WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 1 July 1931, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

LAST SESSION OF TWENTYTHIRD PARLIAMENT. PRIME MINISTER’S OPEN MIND. (Special Correspondent). WELLINGTON, June 29. The Right Hon. G. W. Korbcs, whom the public, as well ns his intimate friends, persist in styling “George , lias entered upon the fourth sosison of the twenty-third Parliament of the Dominion with the nonchalance ot a man who feels he has done his best in an extremely difficult position and is content. He' is much less concerned about tin* approaching general election and its possibilities than he is about the economic and financial problems that have been thrust upon him by his predecessors in the high office he now occupies. As a matter of fact, without ignoring wluit lie conceives to he his dtttv to the community as a whole, he has handed over to one of his colleagues the portfolio of “electioneering” which a whole line ol Prime Min* inters—Atkinson, Reliance, Sodden, Ward, MaS-mV, aiitl Contes—have regarded as their paftll'ilhlf perquisite ■ml special obligation. A STRONG MAN'S DURDEN. This is not to say that Mr Forbes is confining his activities to Wellington, with an occasional week-end visit to his farm at Cheviot. He has taken opportunities since his accession to the premiership—only a year ago, it must he remembered, with an internening .rip to the Imperial Conference in ..cl don—to visit all the lug centres ,f population in the Dominion, amt no louht when he has disposed of some of the heavier burdens that have been ini- t posed upon him he will He able to make the better acquaintance of the outlying list -Meanwhile the Hon. Robert Masters, a very live and capable administrator, who served as leader of the Legislative Council during the ac- . 501100 of Sir Thomas Sidov last session, : s leadin'* 1 a. very helpful hand to the Prime Minister in various directions, dose eve upon the constituencies among his ready services. OPPOSITION TO DECIDE. At the time of writing the Loader ,f tlm Opposition lias not made public iis reply to the appeal of the Auckland 1 business and professional men that he and the Prime Minister should mt their heads : together wi th a view to- forming a National Government that would set party prejudices aside and devote itself whole-heartedly towards extricating the Dominion from the troubles find difficulties by which it is beset. Mf Entiles has reiterated the rcrtdinifcii of himself iilld his colleagues to surrender their portfolios forthwith and to join with Mr Coates and his followers in forming a Cabinet that would be free from party strife and ready to devote itself untrammelled to the promotion of the best interests of the community at large. What more ill*' Prime Minister could do to bring the best brains and the readiest hands together it is difficult to-suggest. The final move must come from the other side of the House. IN AVAR TIME. The general expectation of those who are not admitted to his confidence is that when Mr Coates sends his reply to the reiterated appeal of the Auckland business and professional men it will he to the effect that he is quite prepared to co-operate with Mr Forbes and his colleagues so long as they follow a course of which lie can approve. This, in a measure, is the attitude Sir Joseph Ward took up after the general election of 191-1 when the two parties in the House were so evenly balanced that neither of them could expect to handle effectually the difficult problems arising out of the Great War. Mr Massey, Prime Minister, and Sir Joseph Ward, Leader of the Opposition, were unable to reach an agreement in regard to the distribution of portfolios, and the Governor-General of the day, Lord Liverpool, took a hand in the negotiations which in twenty-four hours ended in the formation of a non-party Cabinet that endured throughout the war, and surely patriotism of this kind is not dead in the Dominion.