COALITION UNLIKELY.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 July 1915, Page 5

COALITION UNLIKELY.

.\() OPPOSITION TO WAR HILLS.. ItADICAL MEMBERS' VIEWS. ('l'.v W ire.—Own Ciirre.-ipomlont.) Wellington, Lust Night. The discussion of tin; coalition proposal is proceeding under a cloak of silence, the Prime .Minister and the Leader of the Opposition having held their ifirsi conference this morning. What happened or what course the discussion took the members of Parliament have still to learn, and the general ex-jHTt-ation is that there will he no announcement on the subject lor a iveek or more.

The Prime Minister informed your correspondent to-day, in answer to a question on the subject, that he exported thorn would have to be many meetings, " perhaps half a dozen," before all the pros and cons could be considered by himself and the Leader of the Opposition. 11l the meantime, he had nothing to say beyond the general statement that the suggestion ho had made was being deliberated. Sir Joseph Ward indicated that he had no statement to make at all.

The trend of opinion in the lobbies undoubtedly is against the success of the. coalition negotiations. The report that the Ministers are offering the Opposition three seats in a Cabinet of nine is repeated witli confidence by members who ought to have what inside information is available. It is taken for granted that the Leader of the. Opposition will refuse those terms, which bear no relation at all to the strength of parties in the House of Representative*. Then the more Radical members of tlie Opposition are saying that coalition would be regarded by them -as an intolerable, sacrifice, of political principles unless it were made absolutely necessary by the pressure of events connected with the war. They point out that at present there is no such pressure. Coalition, they say, is being discussed because the Government has not a working majority, not because any consideration of national interest demands the wiping out of party lines. Sir Joseph Ward is not bound in any way by the views of the Radical members, but one. gathers that he regards the proposal as one which the party, as a whole, should have the right to pass judgment upon. IVrhaps the strongest argument in support of the opinion that there is not going to be any full coalition is to be found in the fact that Parliament is proving the fusion of parties, even temporarily, to be unnecessary, as far as the ■prompt despatch of business and the avoidance, of party squabbles arc concerned. The Government's War Billa are being passed almost without debate. What little inucussion that has taken place in the House of Representatives during the last few days has been of a very useful character, witlioivt the, least suspicion of an attempt on either side to gain a party advantage. The Government has shown marked "willingness to listen to suggestions and to make desirable changes and amendments. The Opposition has displayed great restraint and an earnest desire to assfst the Ministers. What Air. Massey calls the " spirit ot reasonableness" lias been abroad, and the results from the .point of view of both parties have been entirely iiappv. Even the argument, that coalition is required to ibring all the host men in ..Parliament in active, work for the common good is failing, since the Government is entrusting responsible inquiries to committees, on which both sides of the House are ably represented.