Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1931. PARTY BEFORE STATE.

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 May 1931, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1931. PARTY BEFORE STATE.

NATIONAL regret will be felt throughout New Zealand that Mr. Coates has preferred Party temporary advantage to State permanent welfare, in his attitude towards Mr. Forbes’ offer of fusion. Use what fine phrases,he may, nothing can disguise the cold fact that Mr. Coates thinks that in the prevailing political situation, his Party holds most of the scoringcards, and he will not surrender anything to one-time opponents. No real argument is set forth against the proposed fusion, apart from Party tactics, and the tongue must have been in the Reform cheek when Mr. Coates’s reply was being drafted. , The decision is a victory for the Reform die-hards, who for the most part, might be personally disadvantaged, if fusion were achieved. They desire absorbtion of the United ; unconditional surrender rather than mutual merger. Mr. Coates evades the ra'ain need for a fusion; namely, to prevent split-voting among the anti-Labour forces, enabling a Party not yet fit to control national destinies, to obtain such command solely through Re-form-United dissensions. The agreement in policy between Reform and United far outweighs their differences in opinion, and it is no wonder that Mr. Coates had to dodge the real issue when framing a refusal to agree to w r hat is so obviously best for the national welfare.

Air. Forbes would be well-ad-vised to decline Air. Coates’s offer of assistance in framing future legislation. The Government should meet, Parliament, as early as possible, submitting its own proposals, and leaving the House to accept or reject, as it thinks fit. The wisdom of an early appeal to the country seems apparent, and the elections not be delayed until the end of the year. A Alinistry continuing as such on sufferance, cannot do itself justice. The position of Air. Forbes has been made more delicate than before by the Reform rejection of fusion. Most prophets agree that the prospects of the general election favour a Reform victory, but whatever the verdict of the electors, Air. Forbes and his colleagues have the consolation of knowing that they have done

notable work of late, and that if they cannot command success at the polls, they deserve it. Of course, the last word has not been said about fusion, if for the time being it is better to shelve merger negotiations. Circumstances will ultimately compel fusion, but meanwhile the cost to the country of the constitutionalists’ divided forces may prove considerable.