The Press Saturday, December 9, 1922. The Political Situation.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17633, 9 December 1922, Page 14

The Press Saturday, December 9, 1922. The Political Situation.

There has' been no development in the political situation since yesterday, and it still remains uncertain whether the Prime Minister will find hinißelf, when all the votes have been counted, with an absolute majority in the House of Eepreßentatives. We are inclined to think that it will turn out to be unimportant, ultimately, whether the Ee- i formers number 39 or 40 or 41, because Mr Isitt certainly, and some other members probably, will support the Government against any no-confidence motion moved by the Leader of the Liberal Party, so that it does not appear to be possible that Mr Massey can be defeated even if he holds only 39 seats. It is obviously preposterous that Mr Wilford, with, only 19 or 20 followers, should be entrusted, even for a day, with the reins of government. Apart from the absurdity of so small a party holding power in succession to and against a party twice as numerous, public opinion would not tolerate such a travesty of representative government. Moreover, even if Mr Wilford did succeed, with the aid of the Beds, ! in carrying a vote against Mr Massey, he could, do nothing whatever. The Beds, confident in the encouragement given to them by their striking gains on Thursday, would force an early election, and the Liberals would in that case be in a totally new and wholly perilous position, faced with the choice, as they cannot but recognise, between standing for the political ideas* of Reform or for the political ideas of the Beds. In either case their Party as a Party would obviously vanish, and we shall be much surprised if the Liberals do not realise that the vanishing had better come otherwise than in a new election in which many of them will certainly lose their seats. For he will be a more than usually dense or extraordinarily frivolous Liberal who does not recognise that Mr Wilford was exceedingly lucky in many constituencies, and cannot hope for his luek to be repeated. While, therefore, another election is a possibility, it will not be necessary unless the Liberals are really keen upon committing suicide. The 'situation is one which can easily adjust itself, and which, we believe, will adjust itself, however bitterly the little "diehard" section of the Liberals may fight against it. For it must be apparent to everyone, from the figures which show the growth of Beform and Labour opinion and the shrinkage of the Liberal vote, that the Liberal Party is a superfluity. It contrived,partly through the division of Reform votes in some electorates in which there isVsi' great Beform majority, and partly through the failure of many honest folk to realise that Mr Wilford was talking the most arrant nonsense when he spokb of a Liberalrevival, to prevent i Mr Massey from obtaining a clear majority with which to faca

the Keds and their allies. But as a party with a mission or a future it simply does not exist, and this is the plainest fact in the election returns. It is all very well for the spokesmen of the little circle of diehards whoso politics begins and ends with an intense aching to get rid of the usurper, as they have actually called Mr Massey, to talk of "Mr Massey's defeat" and of his receiving notice to quit. But the ordinary sensiblo citizen will ask "Defeat by whom?" and "Notice "to quit in favour of whom?" Defeat by Mr Wilford? Notice to quit in his favour! Even the diehardH will shrink from making that claim. We would ask the diehards to explain their phrases if we had any expectation of being answered. But they can answer only that Mr Massey is to make way for a Liberal-Ked combine. The fact is that the result of the election brings the country abruptly face to face with the truth we have long beon expounding, namely, that the choice is now definitely between the Reform Government and government by the Beds. It is perfectly absurd, as Mr Massey has said in his brief comment, upon the election, for moderate men in the Liberal ranks to be fighting the Beformers because the diehards think it is their duty to do so. Nobody profits from it except the Keds. This, we are sure, will be more and more clearly realised as time passes, and wo believe that there are a sufficient number of sensible Liberals to ensure stablo and progressive and orderly government by making up their minds that the test for them ought to be Liberal principles, and not diehard prejudices.