THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1912. THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13411, 8 May 1912, Page 4

THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1912. THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK.

The session of Parliament to be held next month in the ordinary course promises to possess elements of even greater interest than those which attended the recent extraordinary session. That meeting of Parliament was necessary as soon as possible after the elections to define the position of parties and evolve a more stable administration than tho polls seemed to have left. Whether that was accomplished or not has since been the subject of considerable discussion, and the indefinite attitude of one or two members towards the new Ministry leaves the upshot of the next trial of strength a matter of some uncertainty. An interesting controversy on the situation has recently been proceeding between the "Lyttelton Times" and the "Otago Daily Times," the Conservative organ contending, evidently, that a Government commanding a woi'king majority—should Mr Mackenzie prove not to have one—could be secured without another appeal to the country. In holding' this opinion the "Otago Daily Times" may be placing a somewhat too imaginative construction upon Mr Millar'.s recent remark that the newspapers would "have plenty of copy soon." For our own part we are confident that those who do not hesitate to imply that .the late Minister of Railways, piqued at the"turn events have taken, could be induced to desert the cause with which he has been identified all through his political life, and give even temporary support for ulterior motives to a party with which he has no sympathy whatever, are building upon what they themselves know to be a most improbable contingency. We believe that Mr Millar's retirement from the Cabinet at such a time was; a distinct loss to the Dominion, but although his retirement meant the abandonment of an aspiration of which he had made no secret, he placed himself in the. hands of his party-, and ho is not the man to allow resentment, however natural, to carry him to the length the Conservatives hope. In any case, as the "Lyttelton Times" remarks/even if Mr Millar should justify this estimate of his loyalty he could bring his old opponents a majority of only one or two at the most. That would place them in no better position than the Liberals occupy at present, and even if the Governor gave them an opportunity to form a Government a dissolution would "be inevitable within a few months.,