WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 November 1917, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

PARTY POLITIC^, i THE WELLINGTON NORTH SEAT. Special Correspondent. Wellington, Nov. 2i. It is being taken for granted hero that the rumor of the Hon, A. L. Herdman'a early retirement from the Cabinet In) order to take Sir John Denniston's plaeo on the Supreme Court bonoli it well founded, and already the prospect of a contest for tho Wellington North seat is being eagerly discussed. Under the •irrann-pment. between the Liberal and Reform leaders the nomination of a candidate Will rest with Mr. Massey, the seat now being held by a Reformer, but th,. Labor Party has never officially subseiibed to the compact nifidc two years ""o anil considers itself quite free to put a candidate in the field if it sees fit to lo so, It asserted its independeneo at both the Pahiatua and the Jlawke's May by-elections, and there'is no doubt it would do SO without the slightest hesitation at. Wellington North if ifc thought it had any -chance of succeeding lit tl>o noil or of embarrassing the t'.onal Govorinnent.

A HAZARDOUS POSITION. This, of course, is only true of the extremists of the party, who Can see in the conditions created by the war no reason for the suspension of party activities. The moderate members of the party, represented in Parliament hrsuch wen as Mr. Veiteh and Mr. Tlindmarsh. "e ) nst as anxious as th© Lib«r*l« and tiie Keformers are to preserve the political peace till the Empire emerges vietunoin from the life and death struggle in wlueh it is at present engaged.* Hut if an acceptable Labor candidate were actually in the field for tho Wellington .North seat, a well-balanced, solid man, pledged to give the same support to the '•overrunent's war policy as Mr. Veitcli and llr. Hmdmarsh are giving, it might so \ery hard with the Reform eajididate. The by-elections at Pwliiatua and ■ lnwke s Iky showed that of the principal parties could bp worked up into anv great enthusiasm over the return of the other's candidate, and jf the Reform'■rs got no more assistance from the Liberals in the Wellington North contest than they did in the Pahiatua contest anything might happen. THE WAR CABINET.

What reads very much like an insulr**, paragraph appeared in The Dominion yesterday, calling attention to the fact that the Imperial War Cabinet will meet) in London next and stating thab the Prime Minister will not he present at the gathering. "It is well understood," sentence runs, "that Mr. Massey is not go'ing out of New Zealand to attend it, so that- if Xew Zealand Is to be represented, it will have to "bo by another Minister or other Ministers." This leads up to the suggestion that' '•Sir .1 oscph Ward may go," and that "possibly Sir James Allen : will accompany liini." !t seems, according to this authority, that the Minister of Finance cfm he better spared from the Dominion than the Prime Minister can, ami that the Minister of Defence has got his Department running so smoothly it could he left, in b\ss capable hands for a few months with perfect safety. Sir .TosepTi Ward is nwav from Wellington just now and his views on t.he subject cannot bo ascertained, but, admirably as hj» is observing the narty truce, his friends doubt if he would be content to leave tho field in possession of his old political opponents, with a general election among the possibilities of the immediate future. parliament: It is generally expected that if tlm end of/the war is not well in sight when Parliament, meets next year tho Government will bring down early in the session a proposal to prolong the life o( the House of Representatives for another twelve months. Nothing to thii effect has been said by Ministers, but the existence of a National Cabinet for tba course of the war makes it well nigh impossible for either party to frame a policy with which it could go to the constituencies. The most the party leaders could do would bo to stand together 'rt a demand for the maintenance of the Government in which they are associated lint with the general election further postponed Sir Joseph Ward mWht attend tli" meeting of the War Cabinet in the full assurance thnt. dnrm<v his absence his 1 rt.stv undcrstmlv. the Minister of. On* toms. would administer the more important of his -lenartments with the- saint cure and ability as he displayed lasl vear.