PARTY POLITICS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 228, 20 June 1919, Page 6

PARTY POLITICS

HON. W. D. S. MACDONALD CRITICISES A "DOMINION" ARTICLE. (Prom a. Correspondent Palmerston North, June 19. Referring to a statement which' appeared in The Dominion' this morning suggesting that ■ Sir Joseph Ward was hurrying back for the purpose of stirring up party strife and beginning his election campaign, the Hon. W. D. S. QlacDonald, who is attending the Jlanawatu Show, enid the best he could think of it was that it was a very clumsy' joke; either that or the Wellington paper was attempting to do the very thing it was/ accusing Sir Joseph Ward of doing, No one had been more punctilious than the Leader of the Liberal Party in the observance of the letter and spirit of the compact between the parties, and it would be absolutely atrocious to seriously accuse him of such conduct as The Dominion suggested. "Of course," Mr.. Mac Donald added jestingly, "the Editor of this paper may be in oloser communication with Sir Joseph Ward than the rest of us, and may have obtained from him this great pieco of information for distribution throughout the country. Likely, isn't it?" The Minister declined to discuss the matter .further.

[It would be inferred from Mr. Macdonnld's remarks that the reported intention of Sir Joseph Ward to end the Coalition arrangement shortly after his return to New Zealand implied that Sir Joseph Ward had failed, or was about to fail, to okserve that agreement. Nothing of the kind was stated or feuggested in the reference to the matter in our columns yesterday. When Mr. Mac Donald says "it would 'be absolutely atrocious to seriously accuse Sir Joseph Ward of 6\ich conduct as Tim Dominion suggested," it is only charitable to assume that he ha's not read what the paper really did say, but has been regaled with some distorted version. The "absolutely atrocious" accusation actually whs that it was understood that Sir Joseph Ward had decided os soon as possible after his return to New Zealand to revert to party polities. Mr. Mac Donald appears to have forgotten that at the meeting of the Liberal Tarty last month, over which ho himself presided, it was unanimously resolved that while fulfilling the terms of the existing compact between the ,two parties, tins Liberal Party "would contest the next general election separate mid apart from the Reform Party." If this does not mean a reversion shortly to party politics what does it mean?]