The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1912.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3029, 3 April 1912, Page 52

The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1912.) THE WEEK.

'* Nunquam alittd natura, alind sapicntia dixit."— " Good nature aad good sense must ever join."— POPB.

The Hon. Thomas Mackenzie has formed his Cabinet, and has secured for his Ministry a term, of three months of office by the simple device of proroguing Parliament until the end of June. It is useless to discuss the constitutional aspect of the prorogation, since against this act of the new Ministry there is no appeal : they have simply taken the law into their own hands. But the country is faced with this extraordinary position, that for the next three months the Dominion will be governed by a Ministry which not only has received no mandate from the country, bat which cannot command a majority in Parliament; or which at least has postponed the opportunity for demonstrating its ability to command the support of the House/ The peculiarity of the position therefore renders it necessary to discuss th© composition of the Cabinet which, had it proceeded constitutionally, would have so brief an existence as seareelv to cause a ripple on the surface of the political pool. Presumably, the next three months of its official existence will he occupied with the preparation on the part of the Mackenzie Ministry of a programme and a policy, which it will not "survive to carry into operation, hut which will be interesting, as showing to what extent a Cabinet at variance on many of the most important questions of the "day can agree to act and yet agree to differ. The serious thing about the position is that for three months Prime Minister Mackenzie and his colleagues will be entrusted with the administration 0/ the affairs of the Dominion, which is too great a responsibility to be entrusted to what is actually an irresponsible Ministry. For the Ministerialists who were returned to Parliament at the last election were elected as followers of the Ward Ministry, and the Government which a few weeks ago retained office on the casting vote of the Speaker. But the new Ministry contains only one member of the old Cabinet—viz., Mr Mackenzie himself, and he was its latest recruit Thus the situation is unprecedented, and the consequences may be serious in the extreme.

Tie Mackenzie Ministry.

The principal interest which attaches to the personnel of the new Cabinet lies in the fact that it to a large extent reflects the political situation. for it shows how desperate was the strait of the Ministerial party. Nor is it to be imagined that Mr Mackenzie has had a free hand in selecting his Ministers, for the creat pressure exerted by the Socialist .section is strongly in evidence, and this in face of the fact that one of the cardinal points in Mr Mackenzie's political creed has been his protest against the menace of Socialism. Excep*ion from a pastoral and itgri-cultural point of view <van also be taken to the preponderance of city interests in the Cabinet-, tl us falsifying to a large extent the Prime Minister's known rural predilections. And. a further Objection to the Cabinet from an

TtiP Xew ("a 1 , i ft.

Otago point of view is the undue representation sectored by Canterbury. The new Cabinet is likely to suffer not only from its inherent weakness, but also from the strong discontent which its composition cannot fail to create among Ministerialists generally. The very fact that Sir Joseph Ward will take his seat in Parliament as a private member must in itself create a certain amount of difficulty and diffidence; and when to this is added the presence behind the front, bench of Sir James Carroll. Mr Miliar. Mr Roderick M'Kenzie. Mr Buddo, and Mr Ngata the position is a!! the more complicated. Apparently Mr Mackenzie's answer to the charges levelled against the Ward Administration is to offer a policy of Radicalism instead of a policy of Reform, and it is perfectly certain that the Dominion will not consent to accent the political faith of Mr Ell and MiLa urenson and Mr Colvin. We decline to believe that tliere is any danger of this Socialist section affecting legislation, since it is the height of improbability that the Ministry will long survive the reassembling of Parliament. As for the political future, no one dare forecast the situation. since it is a case in which anything might happen.

