Donkeys And Carrots

NZ Truth, Issue 1184, 9 August 1928, Page 6

Donkeys And Carrots

THE precedent of the donkey and the carrots might prow the most useful tool m the political bag of Gordon Coates m the , coming general elections. Should the public decide that Coates will run yet another term, the Prime Minister can certainly do what he likes with his precious portfolio carrots. But, given a severe slap and a jerk at the electoral halter, and he needs must dangle those carrots with all the care of a farmer whose only live-stock are his slow-moving donkeys. Only by the judicious holdina;up of luscious portfolios can Coates hope to twist a doddering minority into a just past-the-post majority, but m order to avert that painful necessity, every party newspaper-hack m the unploughed, uncultivated political field, has. been set working prior to the sowing of the Reform seed. But a close study of Coatesian methods of getting things undone, anS, incidentally thoroughly tied up, enables us to see through his little game. " If the present administration, so far as Cabinet is concerned, is not absolutely useless, the indications are overwhelmingly m that direction. It has not been considered necessary, as yet, to fill the Cabinet vacancy created by the death of the Hon. R F. Bollard, whereas, m an allegedly fullpressure Cabinet, the general belief is that this should have been done as soon as possible to relieve the overstrain. v And with the Hon. J. G. Anderson ' globe-trotting for health's sake and still nursed by public affluence, and the Hon. W. Nosworthy just off tv celebrate the Government's gift for being a pretty good chap, it makes the average elector wonder if there is any real need for a Cabinet at all. Apparently a Government has to keep up appearances, anyhow. Of course, there is no need for all' this cunning subterfuge. Cabinet vacancies will be filled m just that, manner which will ensure a longer • life for the Government—and, absolutely irrespective of its administrative . ability or general utility. A neck is a neck m any case. Leaving donkeys and carrots for another simile, it is at once obvious ; that Coates regards his portfolios as a pretty full hand of election cards and will have to play very oannily against a stiff opponent m Public Confidence. But if he were beaten by a better player m Mutt or Jeff, it would be a very disturbing thought to feel that he was using the spurious card of portfoliodangling to take the final "trick,", „. ■. Just as surely as Coates will be called upon to make the fight of his, life to get back, so will there be more than one J^udas Iscariot hanging furtively around ready to 'betray the public by greedily snatching a political plum to satisfy a personal ambition — and let the country go hang. We shall watch for those Iscaridts! ■'"'; ■.■..'■■.• . ,'v'- ''■ :..:..■ '.. ; . •