POLITICAL SITUATION.

Press, Volume V, Issue 13598, 6 December 1909, Page 7

POLITICAL SITUATION.

AN INTERESTING R__UME

THE RECENT GOVERNMENT DEFEATS.

(BPKCJAI, TO ''TUB PBESS.""*

WELLINGTON, December 5. New Zealand vx>lit'cs have suddenly become interesting—more interesting than for many years,— and tho present position is such that there is no telling what may happen from day to day. Sir Joseph Ward has, to a certain extent, lost control of his party, and the Whip at the critical moment fails to get recalcitrant members into the right lobby. Tho Opposition, on the other hand, is a ..olid phalanx, and Mr Hardy, the genial Opposition Whip, has a bed of roses in comparison with the bed of thorns upon which Mr Laurenson, the Government Whip, occasionally endeavours to snatch a few moment-' political repose. Recent doings nnd developments all point to the fact that it would be quite possible in the present temper of tho House to defeat the Government on some amendment that should involve its resigning. There is. however, no desire on the part of tho Opposition party to put the Government out of office at the present juncture. There are two or three reasons for this. For instance, the Opposition would very much prefer that tho present Government should do its own cleaning-up, and, in addition, there is the fact that though the Opposition might, with the aid of the malcontents, succeed in defeating the Government, they havo not in their own ranks a sufficient majority to ensure the granting of supplies. Therefore, matters must go on pretty much as they have been going. A retrospective glance across the political landscape at the present moment is not uninteresting. Two facts stand out prominently, namely—(l) that the Liberal Administration has received a set-back in the country, and <"_) that within the party itself, as it is represented in Parliament, there are perceptible certain elements tending in the diaection of disintegration. To anyone who has been behind the scenes, so to speak, the latter fact might have been easily ascertained from private conversation with certain members of tho party. During the past week or two the Government has tiad to submit tamely to rebuffs such as no Liberal Government in New Zealand has experienced for many years in this country To begin with, the Government has been defeated three times at the instance of Mr Sidey, who objected to the proposals in regard to local bodies' sinking funds. The first occasion was when a petition from the ! Dunedin City Council on the subject was, at the instance of the member for Dunedin South, referred back to the committee that had adversely commented upon it. Next, Mr Sidey moved to insert a clause in the StateGuaranteed Advances Bill, repealing the section of the Act of last year, and though the Prime Minister fought against it, the amendment was carried in opposition to his wishes. Subsequently, it will bo remembered, the • Prime Minister moved to re-commit the Bill, for tho purpose of knocking out the objectionable Sidey clause, and again he suffered defeat. So far as this matter was concerned, this was the unkindest cut of all, but worse remained to follow. In the Consolidated Fund estimates there was an item of £400 for the salary of the Hon. W. P. Reeves (late High Commissioner for New Zealand), as financial adviser in London. Incidentally, it may be remarked that there was some rather sharp criticism levelled at Mr Reeves and the London Office by members of the Liberal party. Mr Clark (Port Chalmers) said that two of his friends were at Home at the time Mr Reeves was High Commissioner. As they were in need of certain information relating to the colony, they both telegraphed and wrote to Mr Reeves, but got no reply at all. Mr Luke (Wellington Suburbs) referred to a visit which he paid to the office of the High Commissioner some three or four years ago. He said that he was well accredited, holding among other introductions a letter from the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon. He might also mention that he had met Mr j Reeves in his official capacity. One of the officials in the office informed him that it would be best for him to write to the High Commissioner. He had replied that he would not adopt that course, but he would return at noon next day and would expect, if nobody else had a prior claim, to see Mr Reeves, seeing that he was a business man of New Zealand, of long standing, that he was well accredited, and that he was the holder of a position on important local bodies such as the Wellington City Council, the Industrial Association, etc. As a result of the attitude he had taken up, he was able to see Mr Reeves, but his old friend Mr D. Robertson was not able to do so. Mr T. H. Davey said he could produce evidence showing that some Christchurch residents were treated discourteously by Mr Reeves whilst Agent-General. An unfortunate part of the affair was that a young fellow who went Home in ill health died there. Hi_ friends wanted information relative | to how the body could be sent out to I New Zealand and other matters, _ut though they tried hard, they were never able to 6ee the Agent-General. Mr Massey (Leader of the Opposition) moved to strike out the item, and he carried bis amendment against the Prime Minister by no fewer than 10 votes. It has been suggested that the whipping was bad, but this is not borne out by the division—3s to 25—which shewed a fairly full house. The significance of this defeat lies in th> fact that the amendment which the House carried was moved by the Leader of the Opposition. There are very few members in Parliament who can recollect a similar incident in the history of the Liberal administration. In 1690 the item, "Colonial Secretary's Office, £1755," was reduced by £1, on the motion of Mr Monk aa an instruction to tho Government that there should be a further reduction of £50,000 in the Estimates. There had, however, been seme arrangement before the vote was taken, that the £50,000 reduction would b. made. Mr Monk was a follower of the Atkinson administration then in power, and it is interesting to note that Mr sSeddon, then in active opposition voted against tbe reduction, while _dr Mitchelson (Acting-Premier) voted for it. Again in the House yesterday morning, when the Prime Minister called for a division to postpone the second reading of the vVellington Streets Bill, he wax defeated by eleven votes, and the second reading of the Bill was carried against him. Finally, on Saturday morning, the Government were in danger of another defeat, when the hospital and Charitable Institutions _J_ll made its appearance from the Legislative Council, with Clause 72, regarding friendly societies, deleted. indeed, certain defeat was staring the Government in the face, but Mr Fowlds, wno had moved that the House agree to the amendments made, saved the situation by talking (under the guise of a personal explanation) till 1 p.m., when the Speaker left the chair, and no division could be taken oh an amendment moved by Mr Fisher. Awkward as such defeats are, causing as they do a loss of prestige, they do not exhaust the troubles of the Government. There are several very awkward subjects that require to be fully discussed, such as the Police Commission and the Timber Commission's reports, and the result of the Royal Con__ss_n of En- -

quiry into the administration of the Income Tax Department. Finally, there ts the trouble over the land question. To have one's Bill torn to pieces by one s own committee must at any time be disconcerting, but to have to obtain the services of an Opposition member in order to get tne deleted policy clauses put back again, must be particularly galling. From tbe foregoing brief resume of tho position it will be seen that the Government is indeed having a bad time of it. In addition to being haraseed t-y a solid and active Opposition, it is also being seriously wounded m th» Hcuse of its unstable friends. •°„° °4 t » her P o * ll * Te -*«"w to be dealt with. All talk of coalition is now at a " ,* ?nc ?- WTietevor may havo been possible in this connection at the time when Sir Joseph Ward was forming his 31uustry out of somewhat unpromising and heterogeneous elements, nothing is now feasible. The two parties are ranged in opposing camps, and the political warfare must go on along accepted and constitutional lines. There roav be waverere in tho Government ranks,*but there are certainly none in the Opposition phalanx. The position is interest- '" S __ T . heTO , ai "e strenuous days and nights ahead, and there is no saving what a day or an hour may bring forth. b