moral and physical even more highly than the military effects of the system, and tactfully guided by Maj.-Gen. (afterwards Lt.-Gen. Sir Alexander) Godley as commandant, the administra- tion gave surprisingly little trouble; but the Ward Government, on the eve of the elections of 1911, showed less determination in the face of some recalcitrant defaulters than did either of the two succeeding Governments after the elections had passed. In 1913-4 the strength of the forces was: Permanent forces 578; Territorials 25,902; Senior Cadets 25,659. The expenditure on military defence was 519,294.
Reform Movement. The general election of 1911 turned largely on questions of personnel and administration. The old Liberal-Labour enthusiasm had not been revived. Sir Joseph Ward, who had stated a few years before that a slackening of the pace of legislation was desirable, had no striking legislative programme to submit to the electors. The Opposition, which had lately adopted the name of Reform party, concerned itself chiefly with attacking the administration of the Government, especially in regard to partisan appointments to the public service and the Legislative Council and partisan dispensation of public works. For each of these alleged abuses the Reform party proposed a legislative remedy. They also proposed to concede to most of the Crown tenants the right to purchase the freehold a proposal which appealed very strongly to the rural electors and took the Government at a disadvantage by dividing its followers. The Liberals were further embarrassed by the growing hostility of Labour. The independence which Labour had begun to display in Seddon's lifetime had steadily developed since, and now threatened the Government with more serious consequences by better organization, a more determined hostility, and a larger supply of Labour candidates. The alliance of small landowners and workers which had made the Liberal- Labour combination irresistible was thus threatened in both its branches.
The great weakening of the Government revealed by the polling of Dec. 7 1911 came nevertheless as a general surprise, the figures being: Government (Liberals) 37; Opposition (Reform party) 37; Labour 4; Independent 2. The new Parliament was summoned for a special session on Feb. 15 1912, and the no- confidence motion moved by Mr. W. F. Massey, the leader of the Opposition, was rejected on Feb. 27 by the casting vote of the Speaker, the voting being 39 to 39. Parliament was then pro- rogued, and, pursuant to a promise which he had given during the no-confidence debate, and which had saved the Government from defeat by inducing two of the Labour members to violate their election pledges, Sir Joseph Ward resigned the premiership. He also declined to take any other office. A new Liberal Ministry was formed by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Thomas Mackenzie, which included no member of the Ward Ministry except himself, but on the reassembly of Parliament it was defeated on the first test division by 41 votes to 33 (July 6). The Liberal regime which had ruled the country for 21 years without a break, and during the greater part of that time with an absoluteness which was good neither for the country nor for the party itself, was at an end. It was significant that three-fourths of the Opposition majority was accounted for by secession from the Government, who gave the land question as the reason for their change.
Mr. Massey was sent for and on July 10 the Mackenzie Ministry resigned, and the names of the new ministers with their principal portfolios were as follows: Mr. W. F. Massey, Prime Minister, Lands, Agriculture and Labour; Mr. (afterwards Sir) James Allen, Finance, Defence and Education; Mr. W. H. (afterwards Sir) William Herries, Railways and Native Affairs; Mr. (afterwards Sir) William Fraser, Public Works, Mines; Mr. A. L. Herdman, Attorney-General, and Justice M. B. Fisher, Customs and Marine; Mr. F. H. D. (afterwards Sir Francis) Bell, K. C., Internal Affairs and leader of the Legislative Council; Mr. R. H. (afterwards Sir Heaton) Rhodes, Post- master-General and Public Health; Mr. Maui Pomare, Cook and other islands and member of Executive representing the native race. The new Ministry made good progress in its first session with the measures which the Reform party had promised
on the hustings. The Public Service Act 1902 placed a large part of the service under the sole control of a Commissioner and two Assistant Commissioners to be appointed for the term of seven years, responsible only to Parliament, and removable only for misconduct or incompetence. A salutary restraint was placed upon the activity of the politicians by a clause which rendered anybody liable to a 50 fine who sought to interfere with the Commissioner's decision in regard to any appointment, promo- tion or dismissal, a principle which Sir Joseph Ward had in 1907 declared his willingness to accept in its application to members of Parliament. The completeness of the measure was seriously marred by the exclusion of the railways, one of the largest of the departments, from its operation. Another, the Post and Telegraph Department, was excluded in 1918 when the National Government was in office ; but Mr. Massey afterwards declared the intention of the present Government to extend the scope of the Act. The measure certainly enhanced the independence of the service, as its members fully appreciated, and the Liberals, who strongly opposed the passing of the bill, appear to have accepted the principle. In a country where, according to the estimate made by a Liberal minister, Mr. J. A. Millar, as long ago as 1909, about one-eighth of the people are directly dependent on the State, the importance of this principle is obvious. No attempt has been made to deal with what the Reform party justly denounced to the electors as a much more powerful instrument of political influence the ministerial control of Public Works, which in judicious hands may determine the votes of a whole countryside in favour of the Government. A measure of decentralization which will delegate much of this power to an improved local Government system seems to be the remedy required.
The reform of the Legislative Council was undertaken in 1912 in a drastic bill which was read a second time by the Council and then shelved. As finally passed two sessions later, after the Government had appointed new Councillors for the purpose, the Legislative Council Act 1914 provides for the popular elec- tion of a Council of 40 members half the number of the mem- bers of the House. For the purposes of the Council election the 76 single-member electorates which elect the European mem- bers of the House will be grouped in 4 electoral divisions, 2 for each island, and each division will return its quota of Council- lors under the Tasmanian system of proportional representation. The quota will be readjusted after each census in accordance with the population, but it will always be an odd number, and it is fixed for the present at 1 1 for the North Island divisions and 9 for those of the South Island. Though the Act was passed in 1914, it was not yet in operation in 1921. As it had sharply divided the parties, its suspension was made a condition of the war coalition, and in 1920 its operation was further postponed by an amending Act. Mr. Massey shared the widespread opinion that the power of nomination to the Council should not be entire- ly abolished. The measure never attracted any general enthu- siasm, and the higher standard observed by the Reform Govern- ment in its nominations much weakened the case that the party made for a change in the law when in Opposition.
Land Agitation. The land question, which had contributed more to the Reform party's success than any other legislative issue, was also dealt with during the Massey Government's first session. In 1907 Mr. R. McNab, who was then Minister of Lands in the Ward Government, had done good work by procuring the abolition of the " eternal lease." That a tenure which alienated Crown land for a ggg-years' term on a 4-per-cent. rental without revaluation thus seeking to settle the battle of the tenures by a compromise which combined the vices of both should have remained on the statute-book during 15 restless years, is one of the wonders of New Zealand politics. Mr. McNab's Land Act substituted for this absurdity a perpetually renewable lease a lease for 66 or 33 years, with a continuous right of renewal subject to revaluation, and gave the holders of existing perpetual leases the option of converting them into renewable leases or purchasing the freehold. The right of purchase, however, did not extend to " settlement land " i.e.
