Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1915. POLITICAL PEACE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8209, 5 August 1915, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1915. POLITICAL PEACE.

Only those-; politicians' whe, fincl pleasure in fomenting politi-' "cal strife will regret the formation of a National Government. The generaL public will heartily welcome the decision of the party leaders to subordinate parochial proclivities to national interests, for i there was a real danger that these would have been neglected in the hurly-burly of political polemics. The satisfaction that the public will feel is. intensified by the fact that the new .Cabinet will include, the most able, ad-' mmiiitrators from both sides of the, House. The Dominion Parliament is not as rich in statesmen as it should be. There is not an individual on the political horizon ' to-day with qualifications equal to the great debaters and orators of the Home Parliament.. It may be that this is due'to our geographical limitations, but it is more probably owing to the-fact that, to ii much greater degree than is tlie case at Home,' our members of Parliament have always been more directly concerned with purely parochial considerations. A member's value to his constituency is assessed by

the number and proportions^of the grants he: can wheedle out of Ministers. . The "spoils to the victors'' pplicy. : has been developed into; a fiiie art by successive Cabinets,.with the result that the average member is not concerned so much with the weightier social and economic problems as with the need for placating his supporters. The member who hitches his waggon to a star under cirr cumstances sxicli as these is apt to be. regarded as an idealist who will never fise' to the level of securing a grant for a- bridge across Dead Horse Creek, or for a post " office at One-Tree Gully. That is. not. to say that we lack able men with an outlook that is more than./local in its scope, or that we have amongst our members of Parliament none fully qualified to carry out the difficult duties of iGabinet Ministers. The history of New Zealand's progress proves that there have been noble intellects and far-sighted statesmen who have controlled the affairs of the country. And to-, day we arc- fortunate that the, fusion of the two political parties has given us a Government that, in intellect and ability, cannot be surpassed by the Government of any other self-governing Dominion in the Empire. One thing that the public have a right to expect from the rank and file of both parties is that there will be an end to personal persecution arid scapegoat hunting. There will still; be ample scope for criticism, without a doubt. Indeed, the object of the coalition would in part be destroyed if the assumption were to hold good that the new Ministry is to be exempt from all criticism. But there can be ; no question that the House will have to exercise forbearance towards the Government as a whole and Ministers individually. On the other hand, however, Ministers will have to ( be more liberal iri their confidences than they have hitherto been; That is a duty imposed upon them -by their trusteeship, and it can be carried out without the disclosure of naval and.;,^military matters which 'the interests of .'the/; State'; demand shall be' kept secret.