WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 219, 15 November 1916, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

MINISTERS AT HOME. DISCUSSION .AND SPECULATOR (Special Correspondent). M ELLINGTON, Nov 13. The cable message settling^ the fi tures of Sir Joseph Ward and Sir. Tho: Mackenzie* which seems to be in th main a rehash of the story that wa circulated when the Ministerial tri Home was first announc .d, is still th subject of some discuss* speeu latiou here. Just before departurt Sir Joseph Ward friend against crediting tho rumours that wen sure to get abroad concerning his plan: and intentions, and they are now scout ing the suggestion that he is about U cut himself adrift from New Zealant politics and take uj> his permanent resi dencc in the Mother Country. He ccr tainly had made no preparations for a prolonged absence from the Dominion when he left Wellington a few month: ago, and if he has altered his arrangements then it is in consequence of something that has hapjtencd since he last communicated with his friends. His Liberal colleagues in the Ministry are satisfied he will carry out his original programme and return to New Zealand before the end of January. Tkey do not believe that he would accept the High Commissioncrship under, any circumstances extej.it the plain call of duty, and they do not think his services are urgently required in London just yet. ’ THE LIBERAL LEADERSHIP. The interpretation of the cable message which represents. Sir Joseph Ward and Sir Thomas Mackenzie exchanging offices, as it were, Sir Joseph going to the High Commissioner’s office and Sir Thomas coming out to New Zealand to assume the leadership of the Liberal party, is really too grotesque for serious consideration. No doubt Sir Joseph would make a very excellent representative of the Dominion in London, where he has already w T on many personal friends and obtained considerable kudos by his financial achievements,* but Sir Thomas as leader of the Liberal party as constituted at present or likely to be constituted in the future* is quite unthinkable. His brief term of office as Prime Minister after the inconclusive election of 1911 was one of the, unhappy episodes in the history of the Party, and whether the fault lay with himself or with the half-hearted supporters he can never hope to escape from the blame for, the final fiasco. Since then he has done admirable. service as High Commissioner, winning repeated encouiuras both political friends and political opponents, but no service in this direction could earn from the partisan forgiveness for the previous failure. LABOUR’S BLUNDERS. It is reported that the new Labour Party, which is pluming itself upon having assisted in the rejection of conscription at tho referendum in Austra-

lia, is now preparing to denounce Mr W. A. Veitch, the member for Wanganui, for having supported compulsory ser.vice by his voice and vote in Parliament and by his effort in the country. So far as Mr Veitch is personally concerned, he could afford to regard any action of this kind with perfect equanimity. He has established a hold upon the goodwill of his constituents* which would be rather strengthened than weakened by the formal disapproval of a body that has allowed itself to be dominated by a little group of ahtimilitarists who will not see that arguments which might be permissible and plausible enough in peace time are absolutely fallacious and even treasonable in war time. But the pity of it all is that Labour persists in fomenting trouble and dissension within its own ranks and thus separating itself from sane, capable people like Mr Veitch,

who at heart arc much more solicitous for its welfare than are the restless* fatuous spirits by whom it has so often been misled. A NEW PARTY. The jumours of impending changes in the leadership of the Liberal Party have revived the talk of a new organisation which is to combine all the progressive forces in Parliament and iu the country, and appeal to the constituencies at the next general election with a broad, democratic programme from which the merely personal element will be eliminated altogether. The idea is not, of course, a new one, by a good many generations of politicians, but the time seems opportune for giving an old idea a new application. "Whatever may have been the faults and failures of the National Cabinet, it appears to have effectually buried the shibboleths of Masseyism and Wardism, and to have gone a long way towards bridging the great gulf between Conservatism and Liberalism. With this much accomplished by the I accident of circumstances, the dreamers of the new-old dream are hoping that a party making measures rather than men. its objective will arise audthat opponents who have got into the habit of thinking of themselves as on opposite sides of politics will be found working together for the cmfeimon good. The whole thing may seem quite impracticable in the light of history, but a considerable group of politicians is professing its determination to nut it to the test.