The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 1941.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 91, 18 April 1941, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 1941.

</Ie eau«e that lacks aetittanec, For the wrong that reeds reeittanat, For the future in the distance, And the good that vie can do.

THE PARTY SPIRIT. The proposal by Mr. Holland that a national, non-party Government should bo formed war. mnde to Mr. Fruser, the Prime Minister. The reply h:is come from Mr. Fraser, the lender of the Labour party. There is to be found in Ihnt reply little

indication of Mr. Fraser's appreciation of the grave reason.-; which prompted the proposal —the extreme gravity of the war situation and the fact that the New Zealand forces are actively engaged in the conflict. Not that Mr. Frnser fails to

appreciate these circumstances and their implication* —probably no one else in New Zealand is .so well aware of them—but unfortunately he received Mr. Holland's proposal during the Labour Party Conference, which conference has been assuring him of its substantial satisfaction with party Government in wartime. So he has replied in terms which leave (he impression that Mr. Holland's proposal is of minor importance, one upon which decision can be deferred without harm for an indefinite period. This view will not be accepted by anyone who is aware of the magnitude of the problems now facing the Dominion, and feels something less than complete confidence in the ability of the present administration to grapple with them.

Mr. Fraser fays Iho formation of an all-party Government at this time would lead to "undesirable confusion, and therefore would not promote unity." This appears a poor excuse for inaction, especially when Mr. Fraser goes on to speak of the possibility that the postponement of the general election may become "advisable or even inevitable," in which event the formation of a national Government would necessarily be involved. There the thoughts of a party leader —not of a Prime Minister —are clearly evident. If it should come to the question of postponing the election —which in our political history has been shown to be an unpopular move, and very unprofitable for the Government promoting it—the Labour Government may invite the Opposition in to share the responsibility; but it is not prepared, "at the moment," to invite the Opposition in to share a responsibility incomparably more important—the administration of the country in war-time. Instead, it wants Mr. Holland in the War Cabinet, where he would share responsibility strictly limited—limited by the Government—and where his mouth would be effectively closed, as the mouths of Mr. Coates and Mr. Hamilton have been closed. In the circumstances which Mr. Fraser's reply has created Mr. Holland will correctly interpret the conviction of a very large body of people if he decides that there has never been a greater need than now for a vigilant, unfettered and constructive Opposition.