WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 1917. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12068, 25 July 1917, Page 4

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 1917. EDITORIAL NOTES.

.CABINET HARMONY? Even in peace time it has not been uncommon for rumours to get into circulation regarding dissensions in the Cabinet, and consequently little surprise need bo felt touching the multitude of rumours that have filled the air during the last two years, pointing to a want of harmony among members of the Coalition Ministry. Up to the present, if we except the Stout-Vogel Government, where Conservatives and Radicals were found in the same Cabinet, we hava had no experience of Coalition Governments, but more than one Ministry, formed from a party, has collapsed on account of divergence of opinion among members. If the members of a party, who are supposed to be striving for one goal, cannot work together, is there anything to wonder at if the members of a composite Ministry, the meml>ei'S of which hold very diverse opinions, shrAild come to a point when their views cannot be assimilated, where principles must be surrendered, and where long-cherished convictions must bo jettisoned? A Coalition Ministry is essentially one of compromise ; no man can dominate the position. It is obligatory that each and every- member should surrender something. The present Cabinet contains many men of strong convictions, and it was inevitable that occasionally it would bo found difficult to effect compromises. At Home, it will be born© in mind, many differences of opinion have arisen since the appointment of the first Coalition Government, more than two years ago. There have been numerous Cabinet resignations, and consequently we have no reason to feel alarmed if the New Zealand Government has not been altogether a happy family. On the other hand, the fact that tho Ministry has existed so long without a break speaks volumes for the spirit of sweet reasonableness which nvust have pervaded the Cabinet, -and despite the widspread rumours which are in circulation regarding alleged dissensions, wo cannot believe that the combination which was brought into being in consequence of the extraordinary conditions resulting from the war will now dissolve.

Wo have had the assurance of the leaders that there is nothing of the nature of a "cave" within the Ministerial ranks, and we cannot believe but each and every Minister is doing his best in the position in which he is placed. The remarks made by Sir John Findlay and Mr G. W. Forbes in the course of the Address-in-Reply debate, however, cannot be passed over in silence, since they indicate that there is a feeling among members that Ministers are assuming too much responsibility and that the House is being deprived of some of its powers. The absence of a proper Opposition has, no doubt, a bad inOuenco on the conduct of business of the House, inasmuch as it causes Ministers to resent criticism from their own side, and the result of this is seen in the withdrawal of much confidence from the rank and file. At Homo the Government treats private members with much more frankness* than do the Ministers in this Dominion, and during the last twelve months quite a number of secret sessions of the House were held, at which Ministers frankly unbosomed themselves to their fellow-members. The withholding of important information from the rank and file has naturally caiised some irritation among members, who are frequently asked to support measures and proposah of which they have boon denied full information. In a word, they have been on innumerable occasions asked to, as it were, buy a pig in a poke. This is a wrong position in which to place members, who, wo maintain, are entitled to greater confidence on the part of the Government than has been extended to them during the last year or more. As the representatives of the people they are entitled to the fullest information, and we are confident that if there was a more liberal exchange of views between Ministers and members, some at least of the feeling of discontent would disappear. Whether or not the Ministry as at present constituted is the strongest that could bo formed from the material available is an open question, b*ut we hope that even should it be found advisable to change the personnel of the Government, it will not bo deemed necessary to revert to the party system till the war comes to an end. SIAM COMES IN. The kingdom of Siam has perhaps been regarded by most European peoples i« a kind of comic-opera country, much as the Japan of threo decades ago was associated chiefly in the Occidental mind with Gilbert and Sullivan fun-making. Siam's entry into the ranks of our Allies may not appreciably affect the war, but at least she has done the Entente cause an immediate servico in fceiziug with' swift decision the German whips which had taken refuge at Bangkok. It was inevitable that such exertions a.s the kingdom is able to put forth in the world-struggle should be -devoted to Allied interests, for Siam has her independence guaranteed by the two European Powers who alone have interests in Indo-China, Britain and France; she occupies a- political position in Eastern Asia analagous to that of Afghanistan further west. The peaceful internal development of the country has been very considerably assisted by the Franco-British agreement; made in 1896, which was followed by measures of.domestic reform and by a great expansion of trade. Later conventions between Britain and France made important alterations in the territorial rights of the protecting Powers, and gave Britain, in 1009, suzerainty over the Malay States in Southern Siam, containing about a million inhabitants, and for the most part flourishing and wealthy. The Siamese in return obtained the practical abolition of direct British jurisdiction in Sdam proper as well as relief from various obligations

