Review of Reviews, 20;lJQ6. 



Democracy in New Zealand. 



r 37 



Buchanan (a farmers' representative of many years' 

 Parliamentary experience), Mr. A. L. Herdman (a 

 rising barrister and keen critic of the Government), 

 and Mr. E. G. B. Moss (barrister), Mr. F. W. Lang 

 ^farmer), Mr. A. E. Harding (farmer), and Mr. W. 

 H. Hawkins (newspaper proprietor), amongst the 

 lesser Opposition lights, found their places taken by 

 Liberal candidates; whilst the " New Liberal Party " 

 — a party against the Government, and that was 

 going to " : smash up things " — lost its leader, Mr. T. 

 E. Taylor (easily the best debater in the last Parlia- 

 ment), and Mr. H. D. Bedford (a young man 

 who, in the election of 1902, polled the largest num- 

 ber of votes of any candidate in the colony). Of the 

 if New Liberal Party " of four only two came back, 

 Mr. G. Laurenson and Mr. F. M. B. Fisher, and 

 with the verdict of the people emphatically against 

 their line of policy. 



The causes of the Opposition debacle are not far 

 to seek. New Zealand has enjoyed wonderful pros- 

 perity during the Liberal regime. The fact that the 

 term Liberalism is synonymous with prosperity doubt- 

 less had something to do with making the people 

 cling to the "old love."' Whilst it is a mistake 

 to suppose that this happy state of affairs is due 

 to anything but to the industry and thrift of the 

 people themselves, there can be no question of the 

 fact that the policy of Mr. Seddon's Government is 

 thoroughly popular. True, that policy has added over a 

 million a vear to the national debt, but the bor- 

 rowed money has been invested in such reproductive 

 works that for the present, at any rate, the people 

 are not feeling any extra pressure in regard to the 

 payment of interest. Indeed, the Government sur- 

 pluses continue to grow annually, until Mr. Seddon. 

 in consonance with the generally expressed desire 

 at the recent elections, has now intimated his inten- 

 tion of reducing the Customs duties on the neces- 

 saries of life. 



Mr. Seddon's term of office may be divided briefly 

 into three distinguishing features — Labour, Im- 

 perialism, and " Humanities." Strange as it may 

 seem, a section of Labour revolted against the Sed- 

 don Government at the last election — against a 

 Government, too. which has given Labour almost 

 everything a democratic administration that had to 

 hold the balance evenly between all parties, espe- 

 cially between capital and labour, could give the 

 working man. This " revolt," however,, was extin- 

 guished in the Opposition downfall, and mam of the 

 Labour candidates lost their election deposits. 

 Labour had overlooked the Arbitration, Factories. 

 Land for Settlement, Old Age Pensions, Work-rs' 

 Compensation, Employers' Liabilitv, Wages Protec- 

 tion. Employment of Boys and Girls Without Pay- 

 ment Prevention, Public Contracts, and Workers' 

 Dwellings Acts ; Provision for the Higher Education 

 of the People's Children ; and manv other measures 

 that were passed mainly in the interests of the 

 workers. But the Government had called a " halt " 



in respect to Labour legislation ; it was found that 

 there was no necessity to go to the extreme lengths 

 demanded by the socialist section of the Labour 

 Party, and hence, no doubt, the severance of Labour 

 from Liberalism. Liberalism triumphed, but in 

 reality Liberalism meant Democracy, and it was 

 difficult to understand what more democratic policy 

 Labour could have had than what Liberalism had 

 already given it. In respect to Mr. Seddon's Im- 

 perialism, that brought under his banner many 

 crusted Tories who formerly denounced him and all 

 his works. The third feature of Mr. Sed- 

 don's term of office indicated in the fore- 

 going has been his legislation in the direction of 

 what he himself has described as the "Humanities" 

 — for the protection of infantile life by the establish- 

 ment of State Nursing Homes, or otherwise in mak- 

 ing provision for the people from " the cradle to the 

 grave " — bringing the young people safely into the 

 world, and smoothing the pathway of the old people 

 as they go out of it. 



What will Mr. Seddon do with his large majority? 

 It has been said that the Liberal party is now " top- 

 heavv," and that there will soon be dissensions be- 

 tween the rank and file. The Premier says, how- 

 ever, that he has no anxiety on this point ; he has 

 managed an overwhelming majority ere this, and he 

 feels himself quite competent to do so again. He 

 recognises that the possession of such a large majo- 

 rity brings with it greater responsibility. " If you 

 trust the people, and do that which is just and right, 

 you need have no fear,'' he declares. And that has 

 been the keystone of his success in the past. Cabi- 

 net reconstruction has been urged on him, in view of 

 the fact, generallv admitted, that there are men in 

 the Liberal ranks who are much more able to cam 

 out Ministerial duties than several of the Ministers 

 who now held office. But a peculiar position has 

 to be faced in the matter of any Cabinet reconstruc- 

 tion. All the Ministers of the previous Cabinet 

 were returned. The verdict has been emphatically 

 in their favour, and, that being so, the Premier may 

 perhaps be well justified in asking. " Whv should f 

 make any change ?" However, logically, and to 

 satisfv the demands of his own partv, then 1 will 

 doubtless in due course be a reconstruction of the 

 Cabinet, whose administrative capacity in respect to 

 certain departments, notably Agriculture, Lands, 

 Justice, and Customs, has been undeniably weak. 



The lesson of the recent elections is that the 

 people of New Zealand want no other policv but 

 progressive Liberalism. To this policy Mr. Seddon 

 owes his remarkable success as a politician. Cer- 

 tainly, he has his faults, but what great leader of 

 men has not ? His administration may be criticised 

 from many standpoints. That is not, however, within 

 the scope of this article. His policy is right. It 

 has been almost unanimously endorsed by the people 

 of New Zealand. 



