ELECTION NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15769, 18 November 1914, Page 6

ELECTION NOTES.

THE NAVAL SUBSIDY.

Some wonderful things are being said regarding the rival natal policies now before the electors. One of the" most amazing is that the Reform Government has abolished the subsidy system and done nothing else. The fact is that the Gov eminent has not abolished the subsidy system. The subsidy is still as Sir Joseph Ward left it. excepting that b arrangement between the Imperial Gov eminent and the New Zealand Government, it has been agreed that the costs of the training ship Philomel shall be deducted v.-hen they are incurred Jij e annual cost of the Philomel, as a training ship, was estimated at from £40 000 is, £50.000. So far there ha, been no ooS and no deduction. Ti:°. «"bs : dv £100,000. "" ' 15

A HIGHER SUBSIDY OFFERED The Reform Governing.; W ma<jp no movement to abolish tie naval subsidy but it made an effort to increase it. Before suggesting the need for a New Zealand owned cruise- on the <">.vr •? \ ew Zealand, the Government ofi«ed to increase the subsidy to £150.000 if Admiralty would place in our waters ?:> -hips aeree upon in 19CK'. The Adm-rahy declined th;s. They <o:iM not a/:-.- to -nd lhe ships and they refund to takv the money. Still, Sir Joseph Ward kn-.ws the Admiralty business better than the Lords c- ? the Admiraltv. His nav,.i p, jj-y is; Empire navy with v.-,;. , \ *] hv Admiralty Tip in the coast d X.„- Zealand to be available in anv " {. does not seem to have (- urrM to Sir Joseph Ward that the emergency came and that the shin* that were available were Australian shins. Ii he ha* thought about it at nil. he must have convinced himself that had he b-e:: Prime Minister the dispositions of the Admiralty would have been different. There .ire doubtless among his admirers some who will believe this. But even sr.. v.? cannot always have Sir Joseph Waul trolling the Admiralty. Another em'rjency may come when Sir Joseph is out of office.' How are we to provide for it. short of patting our hands into our own chess and providing our own ships, n.nrmed by oreown men ?

I ALLOTTING THE PORTFOLIOS.

I One statement made by Mr. Mvers in his speech on Mond.-iv night is dccidedlr interesting, amounting as it does to an admission of one of the greatest shortcomings of th-s Continuous Administration, and to a kind of promise that this shortcoming will be remedied if Sir Joseph Ward is returned to power— fulfilment of which promise, however, Mr. Myers cannot be expected to be able to guarantee even if the electors ran be induced to accept the proffered bait. "An attempt is being made," said Mr. Myers, " to raise the cry of North against South and the people are asked to believe that if. Sir Joseph Ward is return-id to power we shall have a South Island Administration lam not in the confidence of Sir Joseph Ward, but I venture to sav that if he is returned to office at least one-half of his Ministers will be North Island representatives.'' Here we apparently have an intimation of part of the price that the Opposition is prepared to offer in return for another term of office.

THE SOUTH ISLAND PARTY. ilr. Myers may have gn<d grounds to stating that Sir Joseph Ward would, if the opportunity comes to him. select half his Ministers from the North Island but they are not based on the oast records of the party. Sir Joseph Ward's last. Cabinet consisted of five South Island members and four North Island members, the latter including Mr. Ngata. an honorary member and one, moreover, not representing a European constituency. Mr. Fowlds, another of the North Island members, cat the painter and fled from the sinking ship as the day of reckoning was approaching. The vacancy was not filled and thus when Sir Joseph Ward faced the electors three years ago, five out of the eight members of his Cabinet were South Island members. Two of the three by whom the North Island—with its larger population and vastly more important- interests—were represented were Sir Jama Carroll and Mr. Ngata, the arch-exponents of the notorious "Taihoa" native land policy, whilst the third was Sir John Findlay, who represented no electorate and who on seeking election to the popular chamber was ignominiouslv rejected. So much for Sir Joseph \\ ard s sense of a fair adjustment of Cabinet representation as between the two islands

THE MACKENZIE-MYERS CABINET.

Then what of the Mackenzie Ministry, of which Mr. Myers himself was a member? This consisted, all told, of six South Island and four North Island mem bers, or deducting Mr. Buxton and Dr. Te Rangihiroa—who held no portfolios of five South Island and three North Is'.inc. Ministers. It remained for the Reform Party to fairly adjust matters and to place the preponderance of weight in the Cabinet where it should have been placed for years past,. Now we are told that Sir Joseph Ward is prepared to fallow .Mr. Massey's example by giving the North Island "at least half" his seats if the people will give him the opportunity. Bit has his day of repentance not come rather late? FORECASTING THE RESULT. It may have been a slip, but Mr. Myers has made it plain that lie looks for the elections to result in the return of the Government to power It; his speech on Monday night he discussed the reform of the Legislative council. He admitted that an Act had been passed making the Council elective, "but," he added, "it had been framed in such a manner that the influence of the Reform Parte would dominate tile Council for the next eisrht or ten years." Now, how ran the Reform Party dominate the < V ntnil for eight or ten years if Sir Joseph Ward wins nestmonth? It is a c-.:;p.ising political puzzle, . with nothing vcrv clear about itexcept' that .Mr. "Myers expects Mr. Massev to I* Prime '.Minister in 1917. This is an impartial lore-fast with which a great many people will acree, and is another indication of the p.-'ir.ical astuteness of the member for Auckland East. MR. PAYNE'S BOOTS. The time has come i"i' the electors of Grey Lynn to be licking Mr. Paynes boots, and the annoying thing about it 13 that they are not doing .-o. Mr. Payne was unfortunate enough to become unpopular during the short session 01 1912 over a question of the breaking of pledges- s He had advocated "the power ■■■! recall of representatives." but wln-u lie was confronted with demands lor hi- own resignation at meetings in the Tivcii Theatre on March 15. and in the Richmond Hall on March 18, he defied the challenge. "1 do not grovel or crawl to you to let me show what I am; I demand it," he declared. "If you gave me a petition signed by the 9000 electors of Grey Lynn asking ma to resign, I should defy it. If three years go by with me as a politician, von will lick my boots for the benefits I have , conferred upon you." The three years , have gone, and Mr. Payne is waitingWill anybody lick his boots ?