THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1907. POLITICAL PARTIES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8546, 2 October 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1907. POLITICAL PARTIES.

To put the position plainly, there is every prospect of a third political party coming into existence in the Dominion. Indeed, it is not going too far to say that it is already formed, that its ramifications are farreaching, and that wh'eri prdrerly organised it will be an extremely powerful force. It is, almost, unnecessary to remark that we refer to the Labour party. Coalitions may be talked of, but in the present state of political parties no coalition is possible. The Labour party has come from out of the ranks of the LiberalLabour party. Ifc is manifest, therefore, that it will not coalesce with the Government, while a coalition between the Opposition and the Labourites would be extremely objectionable in the eyes of the leaders of both parties, and remarkably unpopular among the adherents of both those parties. Moreover, a feature in the history of Labour parties is that the Labourites only support any Government so long as that Government complies with the demands of of Labour—consequently the Labour party is an unsafe ally for any other political party. It is beyond question that there is a strong. Opposition party in tie country, but it is completely and one has not to seek far to find the reason. | It lies in the fact that the leaders I of the Opposition—if not the Leader himself—are entirely out of touch with many who genuinely desire a much improved condition of political affairs. It is unnecessary to detail the why and the wherefore of the present position, but it is clear that under its present leaders the Opposition cannot make any progress, and this fact appears to be recognised by "the masses" from the North Cape to the Bluff.

ARE THEY WORTH. IT? Our Parliamentary correspondent, in a letter which we publish this morning, hints that the proud title of Dominion

may coat the people of this country i somewhat extra in the way of legis- ( lators' salaries. Reference is made to the recent action of the Common- ; wealth Parliament—an action greatly resented by the people of the Commonwealth, it may be remarked—in increasing the salaries of members of both Houses. We must confess that we have no sympathy with the argument that a man would "earn" more if be were not a politician. Politics should not be a profession, and the State should discourage professional politicians so far as it is possible to do so. The system of paying members, no doubt, tends to produce professional politicians, but, at the same time, it is not a system that should be dispensed with. Everyman who enters Parliamentary life should be imbued solely with patriotic motives, and not with a desire to earn a living "at politics." Patriotism should be encouraged, and it should be generally recognised that the ardent, and honest politician does sacrifice himself in various ways and tnat he does so cheerfully and willingly in the hope that he may ultimately succeed in benefiting his fellow men. It would be a sorry day for this country if within its borders there were no men willing to make sacrifices for the sake of country. A member's salary, we take it, should be sufficient to enable the poor man to enter Parliament, that is to say that poverty should not be allowed to be a bar to any man who wishes to serve his country in the legislative councils, but were the salaries unduly large they would tempt the weaker sort of politicians, in humble circumstances, to become "professionals" pure and simple. So far as we can see, there is no reason why> every member of the House of Representatives and Legislative Council should not earn a living apart altogether from his Parliamentary honorarium. If, however, an increase is considered desirable, then the question should be submitted to the people at a general election, ind not dealt with by the House ivithdut reference to the electors, [t will be remembered that the last jeeasion when our legislators increased their .salaries they did so durng the first session after a general Section, and .that an increase in Parliamentary honorariums was not Droposed by the Government party luring the election campaign.