THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 147, 22 June 1906, Page 5

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

THE CABINET. MINISTERS RE-APPOINTED. HON. W. HALL-JONES PREMIER. Almost immediately after the conclusion of the funeral of the late Premier, a Gazette extraordinary was issued announcing that the Governor had confirmed as .members of the Executive Council tha various members of the Government. The Gazette also announced that his Excellency had made the following appointments: — Hon. W. Hall- Jones to be Prime Minister, Colonial Treasurer) Minister of Labour, and Minister of Education ; Hon. C. H. Mills to be Minister of Immigration ; and Hon. A. Pitt to be Minister of Defence. The above were the portfolios hold by the late Premier, and have been so allotted among the remaining members of the Cabinet. The members of the Government now hold office as follows : — The /Hon. William Hall-Jones, Premier, Colonial Treasurer, Minister for Public Works, Minister of Labour, Minister of Education, and Minister of Marine. The Hon. Sir Joseph George Ward, K.C.M.G., as Colonial Secretary, Minister for Railways, Postmas-ter-General and Electric Telegraph Commissioner, Minister of Industries and Commerce, and Minister of Public Health. The Hon. James Carroll, as Native Minister and Commissioner of Stamp Duties. The Hon. James M'Gowan, as Minister of Justice and Minister of Mines. The Hon. Thomas Young Duncan, as Minister of Lands and Minister for Agriculture, The Hon. Charles Houghton Mills, as Commissioner pf' Trade and Customs, and Minister of ImI migration. The Hon. Albert Pitt, as AttorneyI General and Minister of Defence. The vacancy in the Cabinet caused by the death of Mr. Seddon has not yet been filled, and the Premier, in reply to a question by an Evening Post reporter, stiated that no appointment would be made at presentTHE NEW PREMIER. The Hon. W. Hall-Jones, who has taken the position of head of the Government, is a native of Folkestone, Kent, and when quite a young man in the early seventies came to the colony and settled at Timaru. There he worked at his trade as a carpenter, and in due course gained experience of public affairs as a member of the Timaru Borough Council and the Levels Road Board. In August, 1890, on the death of Mr. T. Turnbull, the sitting member, Mr. HallJones was persuaded to contest the vacant "Beat as , an opponent of the Atkinson Government, and was returned. The general electiion at the end of the same year saw Mr. Hall-Jones again returned as member for Timaru, and when the Ballance Government took its seat on the Treasury benches a few months later he was numbered in the ranks of its supporters. His bTief period of Parliamentary experience had given the chiefs of the Liberal party a favourable impression of his ability, and at the business session held in June, 1891, he and. Mr. (now Sir Westby) Perceval were appointed Whips. In 1893 he Tesigned that position on account of differences regarding the policy of t!he Government, and for some years sat alone in the House. However, wnen Sir P. Buckley died and Mr. W. P. Reeves resigned in February, 1896, Mr. Hall-Jones was invited to join the 'Cabinet, and after some hesitation he accepted the offer. He tlook the portfolio of Public Works, and has ever since carried on that department, to which has of late years been added the control uf hospitals, asylums, and charitable oid, roads and bridges, inspection of machinery, Government Printing Office, and marine. Mr. Hall-Jones is still a comparatively young man, having, been born in 1853. A full sketch of his public life appeared in a recent issue. GOSSIP REVIEWED. QUESTIONS AS TO PRESENT AND FUTURE. CHAOS I "The political situation at the present time is full of possibilities, and the air seems filled with whisperings of dark plots hatched i' the dead o' night." So spoke a member of the House, as he evaded a direct reply to a direct question, and this attitude is pretty general among members. What is to comeT Uncertainty prevails on every hand. What -with, the suspected lack of leadership in Mr. HallJones, the reluctance of Mr. Maseey, the threatened secession from the Liberal raakß of a dictatorial Labour Party, for the leadership of which Mr. Arnold is mentioned, and the absence of Sir Joseph Ward, political chaos reigns supremo. What is the Parliament to do? Will it prorogue, adjourn, or carry on business in the usual way? Does Mr. Hall-Jones possess the "metal" to at once l'eoonstruct, put forward a, progressive policy, and go onT Will the party follow him if he does? 1 And if not, will the party follow Sir Joseph Ward? All these are puzzling questions, which no two memJbw^mlioiWft, would BUswsrJilkA.Wiitte..

