POLITICAL SITUATION.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 7, 18 December 1911, Page 5

POLITICAL SITUATION.

HOW IT IS VIEWED. The “Otago Daily Times,” in analysing the election results, assigns -Messrs. Rhodes, Clark, Isitt, and Coates among the Independents, and Mr. Hindmarsli (Labour; to the Government, and Messrs. Atmore (Independent), and Payne, Veitch and R;>uertson (Labour) to the Oppos thm, thus bringing the Ministerial total to 3(3, and the Opposition to 11, and giving the latter an absolute majority .a the House. It then proceeds: “Will die Government resign? That is the practical question about which the public will to-day be curious. It is plain—though Sir Joseph Ward professes his inability at present to see it—that Ministers are in a minority. When every allowance is made in their favour, they cannot muster one-half of 'the new’ House. The established practice for the past thirty years in Hoine politics has hqen that when the vote of the electorates is unfavourable to a Government, tlie Prime Minister does not wait for formal expulsion from office by Parliament before he tenders.,ld's resignation. The custom at one time was certainly for tlie Government to accept its dismissal only from Parliament assembled. Mr. Disraeli, however, departed from this custom in 1868, and tlie precedent that was then by him has been followed ever since in British politics, and has been observed also in the Dominion. If, however, Sir Joseph Ward is not immediately prepared to accept tlie votes of tlie electors, as notice to the Government to quit, it is clear that Parliament should be summoned to meet at the earliest possible date in order that it may have the opportunity of expressing its judgment on the question whether the present Ministers are to be allowed to continue in office. That a Government which does not' possess the confidence of the electors should remain in power is highly undesirable, and if Ministers profess to lie doubtful concerning the effect of the vote which electors have recorded, the only way whereby their doubts may be resolved is by submission of the point to an early session of Parliament.” The Auckland “Star” says:- In spite of the fact that Liberalism is still supported by a great majority of the voters throughout the Dominion, the Liberal Government, after twen-ty-one years of success, has at last met defeat, if not disaster. Whether we explain this sudden turn in the course of political affairs as the result of a natural reaction against a partyy so long in office, or whether we attribute it to the snlitting of tlie Liberal vote, or the lack of preliminary organisation, or the emergence of the Labour Party, as a decisive factor in the political struggle, the fact remains that Sir Joseph Ward can no longer count upon the support of a majority of the members of the House of Representatives. . . . The Dunedin “Evening Star” states that the right thing will lie to call Parliament together in January. The only condition. that could warrant postponement to the middle of the year would he a clear assurance on the part of a majority of the members that* they would he prepared to support the Government on a want-of-confidence motion. Such assurance is hardly likely to lie forthcoming. The “Star” goes on to say that the signal victory of the Minister for Railways, taken in conjunction with some other indications of public feeling, points to the likelihood that at no very distant date he may realise the honourable ambition to which he recently alluded. Sir Joseph Ward’s unmistakable loss of popularity, the defeat of the Hon G. Fowlds, and Sir John Findlay’s relegation to private life will certainly not ho a hindrance to Mr. Millar’s advance.