NEWSPAPER COMMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20866, 7 May 1931, Page 10

NEWSPAPER COMMENT.

SOUTHERN OPINIONS. AN OFFER OF CO-OPERATION. UNDERSTANDING FOR FUTURE. Leading daily newspapers in tho South commented on the rejection of the fusion proposal as follows: Dominion (Wellington).—Happily, in sotting aside the proposal for fusion, Mr. Coates does not stop at barren negation, 110 offers instead the continuance of the assistance his party has afforded the Government during the recent emergency session. He eschews factious opposition and pledges his support of "such measures of economy and financo as the present crisis demands." Ihat in itself solves the Government's chief remaining problem—Hie passing of taxation measures to meet the ostensible deficit, but the Reform Leader goes still further. Recognising that the minority Government will need help in " safeguarding the interests of the people m the present period of economic strain " he offers to provide assistance by " furnishing a small committee of Reform members to confer with Ministers before legislation is introduced." This may well prove to servo the country's administrative need better than any impulsively conceived and' ill-assorted fusion of antipathetic elements. Immediate coalition might prove unworkable and a positive hindrance. Co operation promises to yield all that is politically needful in the meanwhile. As for the future, (hose who blinding themselves to practical difficulties still continue to advocate fusion should note that the collaboration offered by Mr. Coates should bring the parties into closer working contact and open the way to a better mutual understanding. Possibly it might in the end lead to fusion of forces, which would be real and lasting. " Injustice and Ingratitude." Evening Post (Wellington). —The Reform Leader denounces the Prime Minister as a hypocrite on the ground that his conversion to Reform principles was dictated, not by a belief in these principles, but by the hostility of Labour. The tactical folly of such a procedure seems to be at least as great as its injustice and its ingratitude. We deeply regret that after a number of petty, mean and bitter criticisms from unofficial representatives of the Reform Party this invitation has now been unconditionally rejected by its leader. We know Mr. Coates too well to accuse him of lack of patriotism or deliberate desire to put the interests of his party above those of the nation, but we are firmly convinced that both those interests will be grievously injured by his decision, and that his own reputation as a party leader and national statesman must suffer accordingly. The essential difference between the two leaders is really' not one of patriotism, but of appreciation of the dangers which confront us and which are likely to become a good deal worse before they are any better. *

Christchurch Press.—No one can have supposed after the first 48 hours that the Prime Minister's offer would be accepted, and now that ifc has been formally rejected the only leally interesting question is the effect on Mr. Forbes himself. In ordinary circumstances a leader so placed would resign, but the situation not only of the Government but also of the Opposition, and, indeed, the whole country, is altogether extraordinary, and in any case the Opposition offers assistance in carrying on. It is to be expected, therefore, that the Government will carry on, and if it does it has not only the Reform Party's general promise to rely on—that it will " support such measures of economy and finance as the present crisis demands"—but the special and distinctly interesting offer of " a small committee of Rcrorm members to confer with Mr. Forbes' Ministers before legislation is introduced."

No Surprise in Rejection. Dunedin Evening Star.—The Reform Party's rejection of Mr. Forbes' proposal for political fusion does not. come as a surprise. The Refoim leaders were " most unusual calm" when the proposal was announced. There was nothing in their demeanour toward it to suggest that it would bo accepted. There is something to be said for the rejection, which Mr. Coates has now notified. It is courteous, it is prompt (so avoiding any prolongation of uncertainty which might make embarrassments for the Government), and it is reasoned, though the reasoning seems to us some of the worst in the world. It is a question still how far it really represents the views of the Reform Party, since the week which has elapsed since Mr. Forbes* offer was made left the shortest time for that party to be consulted, but the majority of Reform members and of branches in the country will no doubt endorse it and fusion is " off" for the present. It will come just as soon as circumstances provo too strong for parties. .