Tliat the present Premier should reconstruct at the earliest opportunity is the general opinion, even supposing the proposition is made to prorogue or adjourn. • Then what of the Opposition? Can they agree to delay ? It is urged that they would not be justified in allowing the great departments of State to be administered by inefficient figureheads who have only been tolerated under the all-powerful leadership of Mr. Seddon. In any casej to calmly stand by and allow the Liberal Party a month's respite wherein to reinforce its strength, appears, in the eyeß of many to be as weak as it would be wellintended. The affairs of State demand attention, and the inability of the Liberal Party wita its. enormous majority to carry on for one brief month could only serve to demonstrate the fact that "oneman government" is by no means at an end. "What do I think ?"remarked a memj her, in answer to a question, "Well, if the late Premier, who appears to be the | public's ideal, was now in the place of Mr. Hall-Jones, he would at once recon- | struct, and show his capacity to carry on the business of the country. If, on the other hand, h& occupied the position of Mr. Massey, he would be the first to insist upon the business being proceeded with. It is upon such occasion!) as these that strong men find their opportunities for proving their strength." Here, again, is another opinion : "The support of a proposition to adjourn can only mark the effeminacy of our political leaders. Knowing the feelings of the Cabinet upon the questions of the day, and having access to the draft measures which have already been submitted to and approved by the Cabinet, Mr. Hall-Jones ought to have no difficulty in meeting the Parliament with at most a week's respite. The Premier has now in his grasp the opportunity of demonstrating to the world that he is either a strong or a weak man. He oannot be blind to the fact that reconstruction is inevitable, and he should at once establish his leadership by recasting the portfolios, and so cutting at the root of the disaffection which will otherwise intensify to such an extent as to be quite incurable. It would not be in any sense incompatible with the Premier's honour were Ec to reconstruct in such a manner as to make proper provision for Sir Joseph Ward on his return ; though the strong 'feeling throughout the colony in regard to Sir Joseph might possibly justify the Premiers retention of office in the interests ol Liberalism." ' v It is urged in some quarters that duty must overrule personal considerations, and that Mr.< Hall-Jones should consider the position from that standpoint. It lies within the power of his colleagues to render Ms task mere easy and less painful if, by resigning and not pushing their claims, they give him a free hand. Whether they possess the capacity for such sacrifice remains to be seen. There will certainly be an imperative demand for stronger and better administration, and there has fallen into the hands of the present Premier a providential opportunity to distinguish himself and show his capacity. It is recognised that his is indeed a difficult task, and a manful attempt to grapple with it will do muoh in securing the aid of the party. The aspirants to office are day by day growing stronger in the belief that their | respective claims are paramount. THE POLITICAL FUTURE. The members in Wellington are intent on arriving at a general understanding as to what the political future shall be, as far as they are concerned, and although the differences are great, more particularly as to whether there ehall or shall not be an adjournment,pending the arrival of Sir Joseph Ward, there appears to be a consensus of opinion in a certain direction. Briefly, members seem agreed that Mr. J. A. Millar will fill the vacancy in the Cabinet created by the death of Mr. Seddon } that Mr. Hall-Jones, the new Premier, -will meet the House with the Ministry so reinforced; that after the transaction of necessary business (such as the voting of supplies) the new Premier will ask for an adjournment for a few weeks, pending the return to ;the colony of ' Sir Joseph Ward ; that in spite of some determined opposition the House will adjourn; that on Sir Joseph Ward's return the present Premier will resign in his favour, and probably retire into private life ; that Sir Joseph Ward will reject all but perhaps one or two of the present Ministry, and reconstruct , that he will then meet the House with a new Ministry and a policy ; 1 and that the session will be brief enough to enable Sir Joseph Ward to fix up a policy on his own lines to meet the House with in the "business" session of 1907. THE WESTLAND SEAT. A CONTEST PROBABLE. Considerable interest is being taken in the coming contest for the Westland seat, rendered vacant by the death of the late Premier It is regarded at present as certain that Mi-. T. Y. Seddon, the second son of the late Premier, will be nominated for the seat, and the position is rendered more interesting still by the fact that Mr. H. L. Michel has decided to contest the seat against him. Mr. Michel hafi alwajs been a follower of the Seddon; Government, and those who profess to have a knowledge of West Coast affairs state that the general understanding was that when Mr. Seddon retired from office he was to be the recognised Government oandidate. The f&ot that it has been decided to "run" Mr. T. V* Seddoi! M x his ftthftr'a old M&t has.

