The old Man's Umbrella

NZ Truth, Issue 985, 11 October 1924, Page 5

The old Man's Umbrella

Big Enough To Cover Fusion Job

No Union Save Under Massey

If Reform Needs Liberalising, Why Don't The Liberals

Go In And Do It?

[The articfe below is the work of a contributor, and must not be read as reflecting m toto the opinions of "Truth."] The writer has some recollection of an episode m the career of Gladstone, when the leadership of the G.O.M. was being questioned by certain persons of independent leanings. In contrast with which a devoted adherent of Gladstone remarked: "The Old Man's umbrella is big enough for me." The phrase is rich with meaning v for the present political > situation m New Zealand. If there is to be a coming together of Reformers and Liberals, Mr. Massey's is the only umbrella big enough to cover the operation. How tiny has been the progress of all the various plans to form a political conventicle out- * . side its shadow.

The spectacle of certain Liberals voting- with- the Government ; m favor o£ land tax reduction, while Mr. Wilford and other Liberals voted for v a Labor amendment, is a poor advertisement for Liberal Party solidarity, but a fairly good indication of the general identity of political interest as between Government and Official Opposition. . The . Wilford — Massey war m the. House of Representatives is not a. clash pf principles. It is mostly a juggling with -motions for the purpose of indicating that the Liberal Opposition is sailing about one point (or .1 of a point) closer to the wind of public opinion than Reform is sailing. Sometimes the juggler does not succeed m landing all the balls m the right place. The weakest of all Mr. Wilford's juggling methods was his anti-strike but pro -forty- four hours attitude on the railway trouble. The attempt to steer ai course different from Massey's, and a course that would try to hold the railwaymen's regard while marching 1 with public opinion, was too labored to be anything other than ludicrous. Not by such manoeuvres are battles of principle waged. Stronger stuff than that is needed if Tweedledum and Tweedledee are to maintain their pretence of separateness. And all the while this sham-fighting is progressing, the cry for Reform — Liberal fusion continues; and everybody concerned denies that he or his ambition is the stumbling block. And yet — if there were not some powerful and persona^ stumbling block — people who are as much of the same mind as are most of the Reformers and most of the Liberals would come together naturally and automatically. Invited to Come Under the Gamp. What are the obstacles to the Liberals entering the Reformers' camp? Apart from personal obstacles, there is none. Yv"hen 'Mr. Massey received Liberal recruits on I,he division the other evening, he welcomed them and asked them to come often and ,always. There is between Reformer and Liberal no difference m principle that could not be adjusted by the simple process of commingling. In Auckland the other day a labor union was "swamped" by being joined by a majority of fellow-workers outside its ranks. The union assumed the complexion of those' whom it swallowed. As the Liberals are not numerically greater, they cannot m the same way "swamp" the Reformers. And if the difference between them were of principle, all this argument would not apply. But the Liberals have sufficient numerical strength, and would be found to have sufficient moral force, to sway the Reform Party (from within), to any extent that might be justified from the standpoint of closer adherence to progressive public opinion. In other words, if the Liberals entered the Reform caucus, that caucus would at once feel any, change of currenf that the new confluent stream df Liberalism might have' moral right to impose. It would not be an affair of numbers orfly, a mere matter'of counting heads. „ • Perhaps it will be said: If the differences between the two parties are not sufficient to keep them asunder, then their coming together is not likely' to produce any new political gospel. So much may be admitted. .Fusion m itself would not lay the foundation for a new political evangel. But it would clear the ground for such. Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Fusion, by ending ' the Tweedledum and Tweedledee business, would remove non-existent differences that now cloud the issue. It would remove confusion. It would give a clear-cut party iSsue» and therefore would make for '.political; sincerity. Fusion is to be regarded not as giving any guarantee " that Labor will never gain office — a Labor Government

is as certain; m due time, as the rise of the suiij — but is to be welcomed as removing issues- that don't count and as narrowing the field for intrigue. What has happened with" regard to the "ratting'! of individuals m Parliament, and with regard to the manipulation of the Speaker's Chair m Australia, is an indication that though there may be graft under the twoparty system, it is much worse with three 1 parties, and vastly worse with four. The threat of a Country Party is an argument for, hot against, removing the unreality of Reform — Liberal conflict. Reform — Liberal fusion, someone will say, is a question of terms. It should not be a question of terms when the terms revolve round merely personal considerations. There is really only one personal question:, Who shall be leader m the first place?' Without doubt, the leader m the first place should be Mr. ■ Massey. There is none other. A fusion under Mr. Massey's leadership would 'mark a fresh s\art, after which events could be allowed to tai<e charge of themselves. And they would. The breaking-up of the Reform — Liberal stalemate would be akin to the breaking up of the similar stalemate among rival commands that m wartime paralysed "the Western front." New Zealand's political front is paralysed by dissensions about nothing. A new unity would bring a new vision. New forces would come into Play. N That Mr. Massey is the best—probably the only — unifier, is proved by his personal record, his courage (which has made many heavy blows struck at him look to the spectator like mere taps), his toughness (proof against the petty stings of the gad-flies), and the mana borne of experience and success. Any unbiased opponent must admit that his rivals are not — or- are not yet — m his class. . Yes, the difference is quite as big as that. Also, he is the Man .m Possession. His is the only unbrella big enough. There is only one way m which a case can be made against Massey. That way is to combine forces amder him. and ask him what he is going to do. It will be a case then of "Do, or get out." But, until he has proved his own failure, it is -useless to talk of a fusion founded on the deposition of the only leader "wlfo possesses any practical credentials. If fusion is worth while, 'it is worth while now. It is better to act when the Labor following is less than a quarter of the House, than wait till the Reform — Liberal sham-fight has made Mr. Holland's party tH6 holder of an absolute majority of the eighty seats. Lastly, if the Reform mountain will not come to the Liberal Mahomet, then, it is up to Mahomet to go to the mountain, and thereby prove (for the first time) his title to the name of prophet.