The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1928 PLAYING THE GAME

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 516, 20 November 1928, Page 8

The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1928 PLAYING THE GAME

WHATEVER else may be obscured and uncertain in the abnormal political situation in this country, it has been made clear that the shattered Reform Government will do the right thing without delay after the final count of the Parliamentary polling returns. This action has been foreshadowed by the Prime Minister from the first hour of the surprising results last Wednesday night, and subsequent brief statements have confirmed his intention to adopt the proper procedure in adverse circumstances for the Government. The latest announcement, following on a meeting of the broken Cabinet yesterday, is this somewhat unnecessarily defensive statement: “They will not be able to say that we have not played the game.” There still is doubt, of course, and also much speculation as to how the game may be played and the right thing done in the right way. Two ways are open to the Government. One of these is to resign immediately after the final declaration of results and recommend the Governor-General to give the party leader in the direct line of succession an opportunity of forming a new Ministry ; the other way is to throw upon the new Parliament in an emergency session next month the formality of flinging the old Government out of office. Since either way must lead to the dismissal of the Reform Administration, the only question calling for immediate attention is: Which would be the better to take ? This journal l’emains of the view that the right way and the better way is for the Government to resign as soon as possible without summoning Parliament before the Yuletide holidays for the initial purpose of demonstrating the attitude of the overwhelming Opposition parties toward the Government. It is merely ploughing the sands to talk about the fact that the Reform Party still retains the greatest number among all of the parties. Against that consoling fact is the more vivid truth that the Government, in the aggregate of its casualties on the testing-ground of the electoral battlefield, suffered a violent vote of no-confidence. Three of its leading Ministers, though still technically and quite properly continuing to function as administrators, definitely have been counted out by their respective electors. They have been dismissed, and their dismissal, together with the loss of over a score of the party’s former seats in Parliament, is enough to compel the Government to play the game as it should be played. Looked at from every point of view, and studying the circumstances with an unbiased mind, the situation appears to indicate that the common-sense course facing the maimed Government is to tender its- resignation this week. What could be gained by adopting the empty formality of calling Parliament to an extraordinary session in order to emphasise the country’s , defeat of the Reform Ministry and its huge, docile party ? In all probability there would be no gain at all, either for the contending parties or for the discontented country, but, instead of any benefit, there would be a protracted period of uncertainty and administrative insecurity, and possibly some instability. Thus, if Parliament were to meet next month and drive the Government from the Treasury benches, the succeeding Government would demand time for Cabinet construction and the preparation of its Parliamentary programme. This almost certainly would lead to an adjournment of the new Parliament until the normal opening in June. If, on the other hand, the Government were to resign on the completion of the adverse count against it, Sir Joseph Ward could be given till the last week in January to select his team and prepare for a Parliamentary test —ample time, surely, for the advent of a “caretaker” Government until the conclusive alignment of parties. The game for the Government to play is not to play as the Government any longer than this week. MEN OF LETTERS IT has taken the untimely death of Harold Williams, foreign editor of “The Times,” to bring his talents and brilliant accomplishments prominently under the notice of his fellowcountrymen. Much praise has been given to men far less distinguished. Dr. Williams never descended to the cheap and comparatively blatant methods of publicity by which men of relatively minor attainments attracted the limelight. As a result, though holding one of the highest posts in journalism, he was comparatively unknown in the land of his birth. There is occasion for regret in the fact that New Zealand itself saw very little of this brilliant New Zealander’s work. Much of his ability as a writer, as well as the fruit of his remarkable attainments as a linguist, went into topical correspondence that, during the war and immediately afterward, was easily overlooked in the flood of-similar work. However, it is a reflex of the high standard he set for himself that he was made foreign editor of “The Times,” a paper which, throughout its history, has made its foreign news its most notable feature, and has given its most brilliant men to that particular branch of its service. New Zealand has sent many distinguished figures to the field of journalism overseas. With Australia, the Dominion maintains a steady supply on which, subject to their requirements, the big English and American papers do not hesitate to draw. In “Chinese” Morrison, who was political adviser to the Chinese Republic, and adviser to the Chinese delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference, Australia supplied to “The Times’ ” foreign service a worthy colleague of Dr. Williams. Both have left their mark on British journalism. As the contacts of New Zealanders widen, bringing them more and more into touch with the other nations of the Pacific, and with countries spread even farther across the globe, the opportunities for service abroad will become greater. In the course of time Australia and New Zealand, gaining on the nations of the old world in force, culture, and commercial vigour, will send still more well-informed and cultivated men upon missions of importance at the far ends of the earth.