Bomewhat complicated matters, and the result of the contest is being looked forward to with, a great deal of interest. In regard to electoral formalities, it may be stated that the certificate of the death of the late Premier is now in the hands of the Governor, and will be forwarded to-day to the Clerk of the Writs, who will at once take steps to fulfil the constitutional requirements. The writ for the election to fill the vacancy will be issued at the beginning of next week, and it is anticipated that the election will be fixed for Tuesday fortnight, 10th July. PRESS OPINIONS. question of adjournment. ' THE PREMIERSHIP. Generally speaking, the press of the colony is of opinion that Sir Joseph Ward will take the position of Premier on his return to the colony, and, further, that he is the legitimate successor to Mr. Seddon. Their reasons for thq opinion are varied and diverse, and brief extracts .will be interesting. The Timaru Post, which has since its inception been on the side of the Seddon Government, takes for granted that Sir Joseph Ward will succeed Mr. Seddon in the position of Premier, and remarks :— > "But will Sir Joseph Ward bo able to carry out the progressive policy which the country expects from the LiberaJ party? Will he succeed in 'keeping the party together? Both House and country should at any rate give him fair play; they should give him an oppor tunity of showing what he is capable of as leader. It would be utterly unjust to condemn him for extravagance without a trial, or to' assume that he lacks sympathy with the workers without any evidence in mat direction. . . There will doubtless be a- demand for more advanced legislation from the Radical members of the party, and it is in this respect that dangers lies, rather from the remnant of the Opposition." The Oamaru Mail, another strong Gov- 1 ' ernment paper, deals with the labour point of view in a way which is decidedly interesting, seeing that the article appears tJhe day before Mr. Arnold delivered his speech at Waimate It says : — "It is suspected that the Labour party may cause some trouble to the provisional administration, and to that which, on the advice of the present Premier, will be formed on the arrival of Sir Joseph WaTd in the colony. Their waywardness would, however, be nothing new. While Mr. Seddon was exercising all his ingenuity to improve the position of the workers, and fighting the capitalistic legions on their behalf, they were never satisfied. . . But it will not be to the advantage of labour organisations to be exacting under the new dispensation, which may not be in a position to serve the worker as Mr. Seddon*s administratiion did. They may feel assured that there will not be any' change of policy, except it be on the lines of still greater progress ; but they must) give their friends in the Cabinet time to arrange their plan of operations. Then the fears lest Sir Joseph Ward would again, as Premier, revive denominationalism by some modification of the law are demonstrative of covert intolerance or political cunning. Any such attempt would wreck his political life, and he has the good sense to know it." While apparently agreeing that Sir Joseph Ward will be Premier, the Southland Times thus refers to a matter that will probably loom large in the politics of the colony :— "With regard to the land question, we had Occasion in examining the numerous speeches that Sir Joseph Ward made in this district during the few weeks that preceded the general j elections, to point out that all his refer- } ences to the land question were carefully guarded. He could not be induced to say more than that he was in favour of the optional system as it at present exists. Certainly he said nothing that could give any Liberal or Labour representative cause to hope that in the position of Premier he will be an opponent to freehold. If Sir Joseph Ward's speeches truly expressed his mind, he will oontinue to sell the freehold of Crown lands, and that will bring him into immediate conflict with that section -of his following (the member for Invercargill among the number) who condemn the outright sale of Crown lands as a crime against the ' unborn millions. 1 " Something like a similar note is sounded by the Lyttelton Times, in an editorial on Mr. Arnold's speech. "A great effort," it says, '.'will no doubt be made by the landowners to capture > the Liberal Party, and, if they succeed, the name that has been associated with compulsory land purchase, graduated taxation, ground values, and popular principles, generally will be used to cover just those iniquities of class rule and aristocratic administration which oppressed the colony in the late eighties. We want to see the Liberal Party saved from that degradation, and only the workers of the colony can save it. If they stand true to their principles and to the party now they will be able to perpetuate the successful old alliance of Labour and progressive Liberalism, and on the rigour of their crusade will depend the extent to which their views are to find expression in the legislation of the future. The Dunedin Star deals with the political situation from the reconstruction point of view. It says : "We have already expressed our belief that