Evening Post

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 142, 17 June 1932, Page 6

Evening Post.

FRIDAY, jtTNE 17, 1932.

WAITING FOR MR. COATES

More than a week has passed since what we' described at die outset as "one of .the most glaring blunders of the. Cabinet's career" was in. large measure rectified by the withdrawal of the, Prime Minister from the Ottawa' delegation. The public indignation and anxiety which had been growing during nearly a fortnight of uncertainty was greatly relieved by that candid and public-spirited decision. The relief was, indeed, almost complete, because it was generally regarded as a matter of course that the same candour and public spirit which had induced Mr. Forbes to change his mind would promptly lead Mr. Coates to the same conclusion. Every day that had passed since the three-Minister delegation was- announced had strengthened the conviction that the next three or four months woulct be a time of unexampled difficulties, and that those I difficulties would be'in large meajsure of a kind to make theNcontinuanceof the Minister of Employment at-his post just as indispensable as that of the Prime Minister himself. Ten days have passed sirice.the Prime Minister announced his change .-of' mind. In another ten days the delegation will be leaving Wellington. Yet the decision of his principal colleague still hangs fire, and. the prolonged uncertainty has naturally revived the uneasiness of the public. The- difficulty of dealing with- a, delicate subject is almost entirely rembved by the fact that it is not by-his ."own free1 choice that Mr. Coates ," has , been put into his invidious - position. * The one jarring note-- of- party ' that we heard in * .the ' J almost - universal Press chorus of condemnation was the utterly'unjust suggestion that it was the personal ambition of Mr. Coates that^,ha4, made; him-one of the two extra men.on the .Ottawa delegation. If there' are two compliments which even the bitterest of his many bitter enemies should be prepared to pay to Mr. Coates they are that he has never sought the limelight and that he has never been a quitter. To say that he is attracted to Ottawa by the limelight is as inconsistent with his established record as to say that the dislike of his domestic responsibilities is drawing him away from ftew Zealand. But in this case we have specific evidence which should satisfy even the animosity that interprets this record differently. «The same, selfish interests which instead of contributing a single touch of statesmanship or vision or patriotism to the Solution of a national and Imperial, problem of- great importance and complexity have seen nothing in it but a chance of pushing their own claims without the slightest regard for, any others; which has sought to exclude the' one indispensable" Minister from the delegation in order to nominate a delegation a hundred per cent, favourable to its claims; and which has grievously embarrassed the Government by an incessant and dictatorial agitation —these interests] have fortunately proclaimed through the most indiscreet of their spokesmen that Mr. Coates was not included in the delegation of his own motion, but that they pushed him into it.

'As this statement is material not only to the anxieties that have been overcome but to those that still remain, it will be well to quote the exact words of the exoneration of Mr. Coates. They formed a part of a statement which was made by Mr. W.- Goodfeljow, a member of the Dairy Board, at Auckland on the 30th May, and was reported by us on the following day:— '

It has been stated that Mr. Coates has pushed himself in for personal reasons. This is absolutely unfounded. Indeed, the producers of the Dominion had the greatest difficulty in persuading Mr. Coates that it was his duty to go to Ottawa. He Tofused at first, but subsequently agreed to reconsider tho matter.

The result of Mr; Coates's reconsideration unfortunately was that he allowed himself to be over-persuad-ed, but two things; may be inferred with confidence from his silence during the last ten days—that lie is again reconsidering the matter, and that the same selfish interests which forced him into a wrong conclusion

three or four weeks ago are using all the pressure they can command to prevent his reversing it now. By a singular coincidence striking evidence of Mr. Coates's, candour and honesty of mind comes to hand al this point The emphasis which in his reply as Minister of Employment to the City Council yesterday he laid upon the difficulties of the unemployment problem during the next few months could not have been more strongly stated by anybody in search of arguments for inducing him to revert to his original decision and stick to his job. "We are up against it," said the Minister in his reply to the City Council's request for another £17,000 from the Unemployment Board, and for the present the request' must be declined.

Howevdr, he continued, I hope to be able to make satisfactory arrangements for the next few,months. The question of increased taxation' or finding money by other means is a niattßr we have iii hand, but we should seek to avoid further direct taxation. Goodness knows, the burden is heavy at present.

Mr. Coates added an argument of which even the most callous must appreciate the gravity and the poignancy—that the deficit in the City Council's relief funds could not be made up without encroaching on the fund that the Board needs to provide food for the unemployed. Your position ia difficult, he proceeded, but God only knows the Government's position, is difficult. I don't vanfc to appear -unreasonable, but the position is particularly, precarious. I think', therefore, I am justified in asking you to, see how much more you can rake up to •continue iti the next threemonths. -

That reference to "the next three months" emphasises the precise appositeness of,hjs words to the Ottawa delegation, which'is"expected to be away for about that period, and in his. last words Mrl Coates again harped'upon the point.

In conclusion, as-'- our report says, he again urged them to "soiaieron" for three or four months, when tho Government might be able to see clearIy .ahead. The next three months is going to be particularly "difficult, he added.' ,

We may add that when,the" finances of, both the Government and the City Council have come to such a pass that they could not even cony promise yesterday's trouble by finding £8500 each, the deep note of sympathy sounded by Mr. Coates' shows that" he can see and feel that at such a time even the £1000 (perhaps) needed for sending an ejctra Minister to Ottawa is not to be cony templated. And as a man of the world he must also see that in the eyes of the unfortunates who are far more painfully "up against it" than Ministers of the Crown or .City Councillors that £1000 would bulk far' more largely than it does in their eyes, and that in the pestilent, talk' of those whose concern, it is to1 in-' flame every grievance for the'purpose of promoting lawlessness and violence even that small sum might become a very potent weapon. - We can make but a brief "reference to the Irn.perial side of ,'Mr., CdatesV problem.' 0 lothe problem of the selfish agitators who may represent the business interests-of the producers, but certainly cannot represent their politics or their patriotism, there is indeed no Imperial side1. As we remarked a week or two ago,, they entirely fail, to" see/the.distinc- J tionbetweenthe functions of brokers and barrackers competing in the Pitj at Chicago and those of the states--' men of the Empire assembled.for the promotion of its common It would be a great thing, for the country if our' agricultural and pastoral interests could get a substantial preference at Ottawa, and, other things being equal, the bigger it is the better. But the size of it, or even the getting any at all, is not a "matter of touting and grabbing and pushing and wire-pulling of the sordid kind which has .been one of the most unpleasant features of our politics during the last few months. It is a matter of a broad-minded consideration of the needs and- interests of the Empire as a whole, of mutual sacrifices, and of careful calculations and adjustments. New Zealand can-, not go to the Conference to demand something for nothing, and the difficulty, is to find what to •offer. With this point some of our producing interests are not concerned. As long as they get their preference, they do not care whether our secondary industries pay for it, or whether Britain pqys for'it, and .without paying any heed to that point they1 appear to think that the hustle and1 the spellbinding of a partisan delegation willdo, all that is needed. It is hardly necessary to point out that as an Imperialist Mr: Coates will not stoop to that class of work, and he can doubtless see as clearly as Mr. Forbes that the Imperial, the. national, and the technical sides' of the problems are all perfectly-safe in Mr. Stewart's hands.