LABOUR AND THE NATIONAL CABINET.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1439, 21 August 1915, Page 4

LABOUR AND THE NATIONAL CABINET.

While In their manifesto issued to the press, immediately following the formation of the National Government, the Labour members of the House of Representatives, through their chairman (Mr A. H. Hindmarsh), intimates their intention of assisting the "Coalition Government in every effort to help the Mother Country to maintain and uphold the highest Ideals of liberty and justice,” it asserts that it is "in the very best interest of the country that the Labour group should be absolutely tree to honestly criticise any proposal brought forward by the Coalition Government; criticism of a constructive character is not only legitimate, but highly desirable.” The Maoriland Worker, which is the official organ of the United Federation of Labour and ol its "political expression,” the Social Democratic Party, bad two days previously expressed its views upon the reported failure of the Party leaders to come to terms, in a very pointed fashion. The “two main reasons” why what is called the "Tory” overtures were rejected by the Liberals were, first, "that the Liberals knew that such a coalition would make Labour the official Opposition,” and second, that "Sir Joseph Ward and his chief followers desired to keep Mr Massey in office for purposes of their own.” It commented further

upon the situation in the following significant fashion, which sufficiently indicates the hopeless spirit of “no compromise” upon which the Labour Federationists and Social Democrats are proceeding: “The Liberals know” (the Worker says) “that as a ‘Liberal Party’—a buffer party—they are doomed to disappear. They know that it is inevitable that the representatives of the working class shall become the party of direct opposition; and they also know that coalition would accelerate the event. Whatever the Liberals have against the Masseyites they would wreck heaven and jeopardise earth to prevent Labour being placed in a position to prove its effectiveness. They can only conceive of the Labour Group’s right to exist as an appanage of the Liberal Party. Then, again, by keeping Mr Massey in power, the Liberals hope that the Tories will succeed in so utterly discrediting themselves that they (the Liberals) will be able to win through to the Ministerial benches when the reaction comes, and thus for a span at least preserve a hold on political life. For the present the Liberal leaders positively desire that Mr Massey shall not be displaced —notwithstanding that they maintain that the Labour men are their allies for the purpose of ousting the Government.”