid themselves open to the suspicion of seeking the extinction of the traffic rather than its regulation during Avar time. The member for Chris"--fhurch. North. Avho did not sneak till las^ night, dealt Avith the question more iudiciously , amd more effectively than d?d any of his prohibition colleaeues. He hoped some day to see the Attor-ney-General occupying, a seat on the Supreme Court bench. Avhere he would interpret the laAv with marked ability and dispense iustice Ayith scrupulous rare, and at the same time "scarify"' nnv lawyer avlio put before him such fnHacious arguments as lie h**d us^d himspUjls a politician m d«fend:nn- the privileges of the linuor traffic*. His speech Avas Pdmirable from beginning to end. a perfec"-. torrent of'- ■ well-ordered eloquence, full of ant, illustration nnd Avithou*- a tinee of bitterness, and yet, ns a blase sceptic iv the gallery observed, nrobablv it did not 'affect a single opinion m tho House. A NATIONAL PERIL. * Tlie Minister of Public Health fully deserved the compliments that were heaped upon him after his very valuable contribution to the debate on Wednesday night. It Avas at the special request of the House that Mr. Russell folloAved th© Attorney-General >vith an explanation of the. • steps the Government proposed .to take to protect the community from the ravages of venereal diseases, and if possible to remov© this frightful peril from path of the nation. The Minister had carefully prepared his speech ; m fact, the greater part of it Avas read by the indulgence of tlie House from his own manuscript, and Avhether the prqppsals of the Government are approved* or not, this plain statement of the position ought to be Avidoly circulated for general information. It has been said by some of his critics that tho Minister is seeking to reArive iri another guise the objectionable legislation that was swept from the Statute Book years ago, but Mr. Russell gives a most emphatic denial to this suggestion, and no one Avho' reads the full text of his speech Avithout personal bias and without unworthy suspicion can doubt his determination to deal justly between the sexes, and to avoid placing any indignity upon women. The recollection of Avhat has gone before, to say nothing of the potency of public opinion, Avould save any Government from such a prime. »