CHANGE OF OPINION

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 56, 28 October 1931, Page 2

CHANGE OF OPINION

New Zealand's twenty-third Parliament has just about run its chequered career. With solicitous regard (sic) for the eonstitutional rights of the people the Coalition Government has decided to seek a mandate from the electors, and soon the floodgates of oratory will be opened on the hustings. In its three years' term the present Parliament has held five sessions, it has been led by two Prime Ministers, and it has seen three ministries sworn into office. Led by the late Sir Joseph Ward the United Party, which claimed to have inherited the mantle of the old Liberal Party was returned as the controlling party after one of the most spectacular political land-slides in years. The downward trend of prices commenced soon after the 1928 general elections, and the wonderf ul policy that caught the imagination of the electors, who were seeking something new, was replaced by one of expediency.. The .Government failed to realise the seriousness of the depression until long after its disastrous eifects were manifest, and even when the vital need for courageous statesmanship dawned upon the members of the Ministry they did little else than run up and down the country snivelling like whipped schoolboys. They gave the people no policy and no hope. The next move came from the then leader of the Opposition (Mr. Coates), whose motion that the parties of the House set up a committee to formulate a plan for the rehabilitation of the Dominion was unanimously accepted That committee heard voluminor.s evidence and then broke up in disorder. When the deliberative stage was reached, side issues, foreign to the purpose of the committee, were dragged in, and the only result was a kind of companionate marriage between two parties which had previously been at loggerheads. The alliance announced its immediate policy in a Supplementary Budget, but the document disclosed neither genius nor talent on the part of the new Ministry. It had the ring of the same old platitudes of despair. Then came the next question — would the elections be postponed? Naturally the formation of a new Cabinet gave rise to disappointments, and the disgruntled ones gibbered all manner of strange things round the lobbies. The atmosphere was such that anything might have happened. The two parties to the Coalition continued to hold separate caususes, and while maintaining an outward show of fraternity watched each other like hawks. The situation would have been humorous had it not been for the aggravation it tended to bring to the country 's difiiculties. There is no doubt that the two parties did arrive at an understanding to postpone the elections for a year with the reservation that an appeal should be made to the country at an earlier date should the circumstances be propitious. The announcement of the decision was delayed from day to day and there seems little doubt that the Coalition was endeavouring to gauge public opinion before it burnt its boats On Wednesday and Thursday last the matter was re-opened. The reported successes of the Nationalists in England, the rumour of a new party for which no one seems to claim responsibility, the inability of the Whips to hold a few of the rebels in check, and the almost unanimous opposition of the Press to any postponement of the elections, were some of the factors responsible for yet another change of opinion. It was decided — not unanimously if reliable information is correct — to consult the electors. But there was another difficulty in the way before a definite announcement could be made — was the Government to go to the country as a Coalition or as two separate parties? Again on this point there was no unanimity of opinion. A section of the Reform Party believed that they could annihilate the United Party, and there was. also a clamour from candidates outside the House at present for a chance to get inside. A Coalition appeal was, however, decided upon, and it is likely that a few disappointed candidates, such as Mr. A. D. McLeod (Wairarapa), may be pacified with a seat in the Upper House. It seems practically certain now that all those who have been loyal to the Coalition will receive the blessing of the Government in the forthcoming campaign, and herein lies the tragedy of it all. There has never been a greater call for comprehension of the situation on the part of the members of our Parliament, and comprehension has not been a strong feature of even the collective intelligence of those who have guided the destinies of the Dominion during the past three years. It seems as certain as that day follows night that the Coalition will come back, and no one would mind if it was strongly infused with men of calibre, but the conditions of the appeal definitely exclude this possibility, except in cases where a Coalition candidate may defeat a Labour man. The people can only hope that their country will recover in spite of the efforts of their Legislators. '