THE POLITICAL CRISIS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 316, 4 July 1912, Page 5

THE POLITICAL CRISIS

APPEAL TO WAVERERS. LAST WORD FROM THE PRIME MINISTER. PROMISES TO SUBMIT HIMSELF TO CAUCUS. (From our own correspondent.) Wellington, Last Night. Some disappointment was expressed in the ranks of Government supporters that the Prune Minister (the Hon. T. Mackenzie) did not reply to the leader of the Opposition on the No-confidence debate, which commenced in the House of Representatives last night. It would appear that Mr. Mackenzie is seeking a more favorable opportunity, and when he speaks, which may not be for a day or two, it is reported that he will emphasise that he has done his best to uphold the party flag during times of stress, but thpt no one can rise superior to secessions from one's own ranks. The opinion among many in the lobby today is to the effect that if a vote was taken at once Mr. Massey would win out by a small margin. Mr. Massey is confident of success, but the numbers are not yet posted, and the political cognoscenti are not speculating freely on the result. It is significant, however, of the mental attitude of the Government that; the Prime Minister has circularised the members of his party in the following terms. "To the members of the Liberal Party and their allies.--Dear Sir,—When I in March last you entrusted me with the task of forming a Government, and pledged yourselves to support it, I' fully recognised the difficulties and responsibilities of the position. The circumstances were critical, and in the course you took you sank differences and waived persona! claims in order to save the country from the danger that threatened it, viz., the defeat of the Liberal Party. That danger was averted for the moment, but still exists, and the question now is 'how best to meet it as regards the coming No-confidence motion. I have no fear of the result if we stand shoulder to shoulder. Having been selected by the party, this eonfi° dence should, I submit, be accorded to me. We shall then win, and after the struggle is over I will restore, if necessary, .that trust unsullied to those who gave it. I would like to contrast at this moment the solidity of the Opposition—a solidify in the face of extremely diverse views—with what is said to be the position of our own party, and to observe that if we are defeated by a solid thirty-eight it will not be a defeat by the Opposition Party, but will be brought about by our own party and constitute political suicide in our own ranks. Whatever differences of opinion may exist among you as to the personnel of the Government and the geographical representation in the Cabinet, I cannot believe that any one of you will desert the party at a time when the result of that desertion might be to throw back the progress of the country for years, and mean the disintegration of the forces of Liberalism for a long period. Even, however, when the No-confidence motion is defeated the difficulties of the position remain. The strength of parties in the House is so nearly equal that the possibilities of a dissolution cannot 'be ignored. I am confident that the country is with us, and that if we *go to it as a united body we shall come back with a good working majority. The one aim of myself and my colleagues is to accomplish this, so that the development of the Dominion may continue on the same lines of progressive liberalism as have proved so advantageous hitherto. Personally, done all in my power to justify the confidence reposed in me when ' you elected mo leader, but after full and careful consideration of the whole position I think,that in order to ensure harmony and unanimity of action in the f:tce of a common danger, an opportunity should heaven to you of considering the matter a-fresh. To this end I propose, if we succeed on the No-confidence motion, to call a caucus of you all and place the Government in your hands, leaving it for you to determine afresh, if you so desire, the question of leadership and the personnel of the Ministry. This step is taken solely with the desire for unity, and to remove all cause of complaint, and is not taken for the purpose of advancing the interests of any person or persons, either within or without the Cabinet. In taking this course I have the hearty concurrence of my colleagues."

SUGGESTED COALITION. Wellington, Last Night. The. mental .attitude of the House at the present moment suggests either that members have made up their minds, and that, therefore, further debate is useless, or that both sides are sparring for wind, hoping that in the ensuing mix-up something will happen that will tend to their advantage. On the face of things there is only one certainty—That the Mackenzie Government will go out, and that Mas spy & Co.' will, in the very near future, occupy the Treasury benches. There is apparent on the Government side a feeling that their end has come, and that the stars in their courses are fighting against the Hon. T. Mackenzie, but it is not by any means an assured fact that the victory, if and when achieved, will be altogether a source of pleasure to the present Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Massey is in the unpleasant position, on this occasion, of being the victim of circumstances. He can only gain office by the defection of erstwhile Government supporters. If he wins he is relying on a slender reed, and some members of his party go so far as to say that, politically speaking, it would pay him better to let the division go against him, rather than be put in the position of facing the House with a bare majority, some of whom only a few weeks ago were sworn adherents of the Government clan. The outlook, it is generally conceded, is not a pleasant one, either for the Government or for the party that may possibly succeed them in power. With a majority reduced to irreducible limits, no Government can contemplato the possibility of initiating or carrying through anything in the nature of progressive legislation. Anyone who has studied the legislation of' the past fifteen or twenty years cannot fail to realise that the big things were done by big majorities, and it follows that with the dwindling of the majority the legislative possibilities assume lesser proportions. Arrayed on either side of the House parties are ostensibly watching one another, and the ordinary observer is given to understand that the main object will he achieved when the numbers go up. But that is only the beginning of the end. Mr. Mackenzie can only win by the very slightest majority. Mr. Massey can only win by the defection of some members of the present Government party. Whichever way the division goes it will only be a further ste|) towards the unravelling of the parly coil. Political rest is not possible with an attenuated majority. No work good, bad or indifferent—can be achieved with evenly-balanced parties, and the lack of enthusiasm evident on the part of members is merely the outcome of an understanding, real though" not expressed, that the present trial of strength is, and must necessarily be, merely the prelude to an arrangement which will be far wider-reaching than at

present appears on the surface. Coalition is in the air, but no definite statement has been made on the subject. Mr. Massey aspires to the Treasury benches' and it looks as if he must win his way there but retention of that position can only be secured by his casting in his lot with those who, while rejecting Mr Mackenzie as leader, fully realise the fact that continuity can only be achieved by an arrangement that will bring into the legislative fold those wh#, while differing on detail, think alike whose one and only desire is to stem the tide of ultra-radicalism for which .some members of the present Government stand and import into the administration a sweet reasonableness that will tend to the conservation of the best and the elimination of that which spells unreit aid political and social turmoil. In a few word* coalition is the keynote of the situation as it has developed at present. The details have still to be worked out