The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1013. THE BURDENS OF VICTORY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 73, 19 December 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1013. THE BURDENS OF VICTORY

The latest election figures in hand show no change in the state of partics as it was reported _ yesterday. Ono or two changes remain possible, but nothing can now affect the fact that the Government is returned to power with a strong working majority. Practical interest centres, in these circumstances, upon the vital responsibilities that devolve upon the Prime Minister in giving effect to the popular mandate delivered'on Wednesday Theso responsibilities are not, of course,..confined to the Piumk Minister, but _it rests with him to take tho /initiative in promoting the changes that, are required to meet the needs of the country and carry out tho plainly-expressed will of the electors. 'Mr. Massey is faced by such an opportunity of instituting a hold policy of progress as no other head of a.Government in this country has been able to boast for a very long time. -It is manifest that in order to do justice to this _ opportunity and the responsibilities it cnta'ils he- must act throughout from the broadest standpoint of national welfare. The jirst and most nssential duty awaiting his .atten-tion-is that of reinforcing the Übinet with full regard to tho spirit of progress' that animates the country and is reflected in. Parliament. k strong Government, able to cope with such problems as exist and are destined to arise in the near future, must be broad based. In order that , these problems may receive the treatment they demand the aim should be to attain the same unity in the Government and in Parliament as made it possible to concentrate , the national energies upon winning the war. jSo doubt in filling Ministerial vacancies Mk., Massey will recognise that there arc vastly more important factors to be considered than seniority and. length of service, and that a Cabinet able to move with the times must include, new blood-thc best selection that can be made of themen who perceive most clearly the need of establishing a new order in politics. It may be urged also that the Prime Minister would act wisely and in the interests of national unity if be offered to include in the Cabinet a representative of those members outside the ranks of his own party who are yet in a position' to act in harmony with it fot common national ends. AMnle it calls for prompt attention, the question of Cabinet reconstruction is not, of course, one that should be dealt with precipitately or without a. careful survey of the available field of selection. It will of neccssitv be deferred until tho election results are definitely established, for the reason, amongst others, that tho fate of one of the present members of the Cabinet is still uncertain. An announcement of the new appointments it is proposed to make will be awaited, however, with tho keenest interest. A strong Cabinet well endowed with progressive ideas is needed, not in order that it may be selfsufficient in dictating and directing policy, but so that the fullest scope may 'be given to individual_ members of Parliament to exercise initiative and independent judgment. The election has demonstrated very clearly that so far as,the great body of .the electors are .concerned, they are' looking for unity and proirrcss. Not the least of thg responsibilities cast primarily upon the. " Prime Minister and his colleagues is so to build upon the new conditions that Parliament will be lifted' into a higher and more useful plane of activity. As the House of Representatives is now constituted any attempt by the main parties to revert to the traditional relationships of Government and Opposition would bo a mockery and would make Parliament a by-word for futility. The time, has come to give its due prominence to the fact that so far as policy is concerned, the grounds of difference between these parties is shndowv, while both are irreconcilably divided from the LabourSocialist minority. Numerical weakness and a perverted outlook alike disable this" minority from playing the part of a constitutional Opposition, or of combining with any other group to form such an Opposition. Lingering party prejudice cannot obscure the fact that U has become the essential problem of tH':i hour to remodel the workinjr conditions of Parliament on such lines as will best make for efli-

cieney. The election undoubtedly has given a mighty impetus to forward movement in this direction, and the greatest responsibility of tivso upon whom lfiadprshio devolvos is to sec that this impulse is enabled to exercise its maximum effect. The possibilities opened by such a reorganisation cannot be envisaged at a glance in their total scope, but they 'include such a broadening of the working' life of .Parliament as would at once make ft much more responsive than it has been hitherto to the' will of the democracy and much more fertile of resource in dealing with the problems of nat'">l;ll welfare. The essential conditions of the new order are that the aggregate intelligence of Parliament should be Id-ought f>-i?ely Jo boar upon all such problems in their turn, and that there should lid a complete break from the conditions in" which a more or less subservient majority has hitherto been dominated by a small coterie of Ministers. Only courape and initiative in the men at tb" bend of nfffirs ar ,, needed to bring ab'.uit these conditions, and the ch:inge, sweeping as it is, is justified and demanded by the fact that, the Reform Party appealed to the country on the broadest grounds and

unreservedly denounced thp evils of I'jiii'ty politics. Mr. Massey and his supporters are pledged to study and promote the interests of nil seclions of the population, including (lie trades unionists who are either deceived or misrepresented by the Labour-Socialist extremists who contrived only by reason of the uiv natural division of the democratic majority into competing groups to gain a footing in the House of Be- , prosentatiras. The way is open to promote, a union of working effort in Parliament which will open every prospect of national security and prosunrity, and incidentally will speedily .demonstrate that the Lab-our-Socialists, with thoir eveed of hatred and destruction, _ constitute an intolerable anachronism in a free democracy