The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1912.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3033, 1 May 1912, Page 48

The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1912.) THE WEEK.

"Nunqnam aliud natura, aliud sapientia dixit,*’— nature and good sense must ever join.’*POPS.

The visit of the member for Dunedin West. to the constituency which

The Political Programme.

for a considerable period of time has returned him to

Parliament is not without interest in considering the political programme of the near future. It will be within the remembrance of all that when, at the last general election, Mr Millar was returned at the head of the poll, it was in the not unreasonable expectation that, following the retirement or translation of Sir Joseph Ward, he would succeed to the Prime Ministership of the socalled Liberal party. Owing to the stout opposition of a section of Socialist members, the Ministerial caucus “turned dbwn” Mr Millar in favour of Mr i. Mackenzie: since which event rumour has been busy with the probable action oi the member for Dunedin West. Although Mr Millar has been guarded in his utterances, this much is clear: when Parliament assembles the Mackenzie Ministry cannot depend upon the vote of the member for Dunedin West, in addition to which there is the probability that Mr Millar may have a following of from seven or eight other malcontents. It is understood that Mr Millar hopes to hold the balance of power, and that, m consequence of Ills opposition the Mackenzie Ministry, already holding office on sufferance* is doomed to defeat so soon as Parliament assembles. But Mr Millar s political programme comprehends _ more than Mr : Mackenzie’s defeat: he aims at overthrowing Mr Massey also, in the event of the leader of the Reform party being called upon to form a Ministry. Following which, Mr Millar hopes for an appeal to° the country, in which he will figure as the leader of a new Liberal party. It is a very pretty programme, but there is many a* slip ’twist the cup and the lip, and in the present state of politics clearly anything might happen. Out of the chaos at least one fact emerges: that the polyglot Administration until lately led by Sir Joseph Ward is absolutely no more. It stands condemned in its last phase, not only by the criticism of the Reform party, but out of the mouth of the Prime Minister, Mr Mackenzie, himself. That political necessity makes strange bedfellows is the only comment possible in the fact that Mr Mackenzie characterised the final propaganda emanatirpr from the Cabinet of which he was a ° member as “political fireworks, pointedly adding, “We want to get away from trifles and tipsy cake and get down to solid bread and butter.” And there is every evidence that Mr Mackenzie will soon be called upon to part company from the trifles and tipsy cake which form part of the political perquisites ot a Prime Ministership, and resume the solid bread and butter of an ordinal\ member, munching that bread and butter in the cold shades of Opposition.

T.he defection of Mr Millar from the Minis* terialists ought not to in-

Pr* spsfts of th* Eeforns Party. '

.terfere in any material res pect -with the prospects of the Reform party, despite

the fact that Mr Miliar has allowed it to be understood that he has notiung, politically, in common with a party Jed by Idr Massey and Mr James Allen. There are certain circumstances in connection. with the Reform parly which would seem to warrant Mr Massey and his colleagues in their confident anticipations of shortly occupying the Treasury benches. Whereas Mr Millar’s political hopes distinctly depend upon an early dissolution, the Tieform party constitutes a solid phalanx of practically half the House, and every member is loyal to his leader, to the pledges given before the election, and pledged, if placed in power, to initiate Certain much-needed measures of reform. So soon as the Mackenzie Ministry founders on the rock ,of a want of confidence motion, it is probable that the present Ministerialists will resolve themselves into at least three sections. Some of their number will ally themselves with the United Party of Labour, now in course of formation ; but Labour Councils are at present so divided that, whatever the future may hold. Labour cannot be reckoned npon in the present Parliament as a cohesive and coherent force. Otbei’s of the Ministerialists may elect to follow Mr Millar’s lead, and join with him in an attempt to build up a Liberal party’ in which Labour, however, will have no share. There yet remain those who, having affinity neither with militant Labour nor with "milte-and-water Mi liar ism, will not improbably seek refuge under the banner of Reform, more especially since such an alliance would avert the fear of a dissolution, which is so great a menace in many a member’s eyes. A small accession of this nature would put Mr Massey in the position of being able to flaunt all the coalitions that might be brought against him; whilst Mr Mackenzie might easilv be solaced for his loss of the Prime Ministership with the sinecure of. .say, the High Commissioncrshi’p. It is hazardous under the circumstances to attempt a political forecast, and the foregoing is nrobably as near the mark as it Is possible to arrive at.

