NATIONAL CABINET

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20259, 29 May 1940, Page 5

NATIONAL CABINET

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE GOVERNOR INTERVENED “FRIENDLY AID" OFFERED (Special to tlic Herald.) WELLINGTON, this day. The Great War had been waging for a year when a National Government was formed in New Zealand on August 0, 1915. Political conditions at the time were precarious, for the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey at the head of the Reform Government held office by the narrowest of margins, a working majority of one. Heavy taxation and. loan pro-, po'sals. were coming, conscription was looming, and it was difficult to see how. drastic war measures, could be submitted to Parliament with certainty of complete agreement. The proposal for a National . Government came first from the Prime Minister, who suggested that there should be six Reform Ministers, and five from the Liberal Opposition, the Prime Minister to hold the Defence portfolio, and Sir James Allen that of Finance. In the voluminous correspondence which followed, one paragraph written by Sir Joseph Ward stands out as vividly expressing the points of difficulty In reaching agreement: “To seriously suggest a National Cabinet,” wrote Sir Joseph Ward, “and then to make the stipulation in your letter as to the two portfolios mentioned. defence and finance, makes it appear that you and your party desire all the power and prestige attaching to a strong Government during a grave war crisis, while at the same time relying upon and expecting the Opposition to accept full responsibility with a minority of members in the Cabinet holding portfolios which have no direct connection cither with the war or the financial position of the country." Deadlock Overcome Deadlock prcvajlcd on July 28, 1915, but next day the position instantly changed for the better when the Governor-General. Lord Liverpool, tendered his good offices “with a view to securing some arrangement for guaranteeing stability to the Administration. during war time.” It was friendly intervention, and no awkward constitutional position was created. It led to a conference of leading Parliamentarians with His Excellency and on August 6 the National Government was sworn in, with an equal balance of the parties in the Cabinet, plus Sir Maui PonVare as Minister representing the native race. The most important portfolios were also evenly shared, as Sir James Allen took Defence, and Sir Josepr, Ward, Finance. New Zealand’s first National Government- lasted, throughout the war and did not end until August, 1919, when the Liberals proposed several radical measures for the post-war reconstruction period, and the partnership was over. .