POLITICAL PARTIES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17949, 16 November 1918, Page 6

POLITICAL PARTIES.

Thi official report of a Reform Party caucus, held ia Wellington during the fast few days, states that " in view of the insidious spread of revolutionary and anarchistic doctrines " a resolutdou was carried in favour of " the more responsible elements in the JVew Zealand Parliament" uniting "for the purpose of inculcating sound democra\tic principles and giving effect to a policy which will stimulate that sentiaient of patriotism and loyalty to Empire for which New Zealand has always been noted." A 3 an expression of sentiment this resolution is beyond reproach; as the definition of a policy it teems to us to be rather worse than futile. The Labour Party could ash for nothing better than that the two main parties should combine, driving IIH the forces of radicalism into the labour -camp, and if such a combination were brought about Labour's acceptance of the challenge would be immediate and vigorous. But it is not only on that ground that ai permanent amalgamation of the main parties -is to be opposed. The Dominion has had four years' experience of the coalition and has had enough of it. A swollen Ministry has produced nothing in the way of economy or efficiency of administration or in the shape of legislation to meet any of the pressing problems of the day. To form a coalition it was necessary to find a common basis of policy, a sort of highest common factor of the party principles, and presumably such a common factor was found. But at its best it was * poor substitute for a party policy, seeing that it did not permit Cabinet to deal with any social legislation in a broad way or to adopt any measure that was not absolutely forced on it by pressure of pubKo opinion or of circumstances. The efficiency of the Cabinet has been diminished throughout the period by internal differences and personal jealousies, and most people who know anything of its history regard it as a miracle that'the Ministry should have he'd together so long. The coalition ■has given the Dominion the most exifHUisrve" and the least efficient government for more than a> quarter of a century, and although wo have supporter! it and continue to support it we could not recommend the extension of the 'experiment beyond the period of special conditions. Onr concern for the r: pHncipfr« of "sound' democracy" is much too cJtose and sincere to be satisfied with the pious phrases coined to ■upport aa unnatural fusion. 'The

theory at the back of the fusion proposal, of course, is that it would create an overwhelmingly powerful main party opposed.to a weak Labour Party. But in practice the effect would be, as it was in Australia, to paralyse the fusion and to give an enormous accession of strength to Labour. A party cannot live on opposition to anything. It cannot prosper on negations. It must hare principles and be prepared to x apply them to the euro of current ills. The men who would play tricks with politics are very poor politicians at best and very short-sighted. What the Reformera ;aim at is to consolidate themselves by joining forces with tho Liberals, leaving the minority of organised Labour to make its own battle for whatever it considers its rights. The result, if they succeeded, would be to oppose the bulk of the political sentiment of the Dominion to the extreme Socialism of the Labour/ Party, and to put a severe break on all progressive legislation. That does not appeal to us as the right solution of the present political problems. If ever there was a time when sane Radicalism ought to have; a hearing in New Zealand politics it is now. Radicalism is based on justice and it aims at justice, and it seems to us that a creed that is prejudiced neither by selfishness nor by envy is what this Dominion really needs. There is no prospect of such a creed being adopted by a coalition, for the obvious reason that there must be both the enthusiasm for justice and the courage to cany out reforms. For our own part we do not propose to present the Labour Party with a monopoly of progress and we hope the Liberal Party will not make it such a present. There is a perfectly natural and logical solution of the present difficulty ready to hand in the adoption of proportional representation, which would enable the parties to go to the country as opponents without embarrassment, and this is. the solution to which Sir Joseph Ward, for the sake of his party as well as for that of the country, ought to pin his faith." In point of fact it is the only solution. Parties in Parliament may arrange combinations at will, but the parties in the country will shape their own course, and a Radical Party will assuredly be one of the big factors in the next election. There is no reason why the old Liberal Party should not be that Radical Party and every reason why it should revive its old intellectual and physical energies, because it commands tho best brains of the country and it includes the keenest and closest students of politics. Its old programme was based on Radicalism. It has nothing in common with the Refomiforf*. now that tho war has been won. except the common task of seeing that the soldiers are returned to civil life under good conditions. There is only one basis on which an amalgamation of Liberals and Reformers could be regarded as possible, and that basis would be the abandonment by the Liberals of the 'principles which they are supposed to advocate.