PARTY GOVERNMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 248, 19 April 1912, Page 7

PARTY GOVERNMENT.

' To the Editor. Sir, —Some time since I sent you a letter on the evils of party government as we have it in New Zealand at the present time, and circumstances have since strangely borne out my contentions. It will be recollected that soon after I wrote you the House met, and we were treated to a series of episodes thatt would simply have been unthinkable and impossible had the .elective system of government been in vogue. Solely and entirely because of party influences we had the time of 'the country wasted while politicians wrangled and used all their strategy in an endeavor to oust the party who happened to be in charge of the business of the country at the time. I will not go into details, as your readers are fully aware of what took place right up to the time of Mr. Massey putting his i foot into .it, and, figuratively speaking, upsetting the pot s,o far as his party \ was concerned. Then followed on the time taken up in forming a Cabinet. ( Fully a week, I think, of the country's time was taken up under party conditions to do what could easily have been done in a couple of hours under the elective executive system, as the House would then simply have made nominations and elected to the various positions men picked from the whole House who, dn their opinion, were best fitted for the position. And then what did we see ? Why, the House no sooner ad» journed than Mr. Massey and others I are running up and down the country

giving speeches, making copy for the newspapers, making plans for the overthrow and defeat of the other party at the Hirst opportunity. How anyone can fancy 'that existing conditions are for the good of the country is past my comprehension, ias instead of devising measures in the. interests of the country, the whole time of the "outs" seems to be devoted to devising means by which they can replace the '"ins," and, if they succeeded, the position would be reversed and the whole farce repeated. And yet we are wanted iby politicians to believe that the present system is good for the country! 1 fail to see it, but I can see that if the other system were in vogue it would kill two-thirds of the wire-pulling .and general hanky-panky that now go on in tlie interests of politicians, under tine name of party. The whole country is 1 in a state of tension and political unrest at the present moment wholly as the result of the party system now in vogue. If anyone want's further evidence to ibear out my contention than the evidence provided for us lately, then they must be able to see only one side of politics, and that the' party side. Why, if the elective executive had been in vogue we would not at the present time be having all the hints about the hot time coming in June and the -probabilities of another election. Instead of this, all hands would be hard' at work studying out the various problems that confront us, the solving of which would be for the good of the country. But, oh! no; it is party first, party last, and party all the time, and the country can suffer just so long as the electors of the Dominion are silly enough to allow things to be as they are., —I am, etc., W. A. COLLIS.