THE BURIED HATCHET.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 199, 22 August 1919, Page 8

THE BURIED HATCHET.

I FOUR YEARS' PARTY TRUCE. ' I BIRTH OF TOE COALITION. ' j WORKING OF THE PACT. , ! After the general elections at the end of 1914, and the. 'by-elections before ! Parliament met in 1015, it was recog- " nised by the whole country that the ' Reform Government, then in oflice, could ! not hope, with its practically vanished ' majority, to carry on a programme of ' I war legislation. A semi-truce had been ! observed in the House during the latter ! I part of the 15)14 session by the Liberal ' Opposition, that the Government might ' not be embariassed in putting through ' urgent war measures. Sir Joseph Ward ' I and his supporters declared themselves ' ready to assist the Government in every : possible way to facilitate the passage ' of war legislation when Parliament assembled in June, 1910, providing that ' no contentious domestic legislation -were " attempted. The Prime Minister, how- ' j ever, appreciated the fact that his path - j would be beset with many difficulties, i not only of a party nature, unless the '.Cabinet were reconstructed to represent < the whole House. The country also I clamoured for a coalition for dealing I with the serious war legislation con- < fronting it, contending that the patriot- 1 ism and lot-alty of tho Liberal Leader antl his followers should not be con- * tinned in the dark, but with a full < knowledge of and voice in oil prospec- \ tive legislative proposals during the war 1 period. 1 It was on the night of June 29, 1915, t that Mr. Massey anounced in the House I that ho and his colleagues were pre- ' | pared to welcome any reasonable pro- £ i posal for the establishment of a National < i Cabinet, and invited the Leader of the 1 j Opposition. Sir Joseph Ward, to a con- t ; sulfation on the matter. Then ensued c j a lengthy series of negotiations, owing t to the reluctance of the Reform party to t recognise the practical equality of the c , two big parties in the House. Over a | month passed, and then on August 2nd it conference was held at Government f House between representatives of the two principal parties, and two days later the Prime Minister announced that owing to the inability of the Government, with its slender majority, to pass all the necessary legislation for the Dominion to perform its part in the great ! struggle in which the Empire was en- j ' gaged, it bad beeu agreed that both; 1 parties should unite. He added that a; '. National Cabinet, would be formed on j ' ' the basis of equal representation from j both sides. Previously an effort had j 1 also been made to persuade the Labour j ' party, of whom Mr. A. H. Hind-marsh was . ; leader at the time, to enter the agree- ' '' ment also, and be represented in the ' ' National Cabinet, but the offer was de- | ' dined. At the same time the majority : ; of the Labour members declared their ■ < intention of assisting the Government in I ' its war measures. ' i ' The personnel of the new Cabinet, j < which consisted of the record number of j 1 thirteen members, the odd one being T)r. ■ ' Pomare, representative on the executive ' of the Native race, was formally an- I nouiu-Pil on August 19, so that the coali- : tion has been in force for just over the four years. In this period there has been " a vacancy on each side of the Cabinet, ' c the Liberal party losing the Hon. Robert j = McNab through death in Fcbruai.r ' °'7. I ' while the Hon. A. L. Herdman retired i early last year to take a scat on the ' Supreme Court Bench. The Ministerial 1 seats thus vacated were filled ' respectively by Mr. T. M. Wil- 1 ford and Mr. D. H. Guthrie. In the i four years' career of the Coalition the i two leaders have made three visits to -' the Mother Country, in 1917 and 1918, to i attend the Imperial War Cabinet, and c this year to participate in the Peace ; Conference. On cadi occasion Sir James 1 Allen was Acting-Prime -Minister, while i the Hon. W. D. S. Mac-Donald repre- : \ sented his chief as temporary leader of t Ithe Liberal party. "f j<