LABOUR CAUCUS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23621, 3 April 1940, Page 8

LABOUR CAUCUS

IMPORTANT ISSUES LEADER AND CABINET A PPOI NTMENT SY STEM POSSIBILITY OF CHANGES Although the caucus of the Parliamentary Labour Parly to be held in Wellington to-morrow has as its first purpose the selection of a leader" to succeed Mr. Savage, it is also important in that it may bring under review the whole system of Ministerial appointments under. Labour rule. The present Prime Minister, the Hon. .1. • Fraser, accepted the invitation of the Governor-General. Viscount Gal way, to form a Ministry, pending an opportunity of consulting his party, and lie piomised to submit his recommendations for a new Ministry at the end of the week.

The right of the caucus to elect the Cabinet lias long been one of the claims of the Left Wing of the Labour Party, and if this claim is pressed at tomorrow's meeting there may develop a trial of strength between the two wings of the party. Thus there are various possibilities as to the result ol the meeting, considered likely to be one of the most important Labour caucuses yet held. Several Members Named

Uv the death of Mr. Savage, only oil" vacancy has been caused, and in the interim Cabinet appoints on .Monday minor rearrangement of portfolios was sufficient to (ill the gap. H is thought likely, however, that at least one new Minister will lie appointed. and th-s'names of Mr. F. W . Schramm. M.'P. for Auckland East. Air. J Thorn. M.P. for Thames, Mr. J. O'Brien. M.P. for Wcstland and Senior Government, Whip.. Dr. D. G. McMillan M.P. for Dunedin West, and Mr. A. H. Nordmoyer. M.P. for Oamaru, have been mentioned as possibilities. Much will depend, however, upon the attitude and the voting strength of the Left Wing. Past evidence has been that the voting strength of the faction is high. but recent events, notably the death of Mr. Savage and the expulsion from the party of Mr. .J. A. Lee, M.P. for Grey Lynn, may have an effect here. . „ Leit Wing Aspirations

With the political situation in a state of flux, it is possible that the Left Wing will make a strong bid to enforce its views. Even assuming that Mr Eraser confirmed as Prime Minister! the Left Wing might still succeed in introducing the policy of electing the Cabinet, and in this event sweeping changes could reasonably be expected. Not only would the selection of a new Minister become of much greater interest. but the position of the whole of the existing Cabinet would immediately be open to challenge. Lobby gossip has long credited some of the more prominent members of the Left Wing with aspirations to Cabinet rank. It is almost certain that with an elective Cabinet some at least of these aims would be achieved, and this would involve the displacement of some of the existing Ministers. Whether the recent expulsion of Mr. Lee would tend to diminish the ardour of those who supported him, or whether it would merely sharpen their determination. is also- a matter for speculation. In either case it is fully expected that the caucus will not pass without an effort being made to achieve an elective Cabinet.

CHANGES PREDICTED WELLINGTON OPINION PROBABLE NEW MINISTERS ELECTIVE SYSTEM LIKELY [hv tki.ko it ar i; —own cop, it ksi'on ni'.N'i'l \YELLIXCiTON, Tnesdny That lie Hon. P. Kraser's term .as Prime Minister will not be confined to a few days only, but that he will be confirmed in leadership by the Labour Partv.'is now widely believed. A change in the attitude of the Left Wing group toward Mr. Kraser's candidature has become apparent in the last day or so and it is believed that he will be elected unanimously.

The new Prime Minister is conceded to be a man of wisdom and tact, and his staunch supporters, as well as those whose opinions on his leadership have yet to become firm, expect that he will meet the caucus in a conciliatory spirit, submit proposals for increasing the size of the Cabinet, and allow members to express their opinion by vote. If Mr. Kraser challenges the right of the caucus to have a say in the composition of the Government, and also its policy, strong opposition is likely to be advanced, in which case the Hon. I). C. Sullivan is mentioned more freely than five days ago as likely to be adopted by both sides as their compromise leader, against Mr. Kraser and the Hon. W. IS. Barnard, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The two mostly favoured for Cab'net rank if an increase in the size of the Cabinet and redistribution of portfolios is decided on are Mr. H. Me Keen and Mr. J. G. Barclay. Mr. McKeeti is at present Chairman of Committees, and the suggestion is that lie will he appointed Minister of Labour. Mr. Barclay is freely mentioned as the next .Minister of Agriculture, taking tlio place of the Hon. W. Lee Martin. It is further believed that in an effort to gain solidarity for the war effort within the party. Mr. Kraser may be prepared to drop several other.Ministers. Those whose fate will be in the balance until the caucus are named by both Right and Left Wings. They are the Hon. W. 10. Parry, Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong. Minister of Housing, the Hon. F. .tones, Minister of Defence, and the Hon. K. Langstone. Minister of Lands, while there is an openly expressed intention to divest the Hon. W. Nash of the authority which members believe he has taken to an almost dictatorial degree since the Labour Government was elected. Without Mr. Kraser giving the slightest indication of his contemplated course of action, it may be assumed that if the Cabinet is an elective ono the voting will be highly intriguing and productive of several changes. While a number of staunch adherents of the Government are determined that the Left Wing must be suppressed for all time, the Left Wing has been organising steadily to force its demands for representation in the Government.