NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL

Taranaki Daily News, 18 April 1928, Page 14

NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL

WELLINGTON TOPICS CAUIWJS OF REFORM PARTY. THE LICENSING QUESTION. (From Our Own Correspondent). Wellington, April 16. It may be quite true, as the Prime Minister stated tho other day, that the caucus of tho Reform Party has not been called for the purpose of discussing the licensing question.' It would be just as easy to say it has not been called jo discuss the incidence of taxation, or the revision of the Customs duties, _ or the increase of members’ salaries," or the Government's railway policy or any matter that may be engaging the attention of the politicians at the present time. But it is quite certain that the licensing question will be mentioned at the gathering of the Reform forces, and it will be strange indeed if the members of the party who were so ardent about this subject less than six months ago should be silent about it now. The bones of contention are the two issue ballot paper and the simple majority, and when these were before the House last session, thirty-two Reformers, including six Ministers, supported them, while twenty-one members of the party, including the Prime Minister and four of his colleagues, opposed them. If any member has changed, his mind since then there has been no announcement of the fact. THE GOVERNMENT'S INTENTIONS. The members of the evceutive of the New Zealand Alliance, who naturally take a very keen interest in the situation, accept the Prime Minister's assurance that the caucus is n r t being held for the purpose <f discussing the licensing question. “But,” the general secretary of the Alliance added in the course of an interview on Saturday, “in view of the position of licensing legislation as it was left last session it is difficult to imagine the Reform Party discussing its general internal policy without specially dealing with the queaof licensing legislation.” This is the view of other people of consequence who have discussed the matter; but, ot course, the ultimate decision as to whether or not licensing reform shall be included in the Government’s programme for the approaching session rests with Mr. Coates himself. It is obvious enough that he would prefer to postpone the problem until next year, if this could be done without impairing the prestige of his party and estranging some of his prohibition follotvers, but he could not on the eve of a general election afford to fly in the face of public opinion. Plainly ho is confronted by the gravest difficulty 1>« has encountered since his assumption of office. Tjie Labour Party, at its annual conference last week, very sensibly decided that as a body it would take no part in the licensing controversy. The Palmerston North branch urged that all supporters of Labour should be urged to vote against the liquor trade at the next .-general election, because the liquor trade always halt used its organisation to defeat Labour, and the Wellington north branch moved that State Control of the liquor traffic should be a plank in the party's platform, but a majority of the conference preferred to leave members of the party free to vote as they pleased on these issues. During its sitting, however, the conference took occasion to emphasise the fact that the plank in its platform providing for a referendum with preferential voting when more than two issues were submitted to the electors applied to the licensing poll. 11l this respect the Labour party is far ahead of any of the other parties and must have the sympathy of every elector who subscribes to the principle of majority rule. The attitude of tho Prohibition Party on this point is inexplicable. All the Labour Party is seeking is to give every elector a voice in the ultimate decision. THE UNITED PARTY.

The public still remains in ignorance as to the policy of the United Party in regard to the licensing question and. in regard, to every other question of political consequence. Mr. F. W. Manton, who. was announced a little while ago as the chairman of the party, is a capable business man in the city, and,, it seems, Las come over from Reform with views which do not altogether harmonise with those of some of the Pi line Minister’s colleagues. But the public s knowledge of the new party is gathered mainly from the controversies carried on by its secretary with anyone that will meet him in the correspondence columns of the newspapers. This gentleman’s latest tilt is with the veteran secretary of the Reform Party, who had ventured to protest mildly against “long-winded and ill-tempered attempts to annihilate” him. "“Mr. James speaks of spoils to the victors,” retorts the United Party’s Secretary. “Is his memory sufficiently retentive to recall, as do', a certain conversation that we hau during his visit to my home in Auckland concerning spoils to the victors. This sort of thing may be entertaining enough in its way, but what the P u “’ l “ is looking for is some exposition ot the new party’s policy.