THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE KAIPARA ACVERTISER & WAITEMATA CHRONICLE." HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY. JULY 29,1915 NATIONAL GOVERNMENT PROPOSAL

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 29 July 1915, Page 2

THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE KAIPARA ACVERTISER & WAITEMATA CHRONICLE." HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY. JULY 29,1915 NATIONAL GOVERNMENT PROPOSAL

While it would perhaps be incorrect to say that the National Government proposal had been c c turned down " by the Opposition Party, it is well known that amongst the Liberal and Labour section of the House of Representatives there I is a considerable body of opinion expressing itself as distinctly unfavourable to the suggested union of political forces, and the subsequent cessation of party warfare, during the continuunce of the war. The 'New Zealand Times,' which, beyond I question, has become the most i virulent exponent of party politics in the Dominion, has assailed the proposal again and again, and on Thursday last it editorially declared there would be "No Coalition," and congratulated the Opposition upon "its disinterested decision to decline the apparently flattering overtures " made to it by Mr Massey. In its news columns, however, it declared that, while a decision had been reached at the Opposition caucus meeting on Wednesday, neither the "Leader of the Opposition nor Mr Massey were prepared to say anything upon the subject, It would seem, therefore, that the negotiations between the two leaders have not yet ended. There is, notwithstanding, a strongly denned feeling that the prospects of forming such a Government as that suggested by Mr Massey are becoming more and more remote. Whether the 'New Zealand Times ' speaks with authority or not, remains to be seen, but the bitterly vindictive note apparent in all its criticisms of the Prime Minister's action > strengthens the impression that the last thing the Wellington Oppostion journal desires to see is a National Go v T eminent containing within its Cabinet the best men on both sides of the House. The attitude it has chosen to adopt is certainly not that of the Opposition press as a whole, because the Christchurch Opposition journal has all along taken the view that such a Government as Mr Massey suggests should be formed in the best interests of the country and nation, so that whole energies of our public men majr be concentrated upon the business of the war.