THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1912. THE NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14928, 28 February 1912, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1912. THE NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION.

The Government scored last night one of those barren victories which are more to be avoided by popular parties than any defeat, for it. was due solely to the fact that several members were induced to break their election pledges and thus to defeat not only Mr. Massey's no-confidence motion, but the distinct and unmistakable intention of the country. That some excuse and apology might be forthcoming for this disregard of political pledges was evidently one of the causes for the extraordinary bundle of protestations and proraises termed the Governor's Speech, but it is not to be thought that the electorates will accept them as readily when they have an opportunity to give an opinion on the subject. However, for the moment Sir Joseph Ward has avoided dismissal from office, and with his colleagues can breathe as freely as possible in the knowledge that the exercise of every influence known to party organisers finds him entrenched behind the casting vote of the Speaker. It is noteworthy that to obtain even this reprieve the most unusual proffers have been made by Ministers who i only three months ago toured the Dominion as its masters; resignations have been offered to the House with emotional ardour and with a strange and novel recollection that on the voting of members depends the fate of Government and the dignity of Ministers. This is a new attitude for occupants of the Treasury benches, and some allowance may possibly be made for inexperienced members who were misled by belated professions and who were evidently somewhat confused as to when, where and how Ministerial pledges are to be kept and individual pledges to be broken. Sir Joseph Ward, as an old politician, must be as well aware as Mr. Massey that members cannot always be mustered in this fashion to the support of a Government which cannot afford to lose a single vote. If defeat was avoided last night it may nevertheless be encountered on any division, and cannot always be staved off. Indeed, if there is any, meaning to the criticism of several of the members whose timely aid saved the Government on Mr. Massey's no-confidence motion the. coup de grace is only being delayed.

The shallow attempt made by Ministers and their supporters to mutually assure one another that the sympathy of the Dominion is really with them and that their old majority has vanished through some eccentricity of the electoral law is not worthy of more than casual comment. The Second Ballot was introduced in a more confident spirit, but for much the same reason avoid what were claimed to be the losses to the Government by " minority " representation. We know the result. It is literally to its own Second Ballot Act that the Government owes the position in which it stands to-day. And if some method could be invented by which the Dominion majority could be given a dominating voice in the making and unmaking of Ministries, the Ward Government would be very speedily and promptly dispensed with. For there can be no doubt whatever that an intense and determined public opinion has set against the present Administration, and that this public opinion— though defeated for the moment by the breaking of election pledges will sooner or later assert itself. Mr. : Massey is too strong for the Government to have any hope of shaking off his attacks, and there is no member on the Government side comj petent to solidify the discordant elements which saved Sir Joseph Ward last night. For it is the irony of fate that several votes went with the Government on the understanding that Sir Joseph would be relinquishing the Premiership, and it is common knowledge that a general reconstruction of the Cabinet is imperative to lighten the party of the dead weight of incapable and unpopular Ministers. Admittedly, with parties so evenly balanced that a Speaker's casting vote saves a Government, there is always the probability that another general election may become necessary in order to prevent the public business from suffering by a deadlock. But it is not constitutionally probable that there can be another general election until there has been a change of Government. Even the Government cannot expect to carry on through a session on a casting vote. The victory obtained last night is barren indeed, however much Ministerialists may boast of it, and can only be a prelude to final defeat in the House and to crushing defeat when the ultimate appeal to the country is made.