time, and Mr. Ballance, advised by Sir George Grey and supported by Mr. Seddon, was anxious to go to the electors as soon as possible and see what would result from the first election under the one-man-one-vote principle. With the consent of his followers, Mr. Ballance came to an arrangement with the Government to enable it to get through with the important work and let the House bring the session to a close and go at once to the people.
It was stated in several newspapers that the Government had insisted upon a particular clause being inserted in the arrangement. Mr. Seddon had not dealt with Sir Harry Atkinson’s estimates in vain. The Government had come to look upon him as its severest critic, and the man who was to be dreaded most; and a newspaper correspondent, who was not friendly towards either Mr. Seddon or the Liberal Party, published a statement that the Government had made a strong point of demanding from Mr. Ballance a promise that the member for Kumara would submit to party control. Mr. Ballance, the report added, could not undertake to answer for the strong-minded member for Kumara, and negotiations were nearly falling through until Mr. Ballance gave an assurance that there would be no fractious obstruction.
“Sir,” said Mr. Seddon, when the Government briefly announced the terms of the compact in the House, “you behold now the wreck of what was originally the independent member for Kumara. You see before you a member with a gag in his mouth, with his hands tied, and bound—without hope of release—I was going to say by party ties. No doubt, it would be galling to honourable members generally that liberty of speech should be taken from them as mine has been taken. As long as I consider that any agreement is in the interests of the country and will facilitate business I will be a party to it; but when I believe that any arrangement made will take away from me my liberty, or will prove injurious to my constituents or to the colony, I will have nothing whatever to do with that arrangement.
“It has been stated that the leader of the Opposition will guarantee to control the member for Kumara. Now, anyone
