The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1911. MR FOWLDS'S SECESSION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14538, 6 September 1911, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1911. MR FOWLDS'S SECESSION.

"I beliove that the Government has lost its hold on the country."That statement, made by the Eon. George l-'owlds to our For* liameptary representative last night, is obviously the true explanation of Mr Fowlds'a resignation , from the Ministry. Tho interesting explanation which he gave in the House in tho afternoon was only a longer and more , polite way of saying tho same thing. Never since the Seddon Government came into office have politics in Now Zealand been in such an interesting position as they nro in to-day., The Government of Sir Joseph Ward. ■which automatically succeeded that of his strong predecessor, has nover given more than very moderate satisfaction even to its friends. It has sustained continual reverses in Parliament . which wore never dreamed of during tho long Seddon regime, and the recent addresses given by Mr Massey and his colleagues have revealed a general want of confidence in the Government which was never so emphatically displayed before. Simultaneously with these increasing signs of disapproval from without, the Government has received some rude shocks from within. In June 1909 Mr Hogg, Minister for Customs and Minister for Roads and Bridges, threw over tho trnces> and became an unsparing ' critio of tho Government which he was no longer able politically to respect.' A few days ago it was announced that Sir John Findlay, Minister for Justice, was resigning his portfolio in order to contest a seat in the Lower House. If ho is returned, and the Government are returned to office also, they will have a new helper in tho House of Representatives, whore thoy need help bndly> and in any case the way will then be opon, as it is not open now, for Sir John Findluy to press forward to the Premiership whenever he may think the prize within his reach. And now wo have a third member of. the Cobinet, Mr Fowlds, resigning his position in the Ministry.

In the explanation of his reasons for tbi.i step which ho gave yesterday in the House, Mr Fowlds was careful not to hurt unduly tlm feelings of his Ministerial ' colleagues. Ho stated that the most cordial rotations had existed between himself and all of them, " notwithstanding the fact that his and thoir political ideals had boon most widely divergent on many questions." lie referred to the voto_ which was recently given against tlio Government on an important clause of the Town Planning Bill, and stated that Ihe fact of certain Government members voting against, the Government on' tliis clause indicated to him "a very serious condition of affairs,"'a condition "of dissatisfaction and unrest in the party

in its relations with, it* representatives who composed tie Government/'- It was, lie said, .. impossible for him' to "remain a member of a Government that was unable to secure sufficient partj : loyalty, to carry on the, government with some degree of dignity and self respect." If a, Government had not the support that would enable it to " carry out its functions in a reasonably dignified manner>" its usefulness was gone. Mr Fowlds is evidently satisfied that the usefulness of the Ward Government is past, because he stated that whenever a "truly democratic party arises, pledged, to definite , principles which it believes in, whioh it is prepared to fight for," he would be willing to support or lead it. -" A party with definite principles which it will fight for " —that certainly is what the "Ward Go.vcrhment has never been. And yet we are convinced that it was not these failings of tho Ward Government, just though we believe tho implication of them was, that drove Mr Fowlds into revolt so much as the conviction, cafldidly expressed to our reporter, " that " the Government has lost its hold on the country." lfx\ Fowlds,: speaking in the House, thought it necessary to anticipate, and repudiate with scorn, tho suggestion that he was "souttHng- out of a sinking •hip." ' But what other meaning can be" given to his statement fo our .representative unless_ it means he thinks.the ship' is sink-' fag? He has, at all events, chosen his time well, not without waiting long for it. The reverse which the' Government met with on-the Governor-in-Council clause of the Town Planning Bill was no worse than the reverses which it met with when it attempted,, as part of the same centralising : tendency, to seize the sinking funds of the municipalities, or ] than other repeated reverses j which it has met with in the last two sessions. The dissatisfaction and unrest which Mr Fowlds finds to-day have existed for at least two yeaTS .past in the Liberal Party. But the want of confidence in the country has increased, and, now that the elections are approaching, " Mr , Fowlds,'doubtless with the most patriotic intentions, is going to " take advantage of it if he can. i ■He owns quite frankly that he aspires to the leadership of a new party. ' It is worth while to consider ihe direction in which Mr fowlds would be anxious. to direct our affairs.-

The Hon. George IWlds is a ringle-taxer, 'a devoted follower tof the' theories of Henry George. 'He has. suppressed these convic- * tions -with remarkable consistency and firmness in the House since he became a member of a leasehold-freehold Ministry, but there is no doubt that he holds them still. In a speech •which 'he made at Pukekohe before the beginning of the .present session he reaffirmed his strong faith in b system of exolusive taxation of, land- values. The same disastrous theory underlies the state- - ment which he made last' night to our correspondent. The crying need of the time, he said, is * reduction of the cost of living, »nd 'one of the means which he propounded to effect this end was - an increase in the tax on land values." ,The chairman of the New Zealand Farmers' Union showed conclusively a few weeksago. that the land is already paying its full share of taxation, and 'the idea that taxes can be loaded on'to one portion of the community so that all the others will escape their pressure is the first of economic fallacies. The Government . which llr Fowlds would form, if he could get the chance, would be even more Socialistic and wildly experimental than the Government wr- have ar present. Indeed it is plain from his remarks that his strongest • personal grievance*" against thai Government is not that it has forfeited' the respect of the country b"y its vacillation and its want of policy, but that it will not go . fast enough for him on the dangerous road which Socialist and Labour agitators point out. "We do not think that'Mr Fowlds, an - attentive, plodding, careful departmental head who has shown noy particular qualities either "of initiative or of leadership, will be able to form any impressive party on these lines. If the "new evangel "• which he proclaimed yesterday had meant a policy of sound 'and active Liberalism, he might have attracted to his standard a considerable proportion of the Government members who certainly will not support the single-tax ideas which happily have never found much favour in New Zealand. It is easy to understand why, standing for the policy he does. 3tr Fowlds is "anxious to disparage the prospects of MrMassey's party in the country. That party- now affords the only refuge between Socialism, on the one hand, and the opportunism of .the failing ward Government on the other.