SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1911. THE SECOND BALLOTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1307, 9 December 1911, Page 4

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1911. THE SECOND BALLOTS.

One of tho most striking features of tho political situation after the first_ ballots is tho very general satisfaction which' prevails at the thought that at -last there is to bo a change of Government. A great many of the public had cot the idea into their heads that the Government had been so long entrenched in office, and controlled such enormous powers ,of patronage, that nothing short of a miracle could remove them. On Thursday last it was demonstrated that the position of tho Government, instead of being unassailable, was hopelessly weak/ How could it be otherwise, with the accumulated evidence of the past three years of shady politics to damn tho Ward Administration ? No honest person who knows anything of tho political happenings of the past three or four years can say that they respect the Government, whatever else they might think of it, and how many can say that they would trust it. to carry out any given line of policy or to fulfil any pledge? In face of the almost universal distrust of the Government, it is really surprisingthat there should have been any serious_ doubt as to the weakness of. tho Ministry's position. Now that tho. prospect of an early change has; been brought so definitely under notice, people, are beginning'to wonder how it is that such a Government has been tolerated for so long. This is a very healthy sign. The electors had only to be shown the possibility of ridding themselves of the encumbrance of Wardism to seize the_ chance of doing so, and that possibility has been demonstrated beyond all question at the first ballots on Thursday last. One certain effect of this will be not merely to encourage those who conscientiously recognise the urgent necessity for change, but it will also lead to a large turnover of erstwhile Government supporters to the Reform banner. The Continuous Ministry, with its evil political methods, has developed a class of elector who has come to regard it as the safe thing to support the Government of the clay. This class of person does not support the Government because he believes it is a good Government, or because he thinks it is endeavouring to further the interests of the country. He supports it for. the, to him, all-sufficient reason that he wants a road or a bridge or something else which_ no»onc' but the Government can give him, and he sells his vote to the party which lie thinks he can get most out of for himself or his, district.

It sounds unpleasant when it is put in this blunt way, but it is the truth nevertheless; and it is one of tho evils which have grown out of the vicious system with which tho Continuous Ministry have prostituted their offico and degraded the politics of the country. A great many people have grown so accustomed to it that they regard it as quite the natural thing—a businesslike arrangement which will paj thom vory wolL It is not our purswsc at the ciamant to discuss the

ethics, of the situation, but merely to point out that the end of the Ward Administration is going to be hastened by the vicious idea which the Continuous Ministry has fostered, that it pays to sink all one's convictions in order to be on the winning side. Tho AVakd Government's side is not the winning side to-day, and the settlers in the back-blocks who arc wanting roads and bridges; the people in the townships who want public buildings and conveni- [ enccsj the farmers who desire telephones and facilities for getting their produce to market, railway stopping places and so on—all these people will no longer have anv rciS i° U , x° vot £, f ° r tbc Ministerial candidates. The signs point unerringly to a defeat of the Government at the second ballots, and the candidates on the side of Reform will in all probability constitute the new Government party. In such electorates as Waimarino, where Mr. Hockly completely overshadows his opponent, Mr. Smith, in all respects save that up to the present Mr. hMiTH has been on the Government l 'i ii ? cllan S e in the situation should have a very marked effcer,. Mr. Hockly, as a follower of the N uew Government in prospect, would appeal to many electors who at present support his opponent merely because they wish to be on the Government side, whatever its politics may be. In a lesser degree, perhaps, the same thing applies to Mastcrton. Pahiatua, and Hawke's Bay, and other country electorates. So also in the cities, a heavy turnover may be expected now that the success of the Reform party is practically assured. In another column we give an analysis of the voting at the first ballots, and the prospects for Thursday next may be fairly well estimated. It must lie gratifying indeed to all who havo watched tho spendthrift ways of the Ward Administration; who have noted with concern tho utter absence of any national spirit in its narrow and selfish methods; who have contrasted the littleness of its tinkering catchpenny bids for favour with the great opportunity which it has had to lay down a broad and statesmanlike policy, meeting not merely the pressing needs of the moment, but providing the foundation on which to build the future of a great nation —it must be gratifying indeed to all who take any real interest in the welfare of the Dominion to note the plain evidence that a change is at hand, During the next few days the struggle will be keen and in "places bitter. Every trick, every artifice, every possible endeavour to influence sectional interests will bo resorted to by the Government in a last desperate effort to stave off defeat. Those who arc fighting for Reform can, however, .go confidently ahead in the assurance that the public have shaken off the effects of the noxious drug of Wardism, and sec the necessity for change, and appreciate tho ease with' which it can be brought about.