THE COMING SESSION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1729, 23 June 1917, Page 3

THE COMING SESSION.

WANT OF HARMONY IN THE CABINET, The prediction is being made from several quarters that the session of Parliament commencing next week will be a strenuous, if not a stormy one, says the N.Z, Times. On this point, we have had Ministerial assurances to the contrary. We have been told that the session will be short, that it will be confined to matters arising out of the war, and that there will be little to do beyond providing for matters of finance and arranging the taxation for the coming twelve months. We are afraid the indications do not bear out this promise. In the first instance, there is more than a probability that the first appearance of trouble will come from within the Cabinet.- When the National Government was formed, the chief argument employed in its favour was that it would establish party unity and remove all grounds of discord. The harmony that was expected to accrue from the fusion is said to exist anywhere except in the Cabinet. The trouble made its appearance strongly .and significantly before Iho end of last session, and it was notorious when Sir Joseph W:srd w;is leaving for the Old Country Unit two of his Ministers, Hon. G. W. Bussell and Hon. J. A. Ilanan, studiously refrained from going to the steamer to take leave of him. Since then, the breach has widened rather than diminished. It is understood that when the late Hon. R. MeNab died, Mr Russell cabled to Sir Joseph Ward conveying the nows, and asking as senior Minister for instructions in the emergency. The story goes that Mr Russell received no reply to that wire. On the other hand, Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald was (he recipient of a message from Sir Joseph asking him to do the best he tumid for the parly under (he circumstances that had arisen. This gave umbrage to Mr Russell, tind it will be remembered that on (lie occasion of the Hawke’s Hay election a controversy arose whether Mr Russell or Air MacDonald was the acting leader of the Liberal party. With the return of Sir Joseph Ward, it is apprehended that a position already strained will become intolerable, and that certain changes in the Cabinet will become the consequence of the situation. We are told that the situation has not been improved by the pronouncement made by the Hon, G, W. Russell, concerning the absorption of the Union Steam Ship Company by the P. and 0., and that however his sentiments may have appealed to public opinion, they have aroused resentment in the minds of some members of (lie Cabinet. The development of the situation in the National Cabinet, which was formed in the interests of national unity and party harmony, will he awaited with some interest. In (he meantime, there is something more than a mere probability that a general election may he one outcome of the situation, and may take place before the end of the year, and Unit steps towards this end in (lie direction of defining the new electoral boundaries have already been taken.