THE POLITICAL BREW.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 217, 12 September 1911, Page 7

THE POLITICAL BREW.

IN THIS BREWING. FOOTWORK AND GRIPS. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Monday. The position politically is at the present moment of a colour peculiar. The tongue of Rumour wags in the lobbies, but even the gossip-loving dame holds a finger to her nether lip, and whispers more 'guardedly than is her garrulous wont. There is, in. short, a listlessness about her gabble that (betokens no great security of mind on even the choicest morsels of small talk and scandal, and, meanwhile, there is a feeling o-f unrest in the air-—sm uncanny sort of unrest that, may presage, electric currents, or nothing save a nostalgia on the part of members who are longing to see once onoro the fires of their good constituents. "A nail in time saves nine," is a motto of excellent virtue in an ejection year, and who knows what trouble is ibeing piled up by perfidious interlopers while the leal men of the country arc striving for the country's good here in the .big law factory.

The .present uncertainty regarding the rearrangement of portfolios, as the result of Mr. Fowlds' resignation from tho Ministry, -the speculation that persists concerning the Minister's possible intentions, and the daily guessing competition; that focuses around Sir Johft •Findlay and the Hon. T. Mackenzie, all 'help to keep the puzzle Chain circulating. The .Budget comes along as a big diversion, and takes the wind out of •many sails of piratical intent, but the end of much reflection continues to be stubbornly chewed what time the mills of the gods go grinding on. Some day, perhaps not far distant, many of these ends 'will be spat out in a frantic hurry doubtless, but between whiles the Parliamentary mills will have turned out their flonr. Tt goes without saying that the comparative fineness of the material will be tho subject of much comment, more or less masterly and prolific in detailed opinion, and many whilom biters of the cud will wonder at themselves. But that hits nothing to do 'with the immediate and indivisible state. There are, in a word, tongues that wag impatiently, saying "Let us know, and declare ourselves a.s indivisible ; why not rake toe enemy fore and aft, and be done with him?" But. these arc 'bold spirits, dangerously bold, and the fretted bit is drawn a little nearer.

As a matter of fact, neither camp feels itself to be an indivisible entity, and while that of the Opposition is, from what may be gathered, by far the unhappier of the twain, there is not the unanimity in the Ministerial ranks that could be desired by the driver of the team. A fretfulness is apparent that bespeaks an impatience with something, and that something occasionally looks out of its hiding place. Many members, by this and that token, show that they resent the gap which seems to lie between their leaders and themselves; they hug a natural longing to be taken into some confidences from which they are at present excluded. Here and there among the more robust the murmur finds articulate expression, and the word '"caucus" is sounded with a meaning, but the riddle of the sphinx remains a riddle. Sir Joseph Ward quietens the restive i ones with a pat and the rebellious one j with a flick of the "whip," and all file lout in clean bib and pinny and with wellj washed faces, while the whisper of a House divided against itself vanishes for the while into the refuge of a dishonourable cranny. As for the Opposition, their latter end would seem to be wound about the nether millstone, for. whatever comes of the political pother that brews and stews, and once in a while boils over, the knowing ones smile sagely and with tongue in cheek at the hopes of the self-styled Liberal reformers. When Mr. Fowlds relinquished his portfolios, an evil and ill-cricented joy possessed them briefly, very briefly, for, even among themselves the lion, gentlemen of the extreme left could not long feel that this now handwriting on the wall augured much more than a very empty husk for their own hopes. And then came the, Budget. It was truly a cruel, sad shock to their fleeting visions of benefits, long, long deferred, to come. Mr. Massey asked for a fortnight in which he might recover breath, and presumably gather a few among the scattered planks of "Liberal reform," but the tocsin had sounded, and sternly and relentlessly he was bidden "Come on! no later than Tuesday, or for evermore remain silent and vanquished. With this short truce, he had again to dissemble and declare himself content, girding himself with a brave front, and throwing out a skirmishing dart or so by way°of courage to bis followers. There "will of a certainty not bo lacking fight. Thrust and counter-thrust will be in plenty, for among the Opposition front rankers are some rare and subtle old warriors, who will find a joint in any harness, no matter how nicely riveted. The. plan of attack on the Government part, it is whispered in some quarters, will resolve itself into a sortie in force by way oi a 'no confidence" motion on the land proposals, or absence of them rather in the Budget. Thus, it is argued by the astute ones, will the general in command of the forlorn "loft" endeavour to provoke a disaffection among the followers of Sir Joseph Ward and find an opening in the square through which to hurl his handful of scalers to the paradise of the treasury benches. But the odds are more than obvious; to the victors the spoils. Sic transit.