THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1908. AN UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3051, 23 November 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1908. AN UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT.

Although Mr R. McNab, Minister for Lands, was defeated on Tuesday last, there seems to be some prospect of his being returned to Parliament at an early date. Mr McNab accepted his defeat in a most manly manner, and paid a warm and courteous tribute to his successful opponent. At the same time he made it clear that it was his desire to enter again into political life as soon as he obtained the opportunity. Mr McNab has since stated that he was prepared to contest a by-election should such come about, ancj now we have the I report of the Invercargill correspondent of the Dunedin "Star" that it

is rumoured that Mr Hanan, the Member for Invercargill, is about to resign with the object of inducing Mr McNab to contest the seat in the by-election, which would, it goes without saying, take place in due course. Mr Hanan, we may mention, at the recent election obtained 3,098 votes and Mr A. Paape, Labourite, 2,278 votes; thus the former's majority was 828 votes. How far the story of the correspondent referred to may be relied upon we do not know, but we are inclined to think that there is a good deal of truth in the rumour. Should Mr Hanan resign his seat, his self-sacri-fice, v/hile showing the sincerity of his belief in the Government, and in the Minister for Lands in particular, would not be without precedent or parallel in political history. For in- | j stance, the present Leader o± the Unionist Party in England (Mr A. B. Balfour) would not have been in Parliament to-day so far as the verdict of the City of Manchester (East) was concerned. Mr Gibbs, Unionist, however, resigned the City of London seat, which Mr Balfour won by a huge majority. If Mr McNab is, after all, coming back to Parliament by a purposely created byelection, the Government should, in their own interests, be careful to see that the seat is one that can be safely resigned. These are the days of surprises and of second ballots, and Invercargill may not be such a Government stronghold as is generally imagined.