The Otago Witness. (FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1919.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3415, 29 August 1919, Page 40

The Otago Witness.

(FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1919.) THE WEEK.

WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY.

“Nunquam allud natura, allud sapicntia dixit,"' —Juvenal. “Good nature and good sense must ever join.”— Pope. It is probable that never before in the history of the Dominion

The Meeting of Parliament.

have members of Parliament- assembled in Wellington with the same degree

of anticipation and at the same time with the same amount of uncertainty as is the case this week. Circumstances both without and within New Zealand combine to render the occasion unique.. It is the first time that Parliament has assembled since the conclusion of the war; and the problems of the Peace are emerging amidst an atmosphere of world-wide unrest and against a background of chaos and disorder. The exigencies of the world conflict compelled many alliances which were as _ artificial as they were unnatural and which made for a kind of superficial unity which, however, served its purpose during the dark days of disaster and natural crisis. With the pressure Ai militarism and war autocracy relaxed, the release of the discordant elements has been the signal for strife of quite another kind. Attempts are beingf made —with what result remains to be seen —to revive the party cries and political shibboleths of pre-war days, and the future for the moment is concealed beneath the clamour of the fiercely contending factions. Within its narrow and insular sphere the Dominion of New Zealand is experiencing something of the after-effects of the great world war. During the period of actual hostilities the social °and political life of the people of the Dominion was scarcely ruffled by the tremendous happenings which rent and devastated the Old World; such conflagrations and upheavals could scarcely fail to send their tide-waves and reverberations out to the uttermost parts of the earth, and among the rest the shores of New Zealand are at length feeling the shock of contact. The immediate effect of the shock has been the dissolution of the National Government, an abortion which, generated by the necessities of war time, has always maintained a precarious existence.. It was a government with two heads. 1 which may be likened to that world-famous monstrosity, the two-headed Nightingale. It will be remembered that this remarkable lady, or rather pair of ladies, although preserving a separate physical existence, were bound together by a ligature which compelled the one to go wherever the other desired and vice versa. Outwardly this enforced partnership appeareff amicable enough,- but in the end the differences of opinion between the two became so serious that the ligature was cut, and shortly afterwards both of the ladies died, and, of course, the famous Two-headed .Nightingale ceased to be. Wherein is a parable which he who runs may read. The rupture between Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward, so long suspended and apparent beneath the surface, has now been made public with the resignation from the National Government of Sir Joseph Ward and his Liberal colleagues and the consequent return to the old pre-war party divisions. _ The outcome of this rupture in the political future of the Dominion is to-day a matter of pure speculation. Sir Joseph Ward is a shrewd politician and a clever man to boot ; ■

The Political Future.

as to his ability can scarcely be two opinions,

but -whether he is destined to be the political head of the Dominion must for the present remain an open question. He made the first move when, in conjunction with his resignation a»

Minister of Finance in the _ National Government, he issued a manifesto embracing his ideas for the political future, and constituting the tentative programme of the Liberal partv that is to be—that is, if there is to be a Liberal party. _ For although the Liberal caucus —with, it is said, one dissentient —is reported to have expressed hearty accord “with the genei’al policy embraced in the manifesto issued bv Sir Joseph Ward,” it is. not to be supposed that any and every . item in that manifesto will have the undivided support of his party. The manifesto is an obvious endeavour, with its proposals for the nationalisation of the coal mines, a State Bank, State Ferrv Service, State Flour Mills, and r what not, to catch the„support of the more moderate section of the Labour party not willing to enlist under the banner of the extreme Socialists, who, it is significant to note, have appointed Mr Holland chairman of their party, and who are in unanimous agreement that the country should be given the earilest possible opportunity of choosing a new Parliament. Mr Massey is reported to be in a happier frame of mind since the Reform caucus meeting, and if he can survive the pressure now being put upon him to reconstruct his Ministry he may yet find a wav out of the difficulties which hedge him about. There is a concensus of opinion that the session now opened will be exceptionally short evens. for the final session of Parliament, but how short no one can at the moment foretell. It is probable that Sir Joseph Ward may support Mr Massey in carrying through certain essential non-controversial legislation ; but on the other hand it is not certain that Mr Massey will either ask for or - accept such support; and should the Reform and the Liberal parties find themselves in open conflict, the Labour party clearly holds the balance of power. And if any overture be made to Messrs Holland and Co. they may be expected to extort the uttermost farthing—probably proportional representation at the forthcoming general election—as the price of their votes. So far as can be seen, the indications are for a brief session in which nothing but essentials will have a part and a dissolution at the earliest possible moment in order to enable members to return to their constituencies and prepare for the election campaign. And it is safe to say that greater interest will centre around the coming election than at any other contest since New Zealand has had parliamentary Government. It would seem that the labours of Senator Millcn are likely to be re-

