WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 20 June 1930, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE POLITICAL PARTIES.

HOW THEY STAND

(Special Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, June 18

"When the Bight Hon. J. G. Coates takes up his residence in Wellington this week all the three party leaders wil] be within the Dominion's political arena, with their plans laid.- it may be presumed, for the approaching session of Parliament. The Hon. G. W. Forbes has boldly endowed the dictum of Mr ; Massey to the effect that the Prime Minister of the day should have charge of the Treasury, and Sir Joseph Ward’s successor has spent many arduous hours during the last fortnight in' qualifying himself for this important trust. As it happens, the other, two parties in the House, Reform and Labour, have not yet found it convenient to accept Mr Massey’s dictum as irrevocable. Though Sir William Nos worthy had charge of the Treasury for some time after the death of the great Reform leader, owing to the absence of the Hon. W. Downie .Stewart, in America, it was the latter gentleman who took up this responsibility when the new Reform Ministry finally put its house in order. Mr James McCombs, long before has been indicated as the Labour Party’s Treasurer. * ,

CHANGES

The constitution of 'the perhaps one should say its - colour ■ / Mas undergone some (slight changes; since the opening of ithe first working session of the present Parliament; The’ Parnell constituency, in- a - byeelection, has returned, bn another; minority vote, a Reform member\jm place of a tyiited member, the significance of the contest lying itv decrease es in both the Reform and the Unit ed votes and a substantial < increase' in the Labour vote. Only seventy-, three per cent of the I enrolled took the trouble to go to the ..pM),' The change .about, meanwhile, deals' the Reform .party" with the largest; body of pledged voters in the Honst’," and to that extent Mr Coates and his; followers . can, plume themselves uppir having the largest measure of party support. It has to be. said for tl/e leader of the official Opposition,' how-1 ever, that he is not given to' making' mountains out of molehills, or; ;-(|f; ejreating |mflsorijties but of . minorities. Having definitely estranged- the Labour party his only hope lies in "friendly relations” with , the United; Government. ,

PROSPECTS

It is not likely that there will be any material change in the constitution of the Government during the present year or that there will be an appeal to the /constituencies before the present ..Parliament has: : run the usual course. None of the- parties sees any chance of materially im,provine: its position in the H.6use by an early appeal, to the' constituencies. An optimist here and there.may dream dreams .in this respect or. see visions but observant people will not. foe deluded by a little, boasting and ;platform display; Mr Coatesy- to his credit, is not running: ahotiV.tlie ‘coniitry denouncing his poli Lica.l ■ opponents and magnifying the works of his political friends He plays the gafne better than that. .On several occasions ila'tely he bsjs stated .definitely' his business as lender of the Opposition is not to- harass and impede the Government; but to see that; it “does its job” in the very best interests of the country. ' This is |he spirit, converted into facts, which makes poli* tics tolerable. • ■ 1

THE MEN IN POSSESSION

Mr Forbes and his colleagues, as the men in possession, are very real factors in the ,political situation, The new Prime Minister had been so long an occupant of the Opposition benches—seventeen years, including the five years of the War Cabinet regime, —that both the old generation and the new vfere disposed to look upon him ,as a “hack number.” ...When he was chosen as Sir Joseph Ward's right hand man in the United-. Cabinet of 1928 he Rtill was regarded askance by many of the critics.: Tbit, eighteen months of office/ including several months as Acting Prime Minister, have shown him to l>e a frank, tactful and exceptionally well informed leader. With him in the new Cabinet are prominent and successful business men. who entered Parliapient little more than eighteen months ago, administering their departments with a measure of zeal and success that rarely has been excelled in the history ftf the Dominion. Other beginners are making good in different dircs cions, Without provoking one murmur of serious discontent. It will be time enough to cast men of this type aside when they have failed in their job.