The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, February 29, 1912. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1013, 29 February 1912, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, February 29, 1912. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Despite the fact that at the polls the country declared against the Ward Administration, the Premier refused to accept the verdict, and instead of handing in his resignation, as was confidently anticipated in some quarters, he set to work to formulate a policy which he calculated would make the Independents and Labourites change the tune they had been singing at the hustings, and turn the tide of battle in his favour. Further, the cry of “down with Wardism” had been set up by certain metropolitan Opposition journals. This, reasoned the astute Sir Joseph, could be answered by promising that in the event of his winning through against the OPP os^on ’ s No-confidence motion, he would resign from the Ministry and leave the combined Liberal. Labour and Independents to form a new ministry. Truely a masterful piece of generalship. Parliament was convened for the purpose of testing the strength of Parties. The Governor’s speech, containing the new policy, fell like a bombshell in the House, and fairly bewildered Opposition and Labour members, and this was iollowed by Sir Joseph’s declaration that he would retire into the ranks. The Governor’s speech was not received with cordiality or taken seriously by the press, although Sir Joseph’s self-abnega-tion was favourably commented upon. Then the scheming between the followers of the Liberal Party and the Labourites commenced. A tramway strike ensued, and certain of the Opposition journals took up the cudgels against the high-handed demands of the unionists. Sir Joseph, on the other hand, seized the opportunity to act as mediator, and effected a settlement. This was made the most of by the Liberal press, which pointed out that Labour could now see who were their real friends, and the Labour leaders lost no time in urging the unions to bring pressure to bear upon their elected representatives to break their platform pledges and vote with the Government against the Opposition. Then the wrangle commenced in Parliament, ending in Mesas Payne and Robertson going back on their platform utterances and pledges and voting with the Government. Of the five who had declared against the Government only one, Mr Veitch, remained true to his pledge, and as a result Sir Joseph Ward defeated the Opposition nocoufidence amendment on the casting vole of the Speaker. Truly a masterful and daring piece of political scheming and engineering, but we lail to see that it will bring honour to the leader and the pledge-breakers.

Now, what about the part played in the game by John Robertson, M.P. fur this constituency. this geulletuau placed himselt upon a mighty pedestal. He spoke of the ideals of Labour. With wellfeigned dignity he criticised the shortcomings ol both parties — their ideals were unworthy of the confidence of the horny-handed sous of toil. He put a plague on both parlies. The Liberal Party had become effete, gud had outgrown its usefulness, and so on, ad libitum. Through the splitting ol the Reform vote, Mr John Robertson slipped into the second ballot with Mr Field, the Government candidate. Then he became aggressively sympathetic with the Opposition supporters, and said we are brothers in arms against a common enemy—the Government. Mark you, there was no splitting of hairs at this period about “ Wardism.” Mr Robertson was roused with righteous indignation after the taking of the first ballot because the Otaki Mail had said that Mr Moucktou would support Mr Field, and Mr Moucktou gave it forth that his support was transferred to Mr Robertson, for the sole purpose of uprooting and firing-out the Liberal Party. Telegrams were grandiloquently flourished by Mr Robertson from Messrs Massey and Moucktou confirming this, and a large number of the Reform supporters in this electorate who had decided to support Mr Field were won over. We remember Mr Robertson telling the people that he would not be before them if he had any confidence in the Government, and that if returned he would vote them out. He defeated the Liberal candidate, and became John Robertson, M.P. People naturally thought that Mr John Robertson, the man of high ideals, who talked somewhat of the “ Right of Recall,” would be

proof against the temptations thrown out to bait him and make him recant. Coming into contact with party leaders and the atmosphere of the House of Representatives, was so entirely different to John’s late environment that he became, as it were, intoxicated, and his past appeared as but a dream, and 10, the bold John of yesterday is assimilated by the party he. has condemned. His weak explanation as to the altered circumstances and his reasons for breaking the “letter” of his pledge—whatever that may mean—are an insult to the intelligence of the electors of Otaki, and no matter what he may do in the future to redeem himself, he will go down to posterity as a pledge breaker.