NATIONAL CABINET

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2532, 5 August 1915, Page 6

NATIONAL CABINET

AN AGREEMENT ANNOUNCED BOTH LEADERS SPEAK PARTY REPRESENTATION EQUAL A MEMORABLE OCCASION War Declaration Anniversary Day was made a memorable occasion in the New Zealand Parliament by the official announcement ,in the House yesterday afternoon that the two principal parties had agreed to unite to form a National Cabinet to carry on the business of tho country while the war lasts. Tho announcement was no surprise. The galleries were crowded, and all save a very few members were in their benches.

Tho Prime Minister said ho -would ask tho indulgence of tho House to bo allowed to inako a statement with regard to a subject in which not only members of Parliament but the public generally were intensely interested at present. For the past few weeks negotiations had been going on between tho two main parties through the medium of the two party leaders, with the object of forming a National Government in New Zealand to carry on the business of tho. country during the war period. He could not say that' the negotiations went on either rapidly or successfully for some time. _ About a week ago it had seemed as if tiiey -had ended in nothing, but at that period His Excellency the _ Governor,. actuated by the wide Imperial spirit which he possessed. and acting quite constitutionally, and with the consent of tho Leader of the Opposition and himself, convened a conference to consider this very important proposal.. He thought that the result of that conference was known generally to member's. ' They agreed then upon a basis upon which negotiations could contimie, and this basis of negotiations had been submitted that morning to both parties. .He thought tho result had been the same in both [cases —that each party expressed confidence in its leader, and agreed to stand by what each of tho two leaders decided.

The Conditions of Union. He did not propose to go.into all the details, but he could say that some of the main-points had been arranged. He himself would continue to occupy the position of Prime Minister, the Leader of the Upposition would be given control of the portfolio of Finance, and Mr. Allen would continue to control the Defence Department. The representation from both sides of the House in the Cabinet would ■be equal. Ho was not able to say yet of how many members the new Cabinet would consist. . • That , was a' matter to bo"- arranged hotweea tho Leader of the Opposition and himself. The member at present representing tho Native race in the Executive would continuo to occupy that position. The members of tho new Government would endeavour if possible to avoid .divisions in Cabinet,, and ho thought they would be successful. This proposal might seem somewhat startling to'the public aiid to members, but during the timo that the present Government had held office they had never 'found it necessary to take one singlo division. He hoped and believed that the National Government would have a similar experience. There were quite a number of details to bo arranged, and ho proposed to ask the House to adjourn for a fortnight, in order that those details could be completed, to enable the new Government to meet tho House when they camo together. ■

Circumstances Not Ordinary. , Uiidcr ordinary circumstanccs' he would have advised his party to carry on, and ho bclioved that they would have got through successfully and satisfactorily under ordinary circumstances; but they .were iiot" experiencing ordinary circumstances that'day. The Empiro was passing through the most serious crisis in its history, and lie thought that members would agree with' him that it was impossible for a .Government with a slender majority to do all tho business that was required, in order to enable the Dominion : of New Zealand,to do its part.. That was the only reason for the formation of tho National Government, and ho believed and hoped that What was being done that day would be for tho good of the Empire and their own country.

A Fitting Occasion. It was not altogether inappropriate that agreement should have been arrived at on the .anniversary of ' tie declaration of war. That', day lie was able to announce a cossation of all party warfare —all party wrangling for the whole of the war period." That was to say, tho Government had put'the interests of the country before tho interests of the 'party. It was only right that ho should mention his Appreciation of the generosity of his colleagues in the Ministry, and his supporters in the. House. Two of his colleagues had already come forward and expressed their willingness to place their resignations in 'his hands, in order that tho way might be made easier for the formation of the National Cabinet. So far as tlie rank and file of his party was anicerncd, tlioy had taken up an equally generous attitude. They had practically said, though some of, them did not altogether agree with what was being dono, that they -wero satisfied to leave everything in his hands. Although' it was too much to expect that they would refrain from criticism on every pessiblo occasion, he was sure that not one of theiu would do anything to harass or embarrass the National Cabinet on any occasion; on the contrary .lie was satisfied that everything possible would be done by them to assist.

