THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1912. THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
If it be time that the Brim© Minister intends! rectanstrueting his Ministry, and carrying on the affairs of the country as'(though he held a majority in the House, an act of political dishonesty and. will liavie beem . committed which in unt•pairaJiMed in the history of the self-, governing dominions. By aio process of calculation can it be shown that the Ward Administration' has the saipport of the constituencies. Thle result of the second ballot and of the .Maori elections' left it in a. minority so far as the major parties are concerned. Sir- Joseph .Ward cam only secure a majority by the assistance of those who were pledged to_ vo*e against liim. The people will refuse to believe that the Labour ana Independent.(members have given am assuramcJe to the Bnime Minister that they are so soon ready to vdol•ate their election pledges. The only possfib!e means of testing the position 'i» to call Parliament together at once and take a direct division on> a I question of ino-con.fide.nße. If the Labour and Independent members are prepared to note on all' crucial questions) with the Government, Sir Joseph Ward ha si, of course, a right to carry on. In the absence of direct evidence on tihis .point, (however, the eouintry is entitled t'g) think that the pledges of the Labour members in particular are being respected, and that the Prime Minister is assuming an indefensible position. The strength l of the Rleiorm Party, or its ability to farm a Cabinet and carry bn : tihe business of the country, does not enter immediately into the discussion. Tllie whole point at issue is .whether Sir Joseph Ward, having been absolutely defeated at the polls, is entitled to 'carry on under tliie assumption that his minority can be converted into a majority. Oi* this point tli/ere can surely be only one opinion. Any assumption of the sort caan he characterised alone as sheer presumption, and a Prime Mira< ttetci' wllio presuniies upon his position is axsting autocratically and unconstitutionally. E-.-wy administrative
act which is performed by the Government between now auid the a.ssen>bliag of Parliament is open to impeachment, and every penny drawn in salary and travelling allowance by | MJhi'sters of the Grown may be challenged. . In, the circumstances, one would have thought Unit, however pronounced lQi'o ili.'Pt -frr office of the Prhvfe Muwistcr n :..'v: bo, every se&fi',espeeting member of .the House wo .did refuse to accept .tire /responisi-baJ-iae-s and emoluments of office- until it was dearly demonstrated that the Ministry .could' command a majority in the House on. a no-confidence motibiii. Apparently,. however, there are men, in our Legislature to-day w'ro would sacrifice every vestige of priv.ciple that a temporary political advantage might !>e jjuined. The administrative acts of Sir Joseph. Ward have been subjected, to withering criticism at the (hustings; but mo act o'f omission c,r commission, can carry with it the consequences 1 of an open, and deliberate defiance of the expressed, wiill' of the people.
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Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10520, 8 January 1912, Page 4
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508THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1912. THE POLITICAL SITUATION. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10520, 8 January 1912, Page 4
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