The Australian Seamen’s Strike.

warded in the satisfactory settlement of the seamen’s strike. This has been

accomplished by the acceptance by' both sides of the principle of a rsound table conference at which both the seamen and the shipowners are to be represented, and in which presumably the Federal Government will take a hand. Except that it provides a way out of the deadlock caused by the absolute refusal of the seamen to submit their grievances to the decision of the Arbitration Court, the Round Table Conference idea does not appear on the surface to offer any better chance of reaching a decision acceptable to both parties to the dispute. The temper displayed on both sides is reflected in the incident reported from Newcastle where a deadlock has occurred owing to the refusal of the shipowners to go to the Trades Hall to engage labour and to the men declining to apply at the shipping offices, with the result that the ships waiting to be loaded with urgently needed coal still remain idle. There is trouble of a similar sort at Melbourne, where the wharf labourers have decided not to work with the loyalists. and not to handle cargo until the labour bureau is closed. All this goes to show that the temporary settlement reached, under which many of the idle ships have been manned and have already sailed for New Zealand and other parts, rests upon an exceedingly precarious foundation. It may be surmised that the seamen themselves are divided into two sections—viz., the more moderate men, who ceased work only out of loyalty to their comrades and who hail the opportunity of returning to work, and the extremists who are more revolutionary in their ideas and less disnosed in consequence to make eitheiv allowances or concessions. One result of the strike has been to direct public attention to the genuine nature of the grievances advanced by the seamen, notably in the matter of insanitary and insufficient accommodation and lack of provision for medical attention in case of sickness or accident. In general the people of Australia may be said to sympathise with the seamen, but not with the way in which they have sought re- . dress. It is on this account doubly unfortunate that the . Arbitration Court should have fallen into such bad odour with the seamen as to cause them to decline to submit to its decisions. The cortly nature of the strike is evident in the regent cable from Washington that a million and a half workers in the United .States are demanding increases in wages, and that the strikes and lockouts are costin" the country £100.000.000 daily. In regard to the Australian seamen’s strike, so lone as employers refuse to redress admitted grievances, except at the havonet point, so long will it be impossible, to refrain the workers from adopting the costly policy of direct action for which jn the end all narties concerned are made to pay exceedingly dear. The announcement of the prospectus of a Sinn Fein loan of a quarter

An Irish Republic.

of a million, to be issued at 5 per cent, interest, to be payable six months after

the Irish Republic has received international recognition and the Enclish have evacuated Ireland, will probably be treated by the majority as evidence of Irish humour; it is by no means certain, however, that an element of seriousness 'does not lurk beneath the alleged humour. According to an English exchange : ‘‘On June 24 America awoke to learn the

interesting fact that Mr de Valera had arrived in New York. Disdaining the formalities of the passport office, he had worked his way across the Atlantic and ho has enjoyed a week of immense excitement. The American press, already prepared by the Walsh-Dunne report and Mr Macpherson's fatal reply is giving the Sinn Fein President an extraordinary run. Incidentally, he is engaged in raising a loan of five millions sterling, the interest on which, it is explained, will begin to be paid when England has evacuated the Irish Republic. He may succeed in getting the amount as a free gift. Crossexamination by the New York pressmen has elicited the fact that Mr de Valera's origin is Spanish, but probably he ■is quite Irish enough for his purpose in the United States.. It is noteworthy that papers markedly friendly to England are almost as generous to Mr de Valera in the matter of space as those which enjoy making mischief between the two countries, and it can no longer be denied that the entire American public is concerned with the settlement of Ireland'." The Irish-American viewpoint is thus set down by Mr •J. O. Walsh, the correspondent of "America" at the Peace Conference : "In the United States the viewpoint is different. The Irish have a right to freedom, to the ordering of their own national life. Certainly. What's wrong with - that proposition? It is what we have been taught for 150 years in the very heart and essence of American existence. If anybody challenges that conception, then -we are for Ireland ! That is the natural attitude of the average American. Those born in Ajnerica of Irish parents have precisely the same viewpoint on this subject as Americans of other origin. 'An Irish Republic,' they say, 'that is something they understand.'"