Sir J.oseph i Waxd, if unfettered in the selection of his colleagues, will endeavour to associate with liimself the strongest men on the Liberal side of the House. That the Ministry, as at present constituted, do not conform to this ideal cannot be disputed. Even Mr. Seddon (despite his undoubted loyalty to his colleagues) recognised this too patent fact, and it is stated on seemingly good authority — which, so far, has never been challenged — that some three or four months ago the necessity for changes in the personnel were discussed in Cabinet assembled. If current report in privileged circles in Wellington is to be relied on,- the two Ministers whose deposition had been clamoured for by the Liberals in the House protested against being sent to Coventry, seeing that the constituencies had just re-elected them with record majorities. The justice of the claim was admitted, and the long-promised reconstruction was again temporarily shelved. Mr. Seddon's death completely changes tie position. When Sir Joseph Ward is called on to form a Cabinet there need be no delicacy on his part in replacing any of the present team by men who are likely to prove better debaters and more efficient administrators. The Southland News believes that Sir Joseph Ward will be the new Premier, and then disposes of another person who has been mentioned in that connection. Mr. Reeves is mentioned because of his early' association with the Ministry, and because of services to the colony *in another 'capacity. But a new generation hag grown up since the High Commissioner retired from Parliament, and we doubt if he would care to leave the comfortable haven in which he has rested so long to try his fortune ngain on the troublous Bea of politics. Wo could not at any rate blame him for preferring a lucrative appointment in London to the strenuous Jife which fche-coienj- jmnasas ujoon the.

leaders among its public servants. Not every capable man is ready to lay down his life ior the people." "We imagine," says Christchurck Truth, "that Mr. Arnold is a politician of a sanguine temperament, and that h* is not quite sincere in some of his remarks. In the first place, it is ridiculous to assert that there are from a dozen to twenty Labour members in the House. There is possibly a Labour Party, which has not yet announced itself, and it may have a leader, and a policy. In that case it is evident that both must have been arranged for prior to Mr. Seddon'» death. ... It is quite evident that Mr. Arnold's party must have arranged to take action, Mr. Seddon or no Mr. Seddon, and that in declaring that the death of the Premie/ had created the need for it, the ostensible leader of the Labour Party did not stick closely to the facts. Under tho circumstances we .imagine that nothing the Government can <Jo will please that party. Fired by the success of Labour in ths Commonwealth, it is hungry *• emulate it, unmindful of the fact that the SedI don Government in New Zealand has done more - for labour than any other Government on earth, and that tha policy of Mr. Wateon in Australia is the policy of Mr. Seddon carried into" effect in New Zealand. '* The Otago Daily Times of Thursday, strongly urges in an editorial that Parliament should go straight on with this despatch of business and not adjourn pending Sir Joseph Ward's return,, In. the course of the article it says : "Whilo no difficulties, other than those which appeal purely to the political partisan, are likely to attend the assumption of the Premiership by Sir Joseph Ward after Parliament has been in session for a few weeks, it must bo evident^ we' think, ,that any lengthy adjournment or any prorogation after the session has been opened noxt week must involve the consequence of serious delay in the transaction of the business of the country. . . . Indeed, it seems to us that if there is to be an adjournment until, say, the middle of August, with the Srospect of a prorogation in the end ofctober, the country may look for veryi little during the session in the way of useful accomplishment. . . . And if the Government wishes to escape the taunt that its ability to initiate and pass legislation which it considers desirable is crippled by the death of Mr.Seddon and the absence of Sir Joseph Ward, it will reject the suggestion of an adjournment, and will put the earlyweeks of the session to a profitable use by -introducing some of the measures, many of them of minor importance, which have been before Parliament in past years, and by expediting as far a* possible in this manner the work of the Legislature. We are not disposed to do Mr. Hall-Jones tho injustice of believing that he is not capable of conducting the, business of Parliament for the few weeks, of; admitted difficulty that will elapse before Sir Joseph Ward's return. Mr. Hall-Jones's troubles, however, would in any event be light dojiiipared with those that await Sir Joseph Ward in the selection of the members of ( his Cabinet — 'troubles that will be intensified if Mr.. Hall-Jones figds. it 'necessary to decline the acceptanceiof office- =-a contingency that seems likely, for it has been well known ia political circles that he has fo* -a considerable time past desired to retire from the Government."