NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1391, 18 March 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The announcement by the PituiE Minister the.t he has "no intention" of holding a portfolio "in the new Ministry" is almost the first definite statement that hr.s been mado concerning the impending reconstruction of the Spoils Party. At least, v/c presume it is definite. That it has come so Ip.te as this, and after so much feverish' kite-flying and manoeuvring inride the party, is a pretty strong indication that until within the last few days (here seemed to the party to be a chanc? th.it their troubles could be ended by keeping tho Pi;i.ml; Mixisrnn in somewhere. Of coiii's: our "Lilrn'.l" friends are '>on:id to make ;: show of '•■solidarity,'-' m<t\ they are really not doing no i.iadlv with (iuir sLain:i'fl'ecls—'."i , : ii:-',"n lho<e funny resolutions thai, ,-.re hoi in; by "tin Lib r, ral e.vecaiive:;" ov "tlr. . In:-tl Liberal pariv." people, will ktiov: that Ih': liioelin.irs at: which thoK? solemn b,i.y-wroa!h:i a.n> arrin.rcd are representative of lK.ihiiu; aiid nol'odv excepting the Ihn-e ov four or half-scor' , who do the ai-rfinfiing. The?? resolutions will do no hnrin, because th: country is merely firmer than ever in its hostility to "Liberalism.-" whether reconstructed ov nol., Tiv only reconstruction thai v.-i.M EP.tisfy th , eouuIry ib that renins! ruction which consists of extinction. Th" public will nrobablv wonder whv (he Prcnii; MixrsTEi), in view of his drcl.-ip'd in- , if'.ilimi to rcHEii Mir.ist'TKi! rank, fhoul'l hnve stated t-o positively. ::k

he. did the. oilier day, Ib.nl. Parlia

mcnt would not meet until June. Surely a man who in a few days, if wo arc to beliove his public statements, will cease to be ouo of the. Governor's advisers, is not entitled to say , what the Governor must (in. And what respect can be accorded to the Pri.me Minister's promulgation of a huge new scattercnsh policy, when he has no intention of carrying it out , ? He has stated that his decision to resign was arrived at prior to the sessionprior, that is to-say, to his drafting of the Governor's 'Speech. Intending to resign, he yet made the Governor announce that his Advisers intended to carry out a huge policy. His Excellency could not have known, and should have been informed, that his Advisers had no such intention at all. The whole thing was an attempt to bluff the public. But the public is not to be bluffed. It is not merely the men at the helm that the nation has objected to, but the course they have steered; and it is quite useless for the Government party to hope that the public will be satisfied by merely changing the officers without changing the course of the ship. It did not require the stoilny public meeting in Grey Lynn on Friday night to make it clear that the vast majority of the electors in that district are extremely anxious to obtain another representative. Unfortunately for Grey Lynn, Mr. Payne does not intend to allow any consideration whatever to disturb his determination to cling to the seat he holds as the result of the pledge which he so promptly disregarded. He declared that even if 93 per cent, of the people of Grey Lynn signed a, petition asking him to resign, he' would not do so. That is the sort of a representative Mr. Payxe is! That is his idea of being a representative ! He can claim with safety, we think, that he is the only politician in the world of his kind. He is not in the least abashed: he is willing to enlarge upon his view of pledges. "Even," he said, "if I had made the most sacred and binding pledge to do a certain action, which later on appeared to me and proved to me that I would push the workers of this colony into the voracious maw of the Tory crowd; I would still have broken that pledge." Even if In had made the most sacred and binding pledge, to do a certain thing, he would break it later if he thought fit, he being the sole judge, and the people to whom he gave the pledge being denied any voice in the matter; Since this is Mr. Payne's way of thinking, the Reform party ought to be, and wiil be, extremely glad that Mr. Payne did break his pledge. Surely, Mr. Payne, who saved the "Liberal" party so nobly, and who will hereafter be held to embody the principles of that party, will be given a portfolio. He