AN INVERTEBRATE GOVERNMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14899, 30 July 1910, Page 8

AN INVERTEBRATE GOVERNMENT.

YIELDING TO POPULAR CLAMOUR. (From Our Own Cohbeseondekt.) . WELLINGTON, July 29. Commenting on the no-conJidence dobats in the Hobbo. tonight Mr A. L. Herdman said it must be considered a momentous Five or six mej. had the courage to aoclaro that they had no longer confidence in the Government; at all ovents so far as its land policy was conoerned. There could be no mistako' in the matter, as the Prime Minister had declared that Ho would treat the motion as ono of no-confidence, and it was gratifying to find that, five or six men had the courage of their convictions. A newspaper article on the division had described the Government as an invertebrate one, and fee thought that adjective precisely summed up tho position. It was not (ftily on the land policy that the Government changed front; no matter what the subject was, if Tho cry was loud enough the Government would back down. It miffht be; tho unfortunate trial of Captain Knyvett. First of all tho Government would stand by the. court-martial, thou as soon as the cry became loud and people came along in multitudes to the Government it backed down. The same thinqr had- occurred in respect to the Blackball strike amj. Uie bookmaker question.- Then tlie Government adopted a policy of retrenchment, only to abandon it for the old policy of extravagance. ■ The quarterly returns just published in tho Gazette showed an. increase in the annual appropriation of £141,663.