Party Politics

The 1890 strike was a failure but it did create a huge amount of sympathy for the labour cause. Ballance as leader of the Liberals was able to organise an opposition to the Government. In the subsequent election Atkinsons Government was toppled by Ballance in conjunction with several Union backed MP's. In the interlude between the election and the new Government, Atkinson stacked the Legislative council with his Conservative supporters. These supporters then refused to pass any of the Liberal legislation.

This initially slowed Liberal reforms and created a constitutional crisis in which the Governor General was forced to accept the appointees that Ballance wanted to make to correct the imbalance.Ballances slow decline into illness also slowed the Liberals so that much of their most memorable legislation appeared after the 1893 election and Ballance had died before his preferred replacement, Stout, could take his seat.

This left the leadership open for Seddon to take the reigns which he would retain for the next 13 years. Ballance had surrounded himself with a talented Cabinet which included , Seddon, Pember -Reeves, Stout and McKenzie. they are most famous for their groundbreaking legislation that included the Electoral Act of 1893 which gave Women the vote, the 1895 Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Pember-Reeves)and the 1898 Pension Act.

McKenzie was also held responsible for breaking up the "Great Estates". However this was not the savage attack on the rich (on behalf of the 'Small man' )that it is portrayed as. The Depression had hit overstretched run holders, many of whom were forced into receivership by their Banks. The Liberals were offered several times more land in the South than they purchased and the most of the land they did acquire came from Maori in the north.

Their most famous piece of legislation is perhaps the Electoral Act of 1893. Championed by the WCTU and Kate Sheppard with the support of several leading politicians it gave women the vote establishing a truly universal suffrage. Seddon did his best to oppose the law but allowed the bill to pass through tot he Legislative Council where he expected it to die. Several mmbers of the Council found Seddon more objectionable and passed the bill to spite him.

The Arbitration Act gave recognition to Unions and many took the chance to work through the process. Once in arbitration both parties had to accept the decision given to them. As a result there was relative calm on the industrial front giving the appearance all was well. Pember -Reeves left almost immediately for London, his fabian background does not always appear to have seen him able to work with the more moderate caucus.

The Pension Act was a favourite of Seddons, who could see the benefits for the many (now indigent) elderly gold miners because of his personal history as a miner and a pblican in Kumara. However it was only available to persons of good character, who could prove their age and who were not Chinese. It is an interesting idea that this act reflected New Zealands growing egalitarianism and desire to give everyone a fair go (perhaps even an extension of Phillips 'Mateship' or Belichs 'Crew Culture'.)

The Liberals faced little challenge at the subsequent elections because there was little in the way of an organised opposition. Thus, although they lost support in 1896 they held onto power. Increasingly as well Seddon came to dominate the party creating a top down style of leadership, surrounding himself with 'lesser' men who tended to agree with him. The idea of party politics started with Ballance but it was Seddon who enshrined its ideals and created the system we have today.