is obviously an ideal leader for the "Liberals." The advanced wing of the intellectuals of the British Radical party appear to be finding out Mr. LloydGeorge, lie is a great taxer, like the, "Liberal" leaders in other countries, and a great hero to those who love excessive State regulation for the billets it provides. And in both capacities he is beginning to fill with distrust the better thinkers on his side. One of our main causes of comnlaint against "Liberalism" has been the enormous increase of Government'"billets" and the unblushing way in which the "Liberals" have used their power of patronage to reward political services. All our criticisms on this point have been _ met by the repetition of the stupid parrot-cry of "Tory !" Now the Xcw Ar/e is probably the last paper in the_world whom even a New Zealand "Liberal" would accuse of unprogrcssivencss. Although it is a Socialist organ—not of the red-flag order—it is much respected by antiSocialists. In its issue of February 1 it referred to Mr. Bonar Law's statement—a statement that is based upon notorious facts—that in view of the jobs and honours distributed recently anions; the Welsh members the most profitable occupation at : present was to be a Welsh' Radical politician. The Xr.w. Age feels sure thr.t Mr. Lloyd-George's admirers will ignore this charge and continue to regard him as "their, saint and heavenly statesman." This commtioiv of individuals (it rocs on) wo hnvp always said would in time aft'oct the whole nation. The sijjlit of fat jobs being distributed to people who have done nothing to dwervc thorn is an example, too alluring to Hie rest of (lie population to ho niUsod. .All the unprincipled yomi.'j devils of senii-edncalion are now- scrambling round the. Government for wift jobs on cas-y tonus. No ftwnr than 82,000 young men have "put in" for one of the three or four thousand paid offices under the new Insurance Act. It is one of the most disgusting spectacles any country has ever seen. Mr. Lloyd-George is obviously doing his best to guide Britain along the. path blazed by New Zealand's rulers in late years. When we gave a few lines of our space the cither clay to a note upon the statistics of the general election, we did not expect that our friends the Spoils party would be satisfied. They had been for some time counting against the Reform party every vote cast for every candidate who did not belong to that party. Since in many electorates there were no Reform candidates at all, and since in many others Reform candidates did not contest the second ballot, the Radicals' calculations obviously rested unoniths absurd assumption that in all thes? electorates every, votir was opposed to Reform. It was obvious—and wo pointed it out—that the only way to make a comparison tbat could have any value, was to tako these contests (there were M) in which the Reform and the Spoils candidates met. The bohnco, was heavily in favour of T7ofor±. A .Southern pnricr, disliking these figures, says that thrse 3Ki,000 dec-, tors do not venre.pe.nt the views of tin , nfii-.ion ! JYi point of fact, the result of th:n? 51 contests vrill be. .if!- ' milled by everyone who inuWslands ! figures at nil, and who believes in nronortio'.ial repriiforiuitjon, lo rvlloct th'.' notional feeling nr, accurate-! lv as enn be. Tin hard fad. thai' Oi- , .; Spoils party ctf'iiiot over i;;. th'.H j even el though t!r> Reform p.irtv l-t't.l sever;;), scats u;icu;i!e.<;i.:.':.l, ;■ majority of electoral ?s voted auainsl the Uuvemnient. ■ ! Spffial interest n'la'hed in tho event!!-;' sevvici! (."mlr.doi! l> v the I,'cv. I!. (I. Jih<>'ir:-«. of Ihi' (Viiril Miss; •.!. in ths. Nrii- Thou!re l.i«: 'liflil. liv i--.-.i-t'"i i>r (V* ( subird which (]"• pronclipv him clin-ni for his ivMre.-s, "Christ and tho Vwirkin;' Man." Tin; piTJrclier oimiliosised Hie impnrianpn of lTcorrni'-iiir: that Christ lieloi'.r;oil to no political party i;i Hip community of Hi- day. and .Vi.-n nf rcpo"ni*iMK alo tint lh.> riipveh >hinld. followin? tile e.vimple uf lliri.-t. hi!;p tin part i.i political strife--. The Cliureh -itou'd. li.-iwever. sta-ul for all effort put forward f:ir the nme'ioralior. of ills and llin he llinusrlit should lip the endal creed of i'r u -a nised Chris! I.i My. Vvr Cimilren-s Cou.-h a! ?;j;ht, Woods' (jteat t'opiuriniut Cine, Is. Gd.*