WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1919, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

CLOSE OF THE SESSION. A GOOD RECORD. • (Special Correspondent. Wellington, Nov. 5. On the whole the closing session of the expiring Parliament was more useful and more decorous than was generally expected- For the first surprise the main credit must go to the Government, and fof the second to the Opposition. Mr. Massey and his colleagues had thei - measures surprisingly well forward, and though some of them obviously were intended rather to tickle the ears of the electors than to bring thein any material advantage, many or them will make notable additions to the Statute Book. The gibe that th.e Reformers had "collared" many of the planks of their opponents' platform fell somewhat flat, which was only natural in view of the fact that in these days thinking men the whole world over are changing their minds and adjusting their political creeds to the altered conditions of society.

THE OPPOSITION. Perhaps the Opposition's part w«ts the more difficult to play. The Government's hold upon office was never seriously threatened, the "independent" Reformers who during Mr. Massey's absence from the Dominion had proclaimed their intention to do this, that and the other thing on his return falling into line very promptly when he actually appeared on the scene, but on one or two occasions it easily might have been embarrassed had the Liberals cared to strain the rules of the game. Sir Joseph Ward, however, was not free from manifestations of "independence" on ins own side of the House and probably he felt that both as a matter of expediency and as a. matter of tactics, it was best to leave Mr. Massey in undisturbed possession of the Treasury Benches. OFFICIAL LABOR. A feature of the session was the presence in the House for the first time of representatives of the extreme section of the Labor Party. Mr. Holland, Mr. Semple, and Mr. C. Fraser stood quite apart from Labor members previously returned to Parliament, not excepting Mr. P. C. Webb, in that they would accept no compromise and think of no alliance with other progressive elements. They stood frankly for Social Democracy, as they interpreted the tenn-lor themselves, and directed their onslaught rather against the Liberals than against the Reformers. Towards the close of the session, however, Mr. Semple and Mr. Fraser had begun to recognise that Labor members like Mr. Veitch and Mr. Smith, equally independent and equally progressive with themselves, were doing a great deal more towards the realisation of Labor's aspirations than they were doing themselves. During the last few days it looked at times "as if Mr. Holland were about to become a party of one.

AND AFTER. Probably never before on the approach of a general election has the public known so little about the temper and disposition of the constituencies as it does at the present time. There is a feeling abroad that the new Parliament will contain many new faces, but where they will come from no one appears to know or even to be ready with a plausible speculation on the' subject. Five years have elapsed since the last general election and in the interval the public ; has had weightier things on its mind than the merits and demerits of prospective candidates. In the quarters that were usually well-informed in the old days, however, it is expected that the two old parties will come back from the polls asain very evenly balanced and that Independent Labor will be sufficiently well represented to turn the scale either way. In that event Parliament may find in another coalition the only escape from an otherwise intolerable position.