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION. NEEDS OF ABNORMAL TIMES. Sir Joseph 'Ward said that they were living in abnormal times and under abnormal conditions, and it required ab-' normal changes to meet tho conditions of such abnormal times. , But for tho war tliero could bo little. doubt that what the country was about to witness —the formation of a National Cabinet by both sides of tho House, ou behalf of all classes of the people—could not possibly have eventuated.- Ho wanted to make it clear that neither ho nor, he believed, anyone in the House, or at any rate on the Opposition side, regarded it' as a Coalition Government. Thoy regarded it as a National Government, with a National Cabinet, to enabio the country to show a united front, and to have united action in dealing with matters directly affecting tho war, without party warfare in tho country, while tho National Cabinet was, carrying on a great Imperial work, liio whole position was duo to tho emergency which the Empire had to faco owing to tho war. Somo of the leading members of both sides of the House had met in conference at tho invitation of tho Governor, and he wished to add his testimony, to that of the 1 nm'o Minister regarding the ■ disinterested way in which' His Excellency had acted 'm the matter, and to say on behalt ot the Opposition, that it was due to His Excellency to place on record tho fact that ho had acted in a strictly constitutional way. After Lord Liverpool-had Fornwllv commenced the meeting, no had lvft the whob of tlw matter to i ijjiogs fiiieseut, Joe. full dijcusswu jmft,,

deliberation, His Excellency ■ withdrawing meanwhile. . The Closeness of Parties. The remarkable action which Parliament was taking was due, not only to the war crisis, but undeniably to tho closcncss of tho two .important parties in tho House. In his opinion, with tho unprecedented responsibility devolving; on tho Government of the. day, thero was 110 other course open to enable the position to bo dealt with except dissolution, and to his mind suchi a course at that juncture and during the tvar crisis was -unthinkable. He himself, for one, would not have accepted tho responsibility had it fallen to his lot to ask his party to go to the country during a crisis of the present kind, and he thought that the Prime Minister had been in a similar position. (Mr. Massey: Hear, hear.) But if, in view of tlie fact that neither party had a workable majority, they had been foolish enough to get to a. position where such a course' was inevitable, the result of the appeal to tho country would have been -uncertain for both sides. It would have meant delay, and delay at tho present period would liave been unwise. Indeed it was vital that thero should be 110 delay in dealing with soino of tho vital matters with which Parliament was : concerned. No Government with a slender majority could .with reasonable certainty or satisfaction meet the situation in a crisis such as the Empire was in—a crisis which demanded in every way a strong Government- that, iu. dealing with difficult matters, could rely at least on the careful consideration o£ the members of all the parties in the House to help it; not'only in matters of legislation, but in important matters of administration, and to help. it also to meet a situation that was unique and unparalleled.

No Loss of Party Identity. He desired to confirm what Mr. Massey had said ivith regard to the new Cabinet—that was to say, _• that there should Bo equal representation; thatthe. present Native Minister should retain his position;, that', thero should be mutual concessions to enable, the National Government to carry on tho important, delicate, and intricate -work that-must in future devolve upon it. He also wished to mako it' clear, as he had already mentioned to the Prime Minister,' that Mr! Massey still retained his position as Leader of the Reform Party, and that he himself, besides . being Minister of Finance, would retain his position as Leader of tho Opposition. But in joining the National Government ho proposed—and in this 'he was sure 'he could speak for those with him—to work-zealously with all members of both parties who would constitute, the. National Cabinet. -Ho tvould like to see tho course this country had taken adopted by the Dominion of Canada and other self-governing countries of the Empire, in order that the world outside, might see that all British countries united in the face of a common danger, determined-to achieve the same goal— to overcome that military Power which wanted - to. dominate the '-tvorld. So tho British Empire and the Allies would recognise that above and beyond all tvo put country and Empire first,, and that our watchword was: Liberty and Freedom.

If Things Had Been Otherwise. .He.wished to recognise the.broadminded way in which members on his sido of the House had approached this very difficult matter.: Ii; went without saying that both parties desired to retain their identity and independence. If it had been possible for tho Reform Party to carry on,' if they had had a largo majority) that course would have been more satisfactory to them.''lf, on .the. other, hand, his .party had had, a large majority,' tlie case would have been similar. But they recognised that at the present moment ■ whatever tho aspirations of their respective parties might be, whatever their ideals- on mat-, tors of policy, these, would h'avo to be subordinated to the interests of tho country, and to the desiro : to assist tho Empire as a whole. Ho would bp very glad to co-operate with tho Prime Minister in settling details,' and lie hoped that the work of the National Government would bo for tho . good of the Empire, and would set an examplo; to the other self-governing dependencies.

Mr. Payne's Support. > Mr. J. Payne asked for tlie indulgence of tlio Houso to make a statement, and the permission was granted. He said that lie could not speak for the Labour Party in tlio House, but only for himself'.as an' Independent Labour member. 11l his opinion, where a National Government was formed upon such lines as were proposed,_ with equal powers and equal responsibilities to both leading parties, who had joined for the national good, tho ohly course' clear to Mm was to support that National Government; He did not know whether this decision would have the endorsement of Labour outside- the. House or not, but ill his judgment it ■would redound to the credit of Labour in this country if- it could, rise'to the great occasion, support the National Government, and help in everything that might advance tlio best interests of the Empire.