NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1315, 19 December 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

It is very amusing to note the liastc with which the press prophets throughout the country have rushed m to assist Mir. Massey in the task of choosing a Cabinet. Unfortunately there are a few obstacles yet to be disposed of before the Leader of the Reform party will require to select his Ministry, and the removal of those obstacles may- affect the final choice to bo made'. It seems to he taken for granted by some of the Cabinet-makers that length of torvice is the best passport to Ministerial rank. No doubt this should have duo weight, but it has to be balanced with a great many other considerations. There, is a" great deal of new blood in tho party and this cannot be ignored if the new Ministry. if| prospect is to be truly representative, i'or ourselves we can only sec four "certainties" in a Massey Ministry, namely, Messrs. Massey, Alien, Hermes, aricl Hkrd--SIAX, and the choice of the'remainder "•ill be a. difficult task owing to the number of members who could with advantage ho elevated to Cabinet rank Mr. Massey has so much material to choose from that it will bo far from easy for him to weigh the prosand cons and finally arrive at a decision which must necessarily exclude some members he would much hko to have associated with his Ministry.

Some .of the supporters of the Government are snicl to attribute, tho defeat of the Ministerialists at the recent elections to the leadership of Sir Joseph Ward, and there is talk of a change in the head of the party. Mr. Millar's name has been mentioned as a probable successor to Sir Joseph Ward, but it is unlikely that Mr.'Millar would fall in with any step in that direction unless his present chief voluntarily relinquished the post. There is no doubt that during the past two sessions some members of the Government follow-' ing have felt that the rank and file of the party were not takeii sufficiently into the confidence of the PniME _Minister. They were time after time kept in ignorance of the Government's intentions until the •very last minute, and there was a good deal of -grumbling in consequence. Moreover, Sir JosErn \\ ARd's frp.qucut violent outbursts were far from 'pleasing to many of bis followers. Now that'the Government have_ been beaten at the polls these things are being remembered to tho Pkijib Minister's disadvantage. Sm Joseph Ward, however, is not likely to tamely submit to any suggestion that; he should retire in favour of Mr. llili.ar, or anyone else, nor do we think there is any member of the Government following bold enough to make the suggestion that he should do so. As to Mr. Millar's fitn.ess for the position of leader, there is no doubt that he is more popular personally than his chief, but ho lacks Sir Joseph ward's industry and capacity for work. He would require to change his habits very considerably if he wero to become leader of a party in Parliament, and we doubt very much if Mr. Millar has the inclination either to tackle the arduous work involved or to submit to the ties it would impose on his freedom to follow his personal predilections.

The cabled remarks of the Sydney journnl I'nir Play, which is said to represent the interests of the Liquor Trade, arc worth noting as indicating that the recent Prohibition poll has evidently given rise to very serious concern amongst those engaged in the Trade. It is not surprising that the Trade should be alarmed. Any increase in the vote which, if successful, spells ruin for them would naturally occasion alarm in then- ranks. The point of chief interest, however, in the Sydney paper's remarks is the suggestion that the Prohibitionists appear to possess the power to cocrco Parliament into doing what they arc pleased to regard as good for (horn On the actual figures of the polling for and against Prohibition this would really appear to he the case but the suggestion involves the sacrifice by the c ectors of all their political views for the sake of this one social reform. It means that Prohibitionists of whatever political party must be prepared, if necessary, to sacrifice that party for the sake of the one issue—Prohibition For instance a Prohibitionist supporter of the Reform party might be •called on to vote for a Wardist candidate because the Reform candidate was not a bare majority man,'.while his opponent, the Wardist, was And so also the other wav round a supporter of the Ward Administration might bo called on to support a Reform candidate at the expense of all his political convictions No doubt there are many enthusiasts who would place the Prohibition issue above all others; but they would not bo a very large proportion of the total number of voters on tho rolls Tho growing strength of the Prohibition vote undoubtedly lies r the younger generation. A ballot taken in almost any school in (he country to-day would result in Pγ hibition being carried. The children naturally know nothing of the real ' merits of the issues involved, but they have had the evils of intemperance drilled into them, and thev grow up with the idea deeply routed that the only cure for intemperance is Prohibition. Tins is the real force which the Liquor interest has to contend against. It is not the matured .judgment of the elders ol the community—although it n]j.r|. hi: argued tlial, it is their iudgment being expressed thrown the younger generation. Unless some radical change takes place it, is inI'vitabli , . that in course of time— and at mi distant time—(his increasing vote will be sufficiently strong to kill flu; licensed liquor trade outright After which the Trade will probably wake up to the fact that in leaving 'its fighting until practically the eve of ftoUing tky it lost whatever

chance it had of stemming thn tide of sentiment wliicli is morn dangeroiis to its interests than all the arguments which can ho brought forward to support the cause of Prohibition.