The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 6, 1930 THE PRIME MINISTER’S DILEMMA

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1043, 6 August 1930, Page 8

The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 6, 1930 THE PRIME MINISTER’S DILEMMA

THERE would be something far wrong with the lion. G. W. Forbes if lie did not want to attend the forthcoming conference of Empire Prime Ministers. Of course, he wants to be in London early in October, and it is no less certain that the people of this country would like to see him go and take part in an important assembly of Empire statesmen and British administrative experts. It is essential that New Zealand should be represented by the Leader of its Government. Naturally many taxpayers are very angry with the Prime Minister at the moment because of the economic injury he has inflicted upon them with unnecessary violence, but the wrath of none of them is not such as to be punitive. They even hope that he will be able to take his appointed plaee at the Empire’s round table, and there quietly make his mark as a shrewd administrator with that sagacity which is best known as plain common sense, and without any pretence at attempting to set the Thames on fire. Everything possible should be done by the rival party politicians to send Mr. Forbes away to London with such blessings as the country can spare in addition to its perfect goodwill toward him. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister himself is in a quandary about it. He is prepared to accept the alluring invitation, but is unwilling to leave in political circumstances which might thrust him into an invidious, position and keen humiliation. Unless Mr. Forbes can secure a guarantee from the Opposition that his Government will be maintained in power until he returns with the Prime Minister’s banner flying, he will decline to leave the country for its good throughout the Empire. This demand for double security is reasonable enough, although it may seem hard that its acceptance would prolong the administrative life of a Ministry which hitherto has contrived to live on good fortune rather than on good deeds. It is not necessary to emphasise that phase of the United Government’s fortuitous career. There is always a law of compensation. Parliament will have to make up its mind quickly on the question. If Mr. Forbes is to attend the Empire Conference he must get away within twenty days. There should not be any acute difficulty over letting him go. It has been made quite clear that none of the parties in the House of Representatives wants to precipitate an emergency General Election this year. This is not a promising time for raising party funds. Moreover, the majority of professional politicians cannot lightly take the risk of unemployment and early theoretical qualification for sustenance out of the prospective poll-tax for the charitable relief of the unemployed. The Government deserves most of the blame for its Leader's present dilemma. It has not jet finalised the preparation of its main legislative proposals. The most vital Bills of the session are not ready for introduction and the inevitable criticism they will provoke. Mr. Forbes has had to confess inability to meet at once the reasonable request of the Rt. lion. J. G. Coates that the Opposition must know the full details of the Government’s policy measures before it could agree to give the Prime Minister a guar antee of security for the United Ministry. Once the essential details of contentious legislation have been disclosed, there would be no valid reason why the three party leaders should not confer about the necessity of dehate and also, in all probability, a greater need of amendments. The ablest debaters in the House already have demonstrated beyond convincing dispute that the Government’s taxation levies have been pitched too high. It has been obvious from the outset of the Prime Minister’s buccaneering financial policy that the Government has budgeted for a surplus as an impressive plea for electoral support next year. The actual position was revealed clearly in the House last evening by Mr. D. Jones, Reform member for Mid-Canterbury, who asserted that if the Government’s financial policy were pursued nothing could stop a general reduction in wages throughout the Dominion. The easiest and quickest way to London for Mr. Forbes is to scale down his preposterously high taxation proposals and fiscal levies.