The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1909. BACK TO TNE OLD PERCH.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12245, 19 June 1909, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1909. BACK TO TNE OLD PERCH.

After ■a.brief.'aiid.anytJiing but brilliant reign Mr. Hogg has returned to the comparative oblivion of private member*1 ship/ He is back on the old perch, stripped of the pomp of official plumage, with nothing but a couple of drad-col-oured tail feathers to wag on behalf of his disappointed constituency. True, he still possesses that, "unruly member" which led to his ministerial undoing,, and it is possible that he - will continue to use it as indiscreetly'as ever. 'But I his words will no longer compromise the Cabinet. Sir Joseph Ward, probably because of the friendship he professes to bear towards the member for Masterton, has borne longhand patiently with the eccentric outbursts of- his subordinate; but the split was inevitable. Not even the patience of loiig friendship could make possible the tacit endorsement of such opinions and sentiments as those to which' Mr. Hogg gave utterance last week. Mr. Hogg simply forced the severance, although we do not suppose tlmt at the moment of speaking^ he had that object in view. Indeed, the fact that when faced with the storm of protest aroused by his rash words he declared there was no split in the Cabinet, justifies the assumption that he then'had no thought of "cutting the painter." The Prime Minister and his colleagues were, however, faced with this alternative: they either had to confess themselves in sympathy with the offensive opinions and. irrational theories - ( of-Mr;-'Hogg, or adopt the only effective artdi constitutional method of demonstrating'their disapproval of the same. They could not do the former without imperilling, their: political lives and, sell-preservation being the first law of nature, Mr. Hogg had to go. According to the statement made by tit© Prime Minister, the text of which we published yesterday morning, the offending Minister appears to have accepted liis dismissal—for that is what it amounts tG 1— in tke best possible'spirit; while on the other hand his chief has evidently striven to salve the woiirid ere it has had tinie to rankle. No doubt a good deal of personal sympathy will.be felt for the ex-Minister; but we shall be surprised if Government supporters in the House and in. the country do not endorse the action of the Ministry as being the only practicable solution of .the difficulty which Mr. Hogg Ih'niself ci'eated. Wo. recognise, however, that there are a number of extremists in the House, notoriously luke-warm in their admiration of the Government, who may possibly find in Mr. Hoggfs enforced retirement from the Cabinet an-excuse1 icr 'making more trouble for Ministers. Shoultl. "this prove to be the casa it will remain, to,bqi seen how far the member for Master-toil will be ready to encourage the: spirit of rebellion. In the meantime perhaps the mest significent aspect of the incident is the implied declaration of the Government'of its independence of these extremists. Mr. Hogg's retirement may, we hope, be accepted as an assurance that the Government is at last beginning to realise the wisdom of that moderation which has for so long been oonspicuoxisly absent from the legislative and administrative activities of recent years.