STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 510, 13 November 1928, Page 12

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

WHETHER or not Sir Joseph Ward's affirmation that he will vote with the Labour Party on any and every no-confidence motion can be regarded as an assurance arising from the political expediency of the moment, it has been left to that alert politician, the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, to analyse the full meaning of the statement, and its far-reaching implications. To begin with, the pledge to which Sir Joseph has rather hastily bound himself means that he will return to Parliament at the head of a divided party. Several candidates of the so-called United group have stated from the platform that they will not join Labour against the Government on a straight-out no-confidence vote. Mr. W. A. Veitch, formerly fancied as the leader, is one of them. Mr. T. E. Y. Seddon and Mr. T. M. Wilford are two more: and others have qualified their pronouncements on this subject with more discretion than can be attributed to their leader. In effect, the result is that the United Party is dis-united from the start. Those who have followed the recent history of politics in this country have only to recall a few of the divisions of last session to realise that this means only a renewal of the aimless futility which characterised the amorphous neo-Liberal group) throughout the session. Early in the period / Mr. 11. Atrnore was the solitary non-Labourite who allied himself with Mr. Holland’s little band. Later on, when the divisions were of the routine variety, and less courage was required to forsake the old paths, he, was joined by others, until finally the whole party wap giving the gratified Labour men the full support of its nine or ten members. There was even one memorable occasion when the Labour Party voted with the Government on the Status of Aliens Bill, leaving the neo-Liberals to furnish the bulk of the opposition, A triumphant moment! What Sir Joseph’s commitment means is that, in the rather far-called event of a political landslide to-morrow, he will swing bis followers into line, and turn the Government out of office. The result, with another election imminent, would be more expense, more disorganisation of business, and a form of political chaos in the country. Should the Government emerge from to-morrow’s trial with the reduced majority expected by most students of the position, Sir Joseph is committed to ally his party with Labour on any no-confidence motions which the whim of the Labour-leaders may dictate. For a man who cherishes the memories and associations that Sir Joseph Ward must hold, it will be a strange affiliation.