Political Unity

Southland Times, Issue 24357, 11 February 1941, Page 4

Political Unity

IN AN address to the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce on Friday the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates spoke plainly against party politics in war time. “Frankly, I cannot get enthusiastic over politics today,” he said, “and, as I see it, no party Government can possibly achieve success in the war effort we require.” Mi- Coates is a member of the War Cabinet, and should know better than most people how far the country’s war effort is being impeded by sectional influences. But his criticism, implied rather than direct, was made against a state of mind which can be found in both political camps. On the one side there is still a curious lack of realism, a habit of thinking and talking as if “social justice” were somehow immune from the dangers of a world crisis. There is a tendency to remain preoccupied with special interests and local reforms at a time when the Dominion’s future as a self-governing country is being defended on remote battlefields. On the other side there is an equally dangerous tendency to talk of “two wars,” to discover too many encroachments of socialism on the home front. Admittedly, the rights and liberties of the people must be protected in war time as strenuously as in any other period, and it is true that the Government has forced Bills through Parliament which seemed to exceed war requirements. It is true also that pleas for co-operation have too often betrayed a one-sided conception of national unity. But these mistakes can be remedied by a single demonstration of political sincerity. This is election year. It is for the Government to decide if the country is to be disturbed and weakened by the irrelevancies of a full dress political campaign, or if it is to be strengthened by a major example of co-operation. “I think our politics today are wrapped up in selfpreservation,” said Mr Coates. This is the simple truth, and the only way to express it in action is through the formation of an all-party Government. Minorities and backstage influences on either side should not be allowed to prevent a development which would be welcomed by the great mass of the people. Thereafter it should be possible to make an end of suspicion and to enter with new strength upon the serious tasks of defence and production.