THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1912. OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15060, 1 August 1912, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1912. OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament reopened yesterday and we may anticipate an : active and fruitful session. Sir Joseph Ward has attempted to persuade .a somewhat incredulous public , that the present Government, represents a minority, but it may be confidently asserted that unless Mr Massey can carry on an effectual Administration and secure the support of Parliament for necessary legislation he will appeal to the country. As a matter of fact., though Mr Massey has not such a crushing majority as that which sat behind Sir Joseph Ward a year ago he- is in a very much better position to do good work. The Continuous Government depended upon such-a heterogeneous collection of factions that it could do anything but offend any of them and was consequently unable to take a broad .and statesmanlike view of any public question. It was loaded with party abuses and handicapped by the support of those who looked upon the •of authority as inherently, theirs. Mr. Massey, on the contrary, leads a firm and united- body of supporters, who have common political principles as a bond between them and who are happily free from the belief that political power and privileges are theirs by right. We do not doubt that if the Massey Cabinet became the first of another • continuous series the country would ultimately find another political upheaval necessary and desirable; but the Cabinet is. now- virile and public spirited and many years of good work may safely be expected from it. The worst that can be said of the Administration is that, it is inexperienced in office-holding ; but judging from the experience of the country; in recent years this is almost a virtue In any case, as has been remarked, this inexperience will pass; nor will it be many weeks before tho Massey Cabinet has attained to the experience possessed by the defunct Ministry of All the Talents. The Opposition, at any rate, ought, to have experience enough in the working of. departments to be able to criticise strongly any maladminis-i tration on the part of Ministers,! and the country will watch with : some interest their activity in this

new role. The country is chiefly interested, however, not in the pin-pricking of Ministers, but in the development ofj a long awaited policy which will move the stagnating industrial life of New Zealand into new.and vigorv '.

ous action. The industrial paralysis at Waihi is distressing, but an industrial paralysis exceeding that of ,Waihi a hundredfold has been afflicting great areas of agricultural land and affecting disadvantageously the progress and prosperity of tho entire country. The North Island is checkered with waste and idle blocks, suffers from lack of roads and is hampered by lack of railways. It will be the work of the Massey Cabinet to lift the. embargo which has been laid upon Crown and Native Lands by governments unsympathetic with the settler, ! to give not only opportunity on the land but access to the land and transport to rfiai'kets. More than I .'.this, the Cabinet has to take in hand the whole system of public administration and to make an end to that spoils system for which no good can be said. In a word, we are to have in this . Parliament the beginning of reform. ,1 We sec the first,; indication of this''in the non-partisan appointment' to the High C6rtniissionership which is not only a valuable reform in itself, but is the guarantee of greater reforms to come. We cannot expect to have reforms by revolution. They must come , step by stepsometimes ' ; more 1 slowly perhaps than, many would, vvish and mav expect—but 'as long yas they come steadily and surely all reasonable men will be satisfied. It has been customary • for bombastic and pretentious measures to be pushed through Parliament and to be flaunted, .before , ; the . ,country •as wonder-working i enactments, but everybody knows that in the great majority of these cases there has been much cry and little wool. The present Government will not" ' deal "in"' Vs'uch!.' \flamboyant measures. It is ,a a practical Government, composed' of : practical men, and will apply itself not to doctrinaire theories but to meeting in a reasonable way the pressing needs of the Dominion.