THE PRIME MINISTER

Hokitika Guardian, 27 November 1928, Page 2

THE PRIME MINISTER

CHEERFUL JN ADVERSITY

AWAITING I)EY EI.ORM ENTS

;Bv S.S. in Lyttelton "Times.")

Whatever may have been tlie shortcomings of the members of the Reform Government in the heyday of their

-•rosperity—and in the eyes of the majority of the electors, they seem to have been many and great- Mr Conte •'lid his colleagues are displaying an exemplary measure of cheery resignation in the hour of their adversity. The Prime Minister himself is an insairiug leader in this respect. He '.hanks his friends for their sympathy, which is obviously thrown away, and reminds them of the proverbial philosophy which prescribes that it is easier to bo a cheer!ul loser under the •hadow of defeat than it is to he a modest winner in tlr- sunshine ot success. And lie looks what he sav*. Tie has no reproaches lor the Prolmhitionists on the one side or lor the AU'd■wates tni the other who deserted him -ni account of his advocacy of a middle course in the solution of the liqoor problems; lie smiles at the accusations of too. much spending and too little borrowing hurled at the Government: and he laughs outright at the suggestion that he has ignored the needs of the farmers in general and nf the small producers in particular. Mis colleagues all are in the same cheery mood. The Minister of I* ■- nance wishes his successor well; the Minister of Lands sees a dream ol a trip Home coining true; the Minister of Public Works, hurrying hack from a rousing game ot tennis, tells of the difficulty he had in convincing his constituents that lie was not having another “walk-over:'’ the Attorney General talks like a lad going home for the holidays: the Minister ot Lab our, just returned from his health trip to the Old Country, sees a jest in the proscription of rest by his Harley Street doctor; and Sir Mam Romero smiles broader and hioadei at the balance struck by his own race between the parties. There are no heart-burnings in the Cabinet room to-day.

JN THE PUBLIC EYE. ,fust now, Mr Coates, awaiting the definite results of the recent generaelection, probably is more in the eye of the public than he ever has been before. He has not been a sell-adver-tising politician, nor lias he sought spectacular situations. Self-conscious he may be, hut not self-esteemed. An indication of the man’s diffdenea, as well ns some outline of Ins career, may he obtained from the pages of “Who’s Who in New Zealand,’’ a handy little volume in which many a person of less consequence has inflicted upon its hospitable editor the substance of a fulldress biography. “Coates, Hon Joseph Gordon, A1.P.,” one reads. “Postmas-ter-General and Minister of Public Works. Educated -privately; M.P. Kaipara 1911: joined Massey Government September 3, 1919; served in Great War in France January, 1917. to February, 1919; Captain November 16; Major; M.C. and Bar.” This brief epitome is characteristic of the precision of the man. Ihe story ol his political life may he compressed in the same fashion. He first entered tlio House of Representatives as irnli gated in his own summary of his career, as member for Kaipara having defeated Mr John Stn 11 worthy, wlm had held the seat for two Parliaments and whose son has just captured th*• Eden seat for the United Party. He came to Wellington as a supporter ol the Liberal Party, then under the leadership of Sir Joseph Ward - , and voted with that party in the division on Mr Massey’s first want-of-confidence motion, which was defeated on the casting vote of the Speaker. When Sir Joseph Ward resigned the leadership of the party and Sir Thomas Mackenie 'took up the burden, the young member lor Kaipara crossed to the other side of the House, and lour months later .assisted in the assault upon the Liberal Government, which gave the Reformers possession of the Treasury Benches up to the present time. For the rest, the chronicle of his advancement is written in "Hansard” for everyone who will to read.

THE POLITICIAN. It was said of Mr Coates nearly a decade ago, shortly alter bis return from the war, that, whether a private or colonel, lie would make a first-rate soldier, but a very poor general. flic author of this pronouncement knew nothing about military qualifications, and probably was thinking of the soldier in the capacity of a civilian. It so, he had at that time some colourable excuse for his criticism. M lien Mr Coates went to France, alter sitting in Parliament for four or live years with the mimic quarrels of the parties surrounding him, lie had but a rudimentary idea of wliat the dil- • ferences between them really were. Two years at the front purged him of all party prejudices, and, when lie returned to the Dominion to be thrust into the Ministry on the dissolution of the National Government, he practically isolated himself from his colleagues in the Cabinet and 'vent about his own particular business in his own particular way. 1 lie general election of 1919 gave Mr Massey » majority out of all proportion to the votes he polled, and the way of the

Reform Government lay in pleasant [daces until the appeal to the constituencies in 1922, ween Reiorm approached nearer to disaster than it had done at any time since its assumption of office ten years before. This crisis, probably more than anything else had done, awakened iMr Coates to the gravity of his responsibilities and the importance of his obligation* In Ins colleagues. Them elorth he applied himself with increased zeal anc more intimate understanding to the administration of the two portfolios of Railways and Public Works, which, meanwhile, he had taken up in place of Justice and Rost and Telegraphs, and ibocamo of more and more assistance to his stricken diief. When Mi Massey finally passed away, his ani pupil was in direct line of succession to the leadership of the party h.v reas u of his close personal association w'h the (lead statesman, his vitality and his personal popularity.

THE MAN. Air Coates is still a young man. a* the ages of politicians are computed, having been horn no longer ago thai 1878 and being blessed with a tornneramont that defies the progress o' time. He has been in Parliament for seventeen years, and has occupied tin highest ninuacle ot fame the publh life of the Dominion has to bestow. He is not an orator, in the sense o' having a voice and a delivery that move multitudes to enthusiasm, Inn he has acquired unite a comnrehensiv< vocabulary and speaks fluently on an* of the manv overv-dav subiocts with which ho is acquainted. Cur io-is-lv tonoogh—- curious J-.ecau.se the distinction is unusual—he talks bet tlu. TD’-'s" than he does from the public platform, though the latfo.. „ 1.1 think, were the imm inspiring. His prepared speeches ar< | ( * SJl* • W 4’y i|l «T than his extemporary ones. ITe was not bred to the mer ul „f facts and figures, and such t-1.-s hot.her him. and often his hem ers as well. At the moment he i I'w-ed !>v the most dilfieol problem tha' ha- confronted him since lie began t' regard hi* polities seriomlv. W’hethohe Ins taken a wise course, from a ta .teal mint of view, in tinning to t]„, new ” ir'ia-ie’d to solve the con uiit|mui ol leadership, or whethoi Ik would have done heifer by casting tin resnonsihilitv on to “the oilier fellow remains to he seen. Precedent, as la as it can he assessed, rather i mliiv" 1,, cards the latter c'uirse. Sir Joyopl Ward nrnbahlv would have done bet ter for himself and lor his party hue he resigned alter the reverse he suffered in 1911. and Mr Massey certainly made a mistake in patching m his resources after his rebuff in ld-_ However, it may be conceded fh;r Mr (’notes, with the wise advice Ik has at his disposal, is better acquainted with the merits of the positioi than are his casual critics. At an.' rate, the early summoning of Purlin ment will enable members of hot 1 Houses to eat their Christmas dinner in peace.