THE HON. G. FOWLDS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 18, 6 September 1911, Page 6

THE HON. G. FOWLDS

RESIGNS FROM MINISTRY. (Per Press Association ) AA 7 ellington, September 5 Sir Josepn Ward inlormeu flic House of iu-pivseniaLives this afternoon that the Hon. Geo. Fowlds nad resigned his position in tiie &S mis try, and tliat-tne resignation had been accepted by the Govern.unit. He said lie regretted severance from Jus esteemed friend. Mr. Fowlds had been in the Ministry for five years, and on no occasion nad a cross wci a taken place oetween any oi Micm. Hi acknowledged tne anility and great public spirit manifested by Mr. h a.'lds. • - s :ncucls we met, as trends wo par-, and friends we will always |>e,” o/r.cmi.i d tiie Premier. i he Hon. Goo. Fowlds said he would like to say a few words to supplement tne stale, nut, of Sir Josepa Waul. He had not taken the step of reimoment from the Cabinet on account of ~ny personal dnrercnces between the Prime Minister or ids colleagues and himself, because nis i elutions, per-

sonal and official, with them nad i-otn of the most harmonious character. Notwithstanding tiie fact that his and their political ideals had : een ua.st widely divergent on many questions, he could honestly say'it was with c'-up regret that he was compelled to tanc the stop lie now took. To some extent his action had been precipitated by the division tint took place some weeks ago on the Town Planning Bill. The political sigud'c.-mec of the veto was momentous. That a .substantial number of memlws of the Government Party should by their votes say that while they wire rot prepared to trust the Government as a whole, sitting with Hie GoveriM.r-'ti-Conncij. to do certain import int at mii.istrath e acts, they wore prepared to entrust ciieso .acts to a baud ,d Govern in-nt officials, with perhaps one Minister sitting as a member or as chairman, was to his mind symptomatic of a very serious condition of affairs. That condition, as it appeared to him, was one of dissatisfaction and unrest in the party, in its relations with its representatives who composed the Government. Proceeding, Mr. Fowlds said: “I have had no indication that such dissatisfaction centres itself on me personally, hut I have felt it impossible for me to remain a member of a Government which was unable to secure tliat measure of party loyalty necessary to carry on the government of the country with some degree of dignity and self-respect. 1 have never been greatly enamoured of party government, but until we have evolved noth tho machinery and the publicspirit necessary to make some other form of government possible, it is essential that a Government should have such support as would enable it to carry out its functions in a reasonably dignified manner. When it is unable to au taut its usefulness lias gone.”

Mr. Fowlds went on to say that he entered public life for the attainment of ideals and not with tno ouject ur attaining and maintaining place and power, Tne call to tne was unsolicited, either by or tor mm, ami he accepted it in tno spirit ol sei vice, willing and anxious ac any time to step aside if lie could do ,letter tor his country out of olhee than in. I'liat conviction had now come to him, and had dictated the step lie iiact taken. Jrle thought ho might claim in a modest way mat his aarainistration of the departments entrusted to him had not been a failure, and lie acknowledged tiie able and loyal assistance of nis officers. He did not go out to form a new cult. He was conscious of the great work Liberalism iiad done for . iyeu’. Zealand, and believed when its history was written an honoured place would he given to tiie legislation of Sir Joseph Ward, “Put tne times in which'we Jive,” continued Mr. Fowlds, “demand a new evangel, ' a gospel which 1 could not pfiiacn as a memuer of the present Government, and so 1 have decided for freedom in order that 1 might express my whole soul to the people of rsew Zealand.” Some of his friends on the Opposition side would probably say that no was scuttling out of a sin.dng ship, hut the only inducement that, would have kept him on tiie Government ship would have been ■i>a' of battling with adverse Opposition 'gabs. In his judgment the preach i. opposition did not constitute a factor in tne future political life of this country. As far as that thirty was concerned, he believed no Government in Now Zealand ever went to the country with less fear, in iiis opinion the present Leader of the Liberal Party, ever since last election, had his eye focussed too much on the Opposition and the little on tiie forces that had been developing in advance of the Liberal Party. In fairness to Sir Joseph Ward and his colleagues he rebutted the charges of corruption and Tammanyism which had been levelled against tiie Government. Concluding, Mr. Fowlds said: “And now I have only to express my thanks to members of the Government Party and of the House generally for the kindness and courtesy shown me while I have been a Minister of the Crown, and to say that whenever a truly democratic party arises in this country, a party pledged to definite principles, principles which it believes in and which it is prepared to light for, it shall have my whole-soiled support. And if it should become numerous enough to enable it to form a Government, and invites me to join it, my services will bo available. In the meantime 1 believe 1 can serve the country best as a private member.” DUNEDIN CONGRATULATIONS. Dunedin, September 5. At a meeting of the Dunedin branch of the Labour Party to-night the following motion was carried;— “This branch desires to offer to the Hon. Geo. Fowlds its sincorest congratulations upon the position ho has taken up in separating himself from the Ministry, and to record its entire appreciation of the reason for the step taken by the lion, gentleman, and wishes him many years of successful political work in the future.” 'ljirec cheers were given for Mr. Fowlds.