Sir Joseph Ward is to be congratulated i pon the dignified tone

which characterised his message to the electors, issued on the eve of his retirement from office: and we can onlv regret for the late Prime Minister's own sake that this message was not issued immediately upon the results of the last general election becoming known. To represent his country in Parliament for a quarter of a century, and for the major portion of that time to hold office as a Minister of the Crown, is an achievement of which any man might oardonablv he proud. And when Sir Joseph Ward claims that during that lensrthv period he has used "such abilities as I possess as well as I could and as industriously as I could in the service of this country, and in the promotion of what I believed to be the best interest of the great mass of my fellow countrymen,'* there are few men so blinded by party prejudice that will not senerously and whole-heartedly concede the justice and truth of the claim. When last week we wrote down Sir Josenh Ward a faihire, it was with no idea of discrediting his administrative ability. The failure to which we alluded was one of method rather than of motive, and had reference to his political procedure and not to his administrative action. On certain of the public departments of the Dominion, notably the Post and Telegraph Department, Sir Joseph Ward has set his seal, and his intimate knowledge and intense interest in the working of this department has greatly tended to increase its efficiency. His administration of the railways,_ whilst open on some points to severe criticism, has been on the whole progressive and public-minded. And Sir Joseph Ward inherited from Mr Seddon the Imperial vision which in the larger field of politics enabled him to keep the idea of one great indivisible Empire continually to the front. Were wo called upon to declare what has been Sir Joseph Ward's greatest misfortune in his political career, it is that he has throughout been found on the wrong side; and. shrewdly discerning this and in consequence distrusting him, he has been, thrown overboard by the very party for whom he has sacrificed mast—the 'Labour-Socialists. By temperament, training, and instinct Sir Jceenh Ward belongs to the party led by Mr Massev, and it was onlv his strong personal "attachment to Mr Seddon which carried*him so far in the other direction — so far that it became well ni<jh impossible for him to retrace hie steps. Whatever the future may hold for Sir Joseph Wand —and it is difficult to believe that "prospective leisure" c<tn content a man whose days have always been oa«sed in the glare of * publicity—the services which he h;»s rendered to the Dominion will, desnite his shortcomings, be always gratefully rememlie.'e'!. For this reason the movement on foot to show the late Prime Minister some public, recognition is neither iiitimed nor unworthy.

The Rett e^ent of Sir .Tospj)]i Ward.

The strike of the British coal-miners has had at least two definite results : it has secured the passage through Parliament of a bill guaranteeing a minimum wage, and it has produced among the women and children a condition described as appalling, and almost beyond belief. In the Potteries district there are people said to be actually dying of starvation, and this in Great Britain in the twentieth century. .Small wonder, then, that, touched by this intelligence, relief funds are being organised for the sufferers, and that the oversea Dominions are lending a hand. The generous response so promptly made to the appeal launched bv the Otago Daily Times U evidence of the feeling of brotherhood which fills the hearts of Englishmen everywhere, and we are confident that readers of the Otago Witness will also gladly lend a hand. Whatever is done must be done at once, for only speedy measures can help to alleviate the existing distress. This is no time for moralising upon the causes —the strike carries with it its own moral—the direful effects are manifest, and these must be relieved so far as generosity and kindness can compass and cover the need. The greatness of that need stands out in a sentence —the computation made by the London Times that the loss in wages throuffh the strike amounts to close upon 12 million pounds sterling,—and it is this tremendous loss distributed amongst the wage-earners of Great Britain which has resulted in suffering, privation, and starvation to millions of men and women and children. The piineinle of the minimum wage has been established at a terrible cost, and the worst feature of the situation is that, despite the suffering and starvation, there in no sign of a settlement satisfactory to either party. Meanwhile,

The Strilte in Knglanil.

the position is chaotic, many of the miners voting for a resumption- of work, while others are for fighting the battle oat to the bitter end. the spectacle is a piteous one, and the problem seemingly denes solution.

The news brought by the Terra Nova leaves Captain Amundsen in proud possession of the prize of being the first at the South Pole. And when the news reaches Captain Scott and his band of gallant explorers—for at present they are in ignorance of the success of Captain Amundsen's daring attempt—a sense of undoubted disappointment will undoubtedly be felt. The contrast between the" conditions under which the work of the rival expeditions has been carried on is most striking. The Norwegian explorer was favoured with the best of weather, and his journey to the Pole was accomplished with almost everything in his favour. Captain Scott and his party have been dogged by misfortune and their path has been marked by disaster. Attacked bv storm after storm, assailed bv the serious loss of both dogs and ponies, their chances of success have been severely handicapped. Fortunately there has been no loss of life of any of the members of the expedition, although at times this crowning disaster seemed perilously near. It is little short of surprising, 'considering the bad luck which attended their endeavour, that the explorers should have retained their good spirits and remain undaunted in their determination to proceed on their quest. Although robbed of the coveted distinction of being the first to attain the South Pole, yet the scientific, discoveries made will more than justify the perils and dangers to which Captain Scott and his party are continuously exposed. We shall now have to wait for the return of the Terra Nova to the Antarctic regions at the end of tho year before any further tidings will be available.

»»ts of Captain Scott.