PERTURBED MINISTERIALISTS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1161, 23 June 1911, Page 4

PERTURBED MINISTERIALISTS.

That the Prime Minister, in deciding upon his recommendations for Coronation honours, has made a serious mistake is obvious from the indignation and alarm in the Ministerialist camp since the honours list was announced. We find even staunch friends and devoted supporters of the ■Government crying out against Sir Joseph Ward's establishment of a hereditary title in New Zealand. We do not share the general view of hereditary rank that our lladical friends affect, even although in the immediate case we think that Hre baronetcy is a burlesque; but we can sympathise fully with the scarcely concealed disgust and the quite unconcealed dismay and resentment of our Liberal friends. It must be added, however, that they are not deserving of much sympathy, for they ought to have known the true quality of their leader. It is not for us to intrude, however, upon the stricken Liberal household; we may leave them to realise at their leisure exactly the kind of leader they have been supporting, and when they realise it they will probably pay a little attention to those critics of the baronet whom they scorned and distrusted in that happy past when they would have derided the notion that he could so forswear the principles of pure democracy.

It is over two years since we considered the accumulated evidence sufficient to warrant us in saying definitely that Sir Joseph Ward was hopelessly out of touch with public opinion. We were not believed then, but we shall bo believed now. His own baronetcy, and the Knighthood he obtained for the AttorucvGeneral find no defence wherever there is any real thought. What we should like to emphasise here is the naturalness of this unhappy sequel to the Phime Minister's deplorable misrepresentation of New Zealand opinion in the first stages of the Imperial Conference. On that occasion, as on this one, he has shown himself to be capable of a complete defiance of his country's opinion. He must have known that his rash motion was matter for vexation amongst all parties in New Zealand; ho must have known that tin I ,,nation as a whole would resent his baronetcy and the knighting of Dr. Findlay, and he must have been particularly aware that his baronetcy would cause pain and dismay and indignation amongst New Zealand Liberals. He will be a very dull Liberal who, when he recovers from the shock to his faith as a Liberal and to his faith in his leader, does not ask himself whether thi Prime Minister and the Attorney-General hiive not had at heart, far more than the Empire, far more than their country, far more even—to come to a climax —than their party, the interests of themselves. All the surprise and diemay is amongst the Government's supporters; the rest of us are neither surprised nor dismayed. The only thing that docs surprise us is that although the elevation of the Attor-ney-General has so shocked our Liberal friends that they aw generally glad to avail themselves of tho damn- , ing gloss of silence, they arc more perturbed over their leader's avid acceptance of an honour which Mr. Seddon had the sense to see was hopelessly inappropriate.