WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 26 November 1908, Page 1

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.

[ ■' :" THE PRIME MINISTER. The Prime Minister,, has his faults like the rest of us. but who can doubt in the face of his performances that he is imbued with the courage of his convictions and the warmest patriotism? Wth a large majority assured to him in the House and in tho country, Sir Joseph equld practically have rested on his oars and awaited with complaisance "the .country's verdict, but he has felt r it his duty to meet the electors face r to face, and while heartening and strengthening the people to face a crisis which the panic-mongers have endeavoured to convert into disaster, has not only removed misconceptions and strengthened himself in the esteem . of the people, but has. perfbrmed^T. national' sefvice which' 'will endear him to memory in the after years. — Wellington "Times." •• POLITICS Itf NEW ZEALAND. Tho great political need of the times is for more independent and critical membsrs in Parliament. We have ■ a parliamentary party so strong that they 1 dominate the country. The Government, who depend upon this parliamentary party, have an apparently indefinite tenure of office, and naturally mvfW servile parliamentary supporters to independent and critical supporters. Were parties evenly balanced they ..would endeavour to conciliate the more indlapendent (section, hut with htjtte fear of attack from the. outsida they ! indignantly resent criticism, nnd force IhroueSi and administrative mopcsuMmih Httle regard to intelligent comment' or patriotic suggestion.—Auckland "Herald. '" THE POLITICAL SITUATION. It is impossible for us to pretend that the reader who thirsts for assur-anct-s that this country is well governed will' find what he wants m cmcolumns. There;. are other quartcis ready to satisfy: Kis craving for pleasant fancies. No doubt it mrfit ba a I comforting reflection that one ha? lulled anxiety to sleep, banished care from the public's mind, and supplied the daily anodyne of an uniompepble refusal to relate the real facts of tne political situation. But we cannot believe that everybody is craving for foporißcs, and anxious to be prevent from thinking. And there are better examples for a newspaper to follow j than tha sun dial, which, as it pioclaims for itself, counts only the sunny hours and offers no opinion when the -lues are overcust,— "The Dominion. THREE PARTIES. The balance-of-power theory is utter- . ly unsound, and the sconar the workers recognise the fact tho better it will be ; ftir the caus« th?y have at heart. After i this collapse of the three-party system j in Australia, there should be no further 'tnlk of an Independent Labour Party in New Zealand. The electors chould look at the facts squarely, . and the workers themselves should learn from tho Australian lesson the danger ,of sectional divisions in tha progressive party ' There can be neither politiaal peace nor political (progress under three-party <<onditions, and we hope that the comin!» elections will give the independenoe of labour heresy its_ definite quietus.— "Ly Helton -Times.^^^ MENACE OF SOCIALISM. ■ The Oovernment-have set their -faces ' firmly against the aggression of th« Socialist, and the Premier's, recent call cf a halt in legislation was a plain intimation* to these gentry that the Government will not be coerced into embarking the fiominion on unsafe political ventures. The advice of the Qtago Employers, Southland Farmers Union, and other associations should not be j neglected, that in view of the growing menace of Socialism and the slight difference between the two polllioal partiof votes should be sclidly cast for the Government to prevent the possible advent of* the obnoxious three-party system which dominates the Australian . Legislatures, and to scotch effectively I , th« tavolutionary tendencies of the 1 , Socialist Bgitotors.— "Ppverty Bay [ Herald." 9 '__ —