The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1910. CORONATION POSSIBILITIES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 961, 31 October 1910, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1910. CORONATION POSSIBILITIES.

The public will read with a great deal' of interest the debate which will take place—we presume that the matter will not be thought unworthy of debate—upon the .proposal that a little group of our legislators should be sent 1 Home to the Coronation celebrations. It is extremely doubtful whether the public has any goodwill at all towards the proposal, even when it is accompanied by' the, proviso ■ that' the upsetting of the country's Parliamentary business is too large a price to pay for such a broadening of the outlook of the delegates, as may bo supposed to result from the dispatch of- the New Zealand delegation. The proposal, however . attractively it may be garbed, is not one- that will appeal to thoughtful people. It is of interest to reflect upon .what' the delegation would see if it were dispatcncd with instructions to .observe and report .upon the differences .be-,' 'tween the social and political standards of Britain and of New Zealand. , We know,' very well what a djlegation of Sir Joseph Ward's supporters might be expected to tell us: that they were glad to be back in "God's Own Country." that they saw in Britain, nothing out gross body of proof that it Is-not Tariff Reform that Britain wants, nor a big navy; nor .'"Home Rule all round," but just a progressive' Government, such as . we, have in New, Zealand—a ,Ward instead of. an' Asquith, a Bunco in place of a Bukns, a Findlast in place of, a Moeley. Yet it is-- a defensible thesis that, as an Australian paper recently suggested, a local legislator, no matter how well endowed, he may be, has "something to learn, some little odds and endu to pick. up, that will still further fit him f.oi his part of modest citizen' and lawgiver."' It is worth while paying a little attention to what would' be seen by a delegation of intelligent Now Zealanders or by any private, citizen of this country who went Homo expressly to have a look at the British polity. , The very first thing that would strike the visitor would be tho fact that British politics consists of a conflict of 'principles. Neither, the Liberal party nor- the Unionist party is quite what it > was, ancl where it was, a decade ago, but 1 the line of division 1 between them is still a frontier of opposing principles, and, what is more important, the party in ; power, whether it be the Unionist party or the Liberal party, is ready to leave office at a moment's notice if it suffers defeat. Mr. Asquith does not come out as a supporter of Votes for Women when'the wind seems to blow from the distaff quarter. When the Tariff Reformers appear to be making great headway he. does not/, : in - a speech ending with an assurance that he is concerned .only "for tiie good of the country as a \yhole,Viay that Free-trade'ia a:fetish, or that he will introduce a Protective tariif. E"e contents himself with a humbler stylo of oratory, and says he is a Free-trader and an opponent of Votes for Women. He even makes it clear that if the country wants either Tariff . Reform or Female Suffrage. or any other of the things that he dislikes, he must be permit? fad to go into Opposition, there to toll the country it is a fool and to convert it if he can to his way ' of thinking. Tho New Zealander will also notice, with pleasure ■■ if he thinks that Ministerial offioe .is a high privilege, with pain if he has absorbed the view of local Liberalism that it is only a rich prize, that British politicians have a habit of adhering rather obstinately to their opinions, and of voting for ideas. He.will find that despite the chaos and bitterness of British politics— which just now illustrate very painfully the truth of-M. Emile Faguet's assertion that "Parliamentary government, on the base of universal suffrage, is civil war, regularised yot pormanent, civil war. by insults, provocations, calumnies, denunciations'—despite all this, English voters and English politicians are still untainted by those considerations of little local and personal needs and jobs and rowards which stand for "politics" with so many people here and with the majority of our Parliamentarians. The party 'lincß in Britain are sharp, but they are drawn in the colours of principle. They would puzzle and discommode tho average New Zea'a.ul politician, who for nearly tiventv years has been' led to believe,that in the work of government office should take precedencc over policy, aiid not policy over office. I So much a .delegation of New Zealand politicians would sec /'in- the practical politics of the effete Motherland that redeems itiilf f ro m utter discredit by toiling and moiling navally for her' brilliant children. But the visitors' outlook would he-sieatb disturbed in other

directions. They would be prepared, wo may assume, to credit the writers and thinkers of Britain with as much intelligence as themselves, and they would therefore begin to seek for reasons for the reluctance of England to copy New Zealand's offhand "solutions" of the big problems of society. They might conic to the conclusion that there is an alternative to the common explanation from the clear and unclouded mind of a young nation "unfettered by tradition": they might perceive that wisdom can exist north of the Etjuator. From occasional interviews with the men—statesmen, soldiers, and men of • letters—wliom they might meet, they would gather that New Zealand has not solved so very much after all, and that in respect of our "solved" problems quite as much thought, and quite as-careful thought, has gone on in Britain as in this country, with results exactly the opposite to the resultfe that some of us pride ourselves upon. It is just conceivable that if a bodyguard of M.P.'s accompanied New Zealand's official representative to Britain next year, they would return with chastened spirits. But it is pretty certain thac they would refrain,. in such an event, from'dwelling overmuch on their new opinions. They would not be popular with those who stand tapst in need of a like enlightenment, and the average New Zealand politician is not given to telling unpalatable homo truths, however wholesome thoy - may be for our public life. ■