Evening Post THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1912. DELAYED CABINET-MAKING.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 75, 28 March 1912, Page 6

Evening Post THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1912. DELAYED CABINET-MAKING.

Just a month, has passed since the Ward Government was saved from defeat by the Speaker's casting vote. Tho party was then allowed three weeks to think the matter over, after which it j met in conference with three-fourths of the Labour M.P.'s to choose a leader. The choice fell on Mr. T. Mackenzie, yet another week has now pasted without his being installed in office. The work >of Cabinet-making is not usually an easy one, and in the present case it has proved to be of quite extraordinary difficulty. Sir Joseph Ward's resignation will, of course, carry with it the resignation of the whole of his present colleagues, and for one reason or another few of them will be available for service in tlie new Cabinet. Kir Josepli Ward himself naturally cannot take a bubordiuute position. Mr. Millar, who, iv many lespects had the bestr claim to the aucceesion. and cam© very near to making xt good, hut, for equally obvious readout* preferred to stand aside also. It is unnecessary to consider the disqualifications of any other members of the. present Ministry, but the fact tliat Mi". B. M'Ken'/ie has^no-vr put^hitueelf out ot tho running should materially relieve a most embarrassing position. A sweet aaid iKcamTnada-Ung i'e*i£t>nablen«fle i« '•not among Mr. U. M'Kenzie'e virtue^ UaudJiiA liick oi it woujU hu v« • jMAcifi tiiiffl.

a far more awkward element ia the new Cabinet than he was when the party had plenty of votes to spare. What will be his attitude to his namesake's Ministry when formed remains to be seen, but in the meantime his withdrawal removes a source of friction, and puts one more prize at the disposal of the new leader for the satisfaction of hungry claimants. This double advantage should considerably facilitate Mr. T. Mackenzie's task, tho delay in the completion of which is exhausting the patience of the public, and adding to the load of unpopularity that tho party already has- to bear. After such a verdict as that which the constituencies recorded in December Parliament- should have been promptly summoned and such a Government put In office as was justified by the vote of the House. The indecision, the procrastination, and the wire-pulling which have already spread over three months and a half, a process that should have been completed in as many weeks, are making an inglorious close indeed for Liberalism's record reign. Of course we are not suggesting that the new * leader— or the leader-elect, as he is more correctly d«sci-ibed— of th« Liberal Party is mainly responsible for this discreditable state of things. The chief culprit is undoubtedly Sir Joseph Ward, who eurely realises by this timo that both he and hm party would have occupied * much less unenviable position to-day if he had resigned immediately after the second ballote, instead of hanging on to power in this ignominious fashion. But it is for Mr. Mackenzie to redeem, co far as he may, the mistakes of the last three months, and it would be better to ask the party to find somebody eke to lead them than to prolong the period of indecision any further. If he waited till Doomsday he could not construct a stable Cabinet out of the present materials, but further delay will assuredly prejudice the stability of the party and postpone its chance of getting a securer hold of power in the future. With regard to a majority of the portfolios, Mi v . Mackenzie can have had small ground for hesitation. . Mi*. Laurenson, who ,went to the ballot for the leadership in competition with himself, and ,Mr. Mac Donald, the Government Whip, who was regarded as a possible leader if the contest between Baore powerful competitors proved to be too close, were certainties in any event. Mr. A. M. Myers was hardly less indispensable. The Prohibitionists have, of course, made their inevitable' protest against the inclusion of a brewer, and other things being equal, the protest would have carried weight with the average politician. But other things are not equal As a representative of Auckland, whore, since the resignation of Mr. Powlds, the Government has been Very weak, and as a, man of proved capacity in public no less than in private business, Mr. Myers cannot possibly be passed over. Having made its protest, the "Tea Party" will, therefore, bo wise not to develop it into a vendetta. Mr. Hanan, of Invercargill, was almost a certainty from the firat, and Mr. Millar's withdrawal has made it practically impossible on geographical grounds to leave him out. If Mr. M'Nab were put into the Legislative Council and made Minister of Defence, there would be two places left, apart from the question of special representation of tho Native race. For these two places there are foui* Canterbury men in competition, and about as many from other districts, including the "West Coast." No amount of juggling will find room for them all, and Mr. Mackenzie will be wiser to make the fateful decision to-day than to postpone it any longer.