The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1907. THE NEW CHIEFTAIN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 72, 18 December 1907, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1907. THE NEW CHIEFTAIN.

It is quite like old times to have the Liberal and Labour Federation presenting an address to the Premier. Perhaps Sir Joseph T\ r ard, in his speech at the function on Monday night, fell short of the late Mr. Seddon in flamboyance; there was wanting, too, a measure of that devout Adoration on the one hand, and conscious majesty on. the other, that once marked these gatherings. Perhaps Sir Joseph was not quite sure whether the Federation would accept him, unreservedly, as the authentic heir of Mr. Seddon; perhaps he felt a little uncertain whether he wished to take up • the role of his predecessor. In .any case, he appeared more concerned to make a good impression than to call his legions to arms, and as a result there was not a great deal in his speech calling, for comment. The important fact of the gathering was the ofScial notification that the Federation has, after; all, embraced the Premier as its political prophet. It is not, perhaps, an honour that the Premier is in his heart proud of, unless with the change of chieftainship there is to be a change from the tactics of the organisation in the past. The Premier must know thait in- accepting the support of the "machine," he is selling himself into a bondage that must' be disagreeable to him now and then. He must realise that the Federation of Mr. Seddon's time was not pledged to the Socialistic policy that was openly adopted, and rapidly developed as soon as Mr. Seddon's reign ended. The rank and file of the organisation can easily be divided into sections which disagree vitally on many points of the Premier's policy. They hang together, however, and keep their private opinin the background, because they realise that they must all pull together if they are to get anything out of the Government. The Premier, that is to say, can rely upon_ the faithful support of the Federation for any measure that he may choose to bring down. The Federation has given him carte blanche beforehand. In return, he -will be req.uired to supply the Federation with the same good reasons for fidelity as Mr. Seddon used to furnish. We shall be as interested as the Federation to see whether he can keep his part of the bargain.

In the meantime it is desirable to set the Premier right upon one point on which he is either wilfully, or m good faith, quite wrong. " There were some people," lie said, "who hoped, for interested reasons, that the Government would make serious mistakes, so that a turn of the wheel would bring them to the top." In passing, we may express our surprise that a Government which, upon the land question, has presorted t.o. suck gainful shifts to. keep,

on good terms with the people who keep it in office, should feel at liberty to bandy taunts about " interested reasons." But, on the main point, the •Premier should clear his mind of any notion that those who dislike his Socialistic enthusiasms necessarily aro anxious to see his downfall. The chief hope of many is, not that the Government will "make serious mistakes," but that it will cease making them. We are convinced that the Government is steering steadily in the direction of a State despotism, under which all individual effort and progress will wither. A contemporary has been quoting Mr. A.squith as an advocate of State Socialism, but its quotation stopped short of a very important sentiment which we think should be given to the public. " The great loss, in his judgment," he-said, " counterbalancing the apparent gams of a reconstruction of Society on Socialistic lines, would be that liberty would be slowly but surely starved to death, and with a superficial equality of fortunes and conditions, even if that Could be obtained, they would have the most sterilising despotism the world had ever known." To the Liberal and Labour Federation, if we may judge it on its past, nothing matters but the maintenance of a Government that can reward the "machine," and it therefore seems useless to ask the Federation to use its power well, and to be truly Liberal in standing for liberty against State tyranny. We therefore suggest to the Premier that he should seek to make his position secure by returning to sound principles, for he will then stand to gain the support of the genuine Liberals, who cannot follow him in the Socialistic campaign into which' he has been enticed. He may lose the Federation, but by that time its remains will be merely the logrollers who dominate it.