The death of Justin McCarthy marks the passing of a man who. as novelist, historian, biographer, journalist, and politician, has made an ineffaceable mark on the history of our jjtwwi. This famous Irishman Vas only

Jitctln

17 years of age when he a wok© to the fact that the fate of his family depended upon his exertions. He was consequently compelled to abandon the study of the law, which had been his original intention, in favour of a position on the reporting staff of the Cork Examiner. His earliest work as a journalist was performed under the shadow of the great famine, and his first commission was to act as “special correspondent,” to describe the devastating effects of the failure of the potato crop. All the while he was at Cork, and, later, when on a Liverpool newspaper, Justin M‘Carthy yearned for London, and his association with journalism was tempered with a strong desire to engage in purely literary work. In Liverpool he wrote reviews of books, did dramatic criticism, and described the local art society’s exhibitions. He also lectured on Goethe, and wrote a centenary article on Schiller for the London Quarterly. In 1859 he received an offer of an engagement as reporter on the London Morning vStar, where he came into association with John Stuart Mill, and directly under the influence of John Bright and Richard Cobden. While on the staff of the Star, Justin M'Carthy was introduced by John Bright to Robert Browning, and also came to know Tennyson and Carlyle. After obtaining some slight recognition as novelist and short story writer, Justin McCarthy relinquished journalism for a while and visited America, where he met many of the leading men in litei'ary and political circles. Returning to London, he accepted a position as leader writer on the London Daily News, a connection which, with little interruption, lasted for more than a quarter of a century. In addition to his newspaper work he produced a number of novels, and had been commissioned by a publishing firm to write a history of Queen Victoria s reign, when he became interested in politics and enrolled himself in the ranks of the Irish Nationalists. His return as member for Longford quickly followed. Justin M‘Carthy managed to unite the exactions of politics and literature with greater success than the majority, vet even he confesses to the great difficulty of carrying on the dual work. “The literary man or journalist of any school or order,” he writes, “who endeavours to carry on his work while he occupies a seat in the House of Commons is always liable to interruptions and distractions. _ But I think the novel writer has especial claims upon our sympathy. Suppose the member is writing a leading article for a morning newspaper. To him, of course, the interruptions are perplexing and vexatious; but he knows what he wants to say, he has a case to make out with which he may be presumed to be thoroughly acquainted. After each interruption he can still go back to his South African question or his preferential tariffs, and resume his work where he left it off without finding that his mind has lost all grasp of the subject. In the same way, if he is engaged in some historical work, let us say the history of the Free Trade movement, he may well feel displeased and put out by frequent interruptions, the more especially if the time for the completion of his work is drawing near. But at least he has not to trust to his imagination or his invention for any of the narrative ; and when he returns to some interrupted page of his manuscript, he is not likely to find that during the interval he has lost any knowledge of what Peel or Cobden was doing or preparing to do at that particular time. But our novel writer carries all his materials within hie own inind, and if his mind be disturbed by frequent interruptions, the materials are apt to get scattered, and being but light and vaporous, are likely to get blown away into “ the infinite azure of the past.’ ” And Justin M‘Carthy adds, “I am entitled to consider this miestion with a certain impartiality and with some personal experience, for I have tried to be journalist, novelist, and historical winter while an actively engaged member of the House of Commons.” In view of which fart, the uniform excellence of Jnstin M‘Carthy’s published work testifies to his ability and versatility.