The Sun MONDAY, JULY 5, 1915. AN EMBARRASSED LEADER.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 437, 5 July 1915, Page 6

The Sun MONDAY, JULY 5, 1915. AN EMBARRASSED LEADER.

The latest word from the Parliamentary Press Gallery on the subject of a National Ministry is not reassuring. The feeling is pretty general among the special correspondents that there will have to be considerably more compromise than is now in sight .if coalition is to become a fact. There has been some strenuous campaigning in the lobbies, and if report can be depended upon, those particularly interested in this pastime are dubious as to Mr Massey's offer being accepted. It is to be hoped that in the present case rumour is prevaricating. Sir Joseph Ward, as Leader of the Opposition, was right when he expressed the opinion that the initiative in the matter of inviting the Opposition to co-operate with the Government should be taken- by the Prime Minister. In a tentative sort of way, the Prime Minister made the invitation, and has met Sir Joseph Ward in conference to discuss terms. To-mor-row the Liberal Caucus is due to meet, presumably to discuss terms also. The position is not very satisfactory to'those who have urged that all possibility of party strife on Imperial matters should be obviated by the formation of a War Ministry on the lines of that recently adopted at Home. It may be that Sir Joseph Ward may insist on equal representation for the Opposition in the Cabinet, with an important portfolio for himself—he is entitled to expect the latter. The Liberal leader's task is made more difficult by the uncompromising attitude taken up by his official organ in Wellington,- and additional anxieties will be placed on his shoulders by the spirit in which the Labour wing is meeting the proposal for a co-operation of forces. Enough has been said to prove that the Labour members are watching developments with an unusual interest. It has been suggested, and with some show of reason, that one result of a National Ministry jvould be the secession of Labour from its present canip. That withdrawal, if it does not come about to-day, is sooner or later inevitable, and the Liberals may just as well face the fact. The Federal Prime Minister, „ when „' visiting the Dominion last year, advised Labour ~to "go on its own," and declared that its only chance of salvation -lay in fighting jits own battle, even as had been done throughout Australia. Recent election triumphs for Democracy in | the Australian States have stimulated and heightened the ambition of the Labour Parly in New Zealand, and lit is only a matter of time when the ! party will renounce its allegiance (such as it is) to'the Liberals and declare its independence. Last election and since,'- the Liberals have been warned to this effect, and the knowledge may have a good deal to do with the anxiety of the " New Zealand Times" to prevent a working agreement between Reformers and Liberals, while it may also influence the rank and file of the latter to persuade Sir Joseph Ward from taking a step that will probably lose him the support of the Labour wing at the present juncture. Still, if the breakaway of Labour is only a matter of time, Sir Joseph Ward will gain nothing by delaying the evil day. The country expects him lo make all reasonable concessions to prepare the way for a junction of political forces. The Government certainly needs .assistance at the present time, and it has asked aid of the leading''members; of the Opposition. The Liberal leader will commit an error of judgment if, with his eye on Labour, he sacrifices Imperial concerns to party exigencies.

commands the mouths of the rivers Elbe and Weser. Britain possessed the island, which is little more than a rock, rising about 175 feet above sea level, in 1807, and did nothing with it. It is one of the smallest of the Frisian Islands and in ancient times was regarded as sacred by the Frisian race, from which fact it gets its name, more properly spelled "Helgoland," and signifying "holyland." For centuries it had been a fishing village, and at the time of its cessation to Germany contained a little community of about 400 houses. Germany- on acquiring it erected a powerful lighthouse, established a biological station, and commenced transforming it into a fortress for. the defence of .the mouths of the Elbe and Weser, from which it is distant less than fifty miles. In the quarter of a century that has passed since its acquisition its character has entirely altered. It is now above all things a formidable fortress mounting high-power-ed guns, a submarine and torpedoboat base, and contains several Zeppelin sheds. The fishing village has been transformed into a small garrison town. Yet, at the time Lord Salisbury made the exchange, the transaction was regarded as one of small importance and, if anything, of benefit to Britain in the gain of rich territory in Zanzibar.