THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 183, 12 January 1915, Page 5

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

J Y-'ETITIONS AND PROTESTS. TALK OV A COALITION. (Auckland Star's Correspondent.) t Wellington, Saturday. Just at the moment no one but. the members of the Cabinet seems to be taking a very lively interest in the polii tieal situation. Probably the Leader of the Opposition i.s watching as closely as( the Prime Minister the efforts that ardf ' being made to straighten out the itmddUi produced by the general election, but, Sir Joseph Ward does not carry his heart on! his sleeve and he is going about his business with no more apparent concern' than lie might he expected to display iij ! lie were comfortably seated on the' Treasury benches, or definitely rxe'udod ' from their enjoyment for another three! years. . With Ministers it is different. WAato ever else the election has failed to do, it has shown that the Government has losti ground. It came into office nearly three years ago with a majority of eight, and within a few months it increased this majority to ten by the capture of the' Eg'mont seat, the change from the one side to the other making a difference afi two in the strength of parties at the] polls. Last month the whol« of thisf majority disappeared, and the best the Government can hope for now is to bold office through the mistake of a deputJH returning officer in Dunedin Central. In these circumstances Ministers are naturally anxious for another opportunity to justify their existence. Mr Mas-' sey assumes the air of "the man iii possession," and says that nothing can be done till the result of the polling isf definitely known Whether this will be' to-morrow, two weeks hence, or two months hence no one can tell, and in the meantime the Prime Minister is sitting' very still and very tight. There was a! Cabinet meeting to-day, at which Mr Fisher's tardy resignation was received, and there will be another before the end of the week, at which the vacancy probably will be filled. It is taken for granted here that Mr Guthrie, the senior Government Whip,will succeed to Mr Fisher's place in the Cabinet, and it is generally conceded that no better choice could be made. Thei member for Oroua is not an orator, nor even a debater, and he has had no o.p-< ' portunity to display any ability le mass possess as an administrator, but lie is painstaking and industrious, and has a ! certain canny geniality which makes and holds friends. He is as consisent in his conservatism as Mr Fisher is inconsistent in his liberalism, and bis appoint* ment would do nothing to heal thd widening breach between Reform and! Labor.

It is reported now that Mr Stathaui and Mr Munro and their friends have agreed that there shall be a fresh contest for Dunedin Central, and that in this way the cost of a petition against the magisterial decision shall be avoided. Both the party leaders profess to be facing the prospect of a second trial oJ; strength with confidence, and each iel ready with reasons why his views of tho' position is tiie correct one On one sidd it is argued that the lessened interest!, in the Bible in Schools question will re* duce the opposition to Mr Statliam, and on tho other hand it will improve the' chances of Mr Munro. What seemtf pretty certain is that ft large sectional vote which went to the Reform candL date last month will be transferred fa the Labor candidate when the fate o? the Government, and not the introduct-i ion of religious instruction into the! schools, is the crucial question at thei polls. At any rate the oontest will excite the keenest interest all over the' country. Petitions in Hawke's Bay and Bay of Islands as well as in the Northern Maori district, are being discussed, but the outcome of the whole business may be to' leave well or bad as the case may be' alone. Whatever may happen in this electorate or that it is obvious that parties' must be very closely balanced when Paw liament meets, and this prospect has' rnany people talking of the possibility of a coalition. Mr Massey him-i self is said not to be altogether opw posed to the idea as a temporary ex* nedie'it to avoid unseetnlv wrangling till the conclusion of the war', but Sir Joseph ' .Ward could scarcely accept sack an an rangement with receiving much larger concessions than have yet been suggested from the other side. Labor, too, has to' be considered, and in its present tempo* i ' ln! *dly favour a suspension l£ hostilities that involved t!be indefinite? postponement of the progressive legisla** tionit is seeking. Its contention is tSial Mr Massey, having insisted upon hold* ing the election in spite of the protests of the Opposition must abide by its Kfa si'.t. It appears logical e^ougft.