WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 March 1921, Page 12

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

LABOR IN PARLIAMENT. ITS IMPERIAL ASPIRATIONS. (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, March 14. Mr. H. E. Holland’s announcement of his intention to move an amendment to the Address-in-Reply came as no surprise to the House of Representatives. It was generally'known among members, indeed, that the text of the amendment had been in preparation for some days previously, and that the pent up thunder of the Labor Party would not be witheld on account of the hasty squib exploded by the leader .of the Liberal Opposition. Of course the fate of the two amendments would be a foregone conclusion even if there were a reasonable measure of work-’ng cohension between the three of four elements constituting the Opposition. As it is, Mr. Massey could well afford to allow his opponents to do all the talking and trust to his friends to do the voting. THE INEVITABLE CONCLUSION. Probably there is not a single member of the House who honestly believes that anyone but the Prime Minister eould adequately represent the Dominion at the Imperial Conference. Sir James Allen and Sir Joseph Ward have been suggested as .substitutes for the head of the Government, but, obviously for' entirely different reasons, they both are unsuited for the responsibility. -Sir James Allen, to begin with, lacks the experience of such representative duties as is required in this time of crisis, and, to end with, has not as High Commissioned so far made quite clear his posession 6f the qualities the occasion demands. Sir Joseph Ward has the experience, and in a large degree the qualities, but he is not in Entire sympathy with the Imperial policy of the Government, and probably would not accept the position were it offered to him. THE POSTPONED SESSION. The only practical question remaining therefore, is whether or not the ordinary session of Parliament shall be postponed till Mr. Massey’s return from the Conference. Both Mr. Wilford and Mr. Holland, presumably speaking with the authority of their respective sections of the Opposition, have declared against postponement, the former urging the pressing legislative and financial needs of the country, and the latter elaborating these points with the additional contention that it would be highly improper to leave the leadership in the hands of Sir’Francis Bell, who is not a member of the elected branch of the legislature. The plain truth is that among his colleagues in the House there is not one to whom the Prime Minister with confidence could even temporarily assign the duties of his high office. The fact may be unfortunate, but it clearly is incontestable. AN INTERLUDE. An amusing little interlude was provided in the House on Friday afternoon by Mr. McCallum’s protest by way of a “personal explanation,” against the publication of what purported to be a report of a caucus of the Liberal Party, which stated that all the members of the party .“had been present or had been accounted for.” The member for Wairau, who is a little particular just now about the party company he keeps, declared he was a Liberal, but had not been present at the meeting and bad not authorised anyone to account for him. The laugh was not all on one side when Mr. Wilford explained, also as a matter of “personal explanation,” that the report applied only to members who accepted his leadership and that he had no wish to coerce Mr. McCallum. It was the soft answer that should have turned away wrath and made for the consolidation of the ranks of the party.