which had hampered the way of efficient self-government. Administrative reform and an advanced railway policy have made of Siam, with its population of between eight and nine millions, a market for the trade of Europe which has become an object of keen competition. The British Empire retains the lead, but Germany and other Continental nations had within the last ten years acquired large interests in the trade of tho country; and Japan, after an interruption of more than two hundred years, has in recent times resumed active commercial relations with Siam. In administrative affairs there are close relations with the Allies, for the principal advisers in State affairs are British, French and American. As for Siam's actual combatant powers, her array is not to be despised since a universal service law is in.force, and her little navy is capable of good service in coast patrol work. By a law passed in 1903 the anoiont system of recruiting, the army and navy from the descendants of former prisoners of war was abolished in favour of territorial compulsory service by all able-bodied men. This arrangement gives the nation a standing peace army of twenty thousand men and a marine service of about ten thousand. The total fighting force which the kingdom could raise under the new conditions would probably be considerably over a million men. The navy, officered largely by Danes and Norwegians, include a small cruiser, fevar well-armed gunboats, two destroyers and a small flotilla of torpedo craft, besides other armed vessels for river and coast work.

IRELAND'S CRISIS.

The spread of the Sinn Fein movement, which the correspondent of a London newspaper describes as "sweeping like a strong spring tide " through all the elements of Irish nationalism, is vastly complicating the mission of the Homo Rule Convention, whose sitting opens to-day. The latest mail advices from Britain, supplementing: the scanty cabled news, make it apparent that Sinn Feinisni has received an enormous stimulus during the last few months, and that if there were a general election in Ireland to-morrow the fervid enthusiasm of the revivified " rebel' ; movement would sweep the board. Wisely directed, this enthusiasm would accomplish great things for Ireland, but there is always the peril that the extremists of the De Valera type, working on the highly sensitive and deeply patriotic minds of the people, will nullify the best efforts of those who are working towards a peaceful settlement. While reading these fireworks orations of De Valera and his kind about the " bloodstained Union Jack," it should not be forgotten that there are scores of thousands of T7ome Rulers, as fervid'patriot* as ever came out of Ireland, fighting nobly for the same colours, side by side with equally gallant Unionist men from the North, and while we have this l inspiring spectacle before us there should be no feeling of despair for an ultimate honourable and amicable arrangement by which Ireland, while receiving full powers of local self-government, would hfcome as loyal and dependable a unit of the Empire as is New Zealand or Canada.

Lordon newspapers to hand by the latest mail devote a large amount of attention to Ireland's crisis and contain .a variety of prescriptions for the* Green Island's ills. One article which has been widely commented upon, a letter from Lord. Ilothermere, contains a suggestion applying particularly to two IriSh counties, Tyrone and Fermanagh, the. population of which is almost equally divided between Protestant and .Roman Catholic. The writer says he does not think it is generally realised that' tho refusal of Nationalists and statesmen alike to give up their claims to these two counties has for the last three years stood in the way of a settlement of the Irish question, and that had an agreement about Tyrone and Fermanagh been reached in 1914 Ireland would have caused neither discord nor anxiety during tho war. "In the semi-official negotiations held in the summer of 1914," Lord Rothcrmere writes, "I laid a proposal before the "leaders of both parties which would have disposed of the two disputed counties. I suggested to Sir Edward Careon and Mr John Redmond that while Homo Rule was granted to Roman Catholic Ireland and an equal measure of autonomy to the four Protestant, counties of Ulster—Londonderry, Antrim, Down and Armagh—the two neutral counties—Tyrone and Fermanagh —should be left outsr.de both the southern and the north-eastern spheres of lecal government. I contended that the only possible way for the Nationalists and the Ulstermen to compose their differences was, for the time being, to Tyro.-io and Fermanagh as an enclave without representation in the Legislatures either at Dublin or Belfast. Temporarily, they would continue, to send tho present number of representatives to the Imperial Parliament, and would have the same relationship with that body as any two English counties, and might, in regard to law r.nd administration, be under the direct control of the Imperial Government. This arrangement, though of a tempoiary character, would have satisfied the essential demands both of Protestant and Roman Catholic Ireland. Th;it. was the only possible means of escape from an impassrj that then threatened to mvoivr the' Empire in civil conflict; it remains tho only possible solution now.'' l/ord Rotherrrere does not advocate that these two counties sluuld stand apart from all Ireland for all time; but, he advances the suggested arrangement a.s a temporarily expedient measure. It is perhaps too much to expect that even tho Convention will reach a definitely satisfactory settlement, but tho plans put forward by earnest well-wishers will be discussed in a spirit full of hope for the country's future, and will assist to establish harmony in a long troubled land, if the loud extremists on either side can only be persuaded to keep silence and await the resultsof tho conference.