POLITICS IN VICTORIA.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1968, 27 January 1914, Page 4

POLITICS IN VICTORIA.

3f'',;AD.iPT/\RiLiTi' : and v inventive' genius j -arc at in Victorian politic .cal-.affairs'at.-the present time.- Alu.. ,'WATT;,(Pnme';Ministcr) did not over- 1 state'the case vbon he told a meeting /fit',Tail angatta^the,othm day--that- he. ■jiJi'd .bcen'-hil'ving a gay time lately.' (and"that"some members of the.Gov-ernment-'had been on. the rack'for : n long while. It is Mn.'. WA-rr's... troublesoine, task.-to lead a'somewhat Jposoly-jointcd'.ipiirty. " two-thirds,of- the membersof- tho* Stat-c/ Assembiy), which is said to bo held'together move by : the common ■antagonism-.'of its units to tiie Labour minority which sits in opposi ; tion than by any feeling of loyalty to ■ the.-.'.Government.- . Last year was largely gi.vin over to the washing of. parly linen, and ..in December, matters came to such a head that a mini-:' b<!r of disaffected Liberals made a •temporary..alliance with the Labour Party, and turned Mn. Wait out of office."-'.What the rebellious Liberals wanted was a, dissolution, :ind failI ing to,secure this, they ejected .the. Labour Government in its turn when it had been a little more than two 'weeks in officc.Mr. Watt then returned to power, after he and five of his had successfully contested by-elections. He is now faced by "the problem of carrying on until next October, when n general elec-' tion falls due. and the speech' at Tallangatta,_ above-mentioned, was his 'first policy statement since - getting back to power. Mr. Watt said that the Government accepted the outcornc of tho . recent by-elections as' an instruction to steer clear of Socialism,. and likewise of Conservatism,- and "to keep' to the safe middle track of safety and progress, permanence, and solidncss." I'ur- : ther, he contended that the two city electorates where' Mn. ; M'Kinkon (Attorney-General) and lie had to I.light for dear life, had" said:' '..(Though you bring nothing to us as I city and have no special offers | to make in the nature of city facilii tics," though you bring us a country programme pure and simple, we recognise that the State depends-upon tho country, and we return you to do what you can for the benefit- of the country." Mr. Watt stated that he had fought twelve contests in sixteen 3'sars,' and thought he knew how. to. measure popular verdicts, ■ and / lie had neycr heard-a more generous:dcclaration'. than the one given to-the whole' State■ by these two city 'constituencies. ;■ -The programme "of thenew . Government, lie added, was (.entirely a .country 1 proposition,.;. ";De-! velopmental railways, country roads, outer-ports, the handling of wheat, land settlement, water supply and irrigation were a few of the things that stood out like gems in the pro- ■ gramme, and they were all primarily Jor the benefit of the country. The .objective of his Government, as long as it was permitted to remain iii office, would be to spread a large part, of the city population over the State. The newspaper Aqn 1 which - regards Mr. Watt with mixed feelings, and- inclines to be severe upon him. goes-so far as to describe his exaltation of country interests as "mischievous twaddle," and tells him bluntly that what is wanted is not a Country Ministry "pure and simple," or a Town Ministry,' "pure and simple," but a Victorian Ministry, strong enough to rely upon a national policy, without pandering to sectional cries. Oh the whole, however, there seems to be a fair prospect of a productive session before the genera] election comes round. The Watt Government is menaced by a'.Conservative "corner," and the Labour Opposition is reported to be in a belligerent temper—born of a longing to get even with its opponents —but ail parties are conscious o£ barrenness of last year's session, which was frittered away in unprofitable bickering. Critics of the Government predict that- the sectional views promulgated by the PRIMK Misistbji at Tallangatta will form, ground fo.v disoutc during the coming session, and it appears likely 'that .the.-political fortunes-of "Mr. Watt and his associates will be as 'stormy in the immediate future as they have been in * the immediate past.':-;; '-/'