Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1912. A BARREN VICTORY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXII, Issue 8313, 29 February 1912, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1912. A BARREN VICTORY.

It lias been said of war-.that a victory is only a little less terrible than a defeat; and the same reflection may very well be applied to the issue of the political struggle -'that was determined at Wellington .■ on Tuesday night. The^; dead silence with which the restilt was received in the House ot f- Representatives; suggests a feeing, of . dull dissatisfaction, strangely at variance with the keen excitement that prevailed foi some time previously. The sanie .feeling of sullen discontent will be experienced throughout the country. No one can pretend to be jubilant over the triumph or depressed over the. defeat. The battle has proved to be a drawn one, though the advantage is with the Government in that its forces are camped upon the field of conflict. It was in no sense a Waterloo. It decided no issuo; its only outcome is a reversion to the " status quo ante belliim." Perhaps a more correct analogy would be to compare the Government forces to an army defending a citadel against attack. The onslaught has not succeeded, but the enemy is still thefe in unbroken force, and his lines of circumva Ration are drawn as tightly as ever around tlie™ fortifications. At any moment he may make a breach in the walls and carry the citadel by storm. Dropping metaphor, it must be apparent to everyone that the victory is merely a technical one. It was not even 'gained by the award of an arbitrator, but settled by usage and convention, which, requires, the Speaker, in tllie event of a parity of votes on a no-confidence motion, to decide iii,favour; of things as they were. From the Liberal Party's- point of view there was, therefore, no occasion for jubilation and no need for the leader's admonition to suppress.all signs of rejoicing. The Reform Party may, however, find.-some ground for feeling depressed by the result. Mr Massey ■has been out-manoeuvred in the '■•bargaining," and lie may even feel that he has been the victim o* treachery and desertion. For, after all, if we 'get down to bedrock, his defeat was due to the defection of Mr John .Payne, M.P. for Grey Lynn, who owed his election in large measure to Mr Massey's influence, which was exerted on his behalf on the strengtji of his public pledge to vote for the busting of the Ward Ministry. Pushing the matter further,' it may be said that Mr Payne's, desertion was brought about by Mr Massey's particular organ, ' the " Dominion." It was owing to the attitude of that newspaper to the 'Labour cause during the Wellington tramway strike that Mr Payne was moved to abandon his pledge to turn out the Liberal Government It may be recorded to the credit, ot ■the ""Dominion"" that it did not dismiise its sentiments with regard to the strike with a view to. securing the . support of the LaW members. All the same, {•■ must be: particularly galling to

Mr Massey to find himself baulked of the object of his ambition throug-h the ; honesty arid fearlessness and consistency of his.own organ. The , "Dominion" 4 ; may not have represented Mr' Massey's individual views arid attitude towards the- workers'; but. to Mr Payne and the general public it appeared undoubtedly to represent the opinions of the party, of which, Mr Massey is the head, and he has had to bear the political consequences. Outside and above the interests o: eitjier [ party, are the interests of tjfie country, and it' may be said that these are best served by the decision that,has been arrived at. The Liberal Government; re-, mains in office/ but it can only ' legislate by permission of the Opposition. The country will riot suiter any gteat loss though there ' should be no new laws passed for the ensuing 'three years., Presumably the House will by common consent repeal tbe Second Ballot Act, for which [everybody will feel grateful; i but, : as for the comprehensive i Eadical policy; outlined:■ in the (governor's Speech, no part of il will be realised, unless perhaps a measure to reform the Legislative Council should be hammered into shape by debate and compromise. The chief occasion for regret is that the equal division of parties will prevent the passage of measures to secure more effectually the subdivision of ; large landed estates and the Closer settlement of the people ov the soil. The need for this is ■ so. urgent that it would justify a dissolution of Parliament and an appeal to the electors; but we fear that members of the Legislature will prefer their own interests before • those of the country, and will shirk a trial of strength on land policy or any other question likely to lead to a fresh election. The plain * duty of Parliament, if it wishes to carry out the expressed will of the electors, is to form a Coalition Ministry; but the sacred fetish of Party blocks the way to such a common-sense solution of the crisis. For, of course, no one supposes that the political crisis has been ended by Tuesday's division. As a matter of fact, the crisis is only commencing.