GREAT REFORM PARTY's MEETING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 23, 26 January 1912, Page 7

GREAT REFORM PARTY's MEETING.

Sir, I though. tha.t it was always considered a wise plan not to be too sure, till one was safe out of the wood, but evidently Mr. Massey has everything’ cut and dried. Stop till after the loth of 1 February, and I am afraid that the ’ • Reform party' 1 will he the most dis- i trusted of men. The following extracts from a resident hanker in England may' be interesting-;—“ Your elections caused a very great surprise here, and our paper, j the ‘Times.’ practical!y looks at the ' result of the polls ns a very severe blow j to the welfare of vour country. A great number of us here look at Sir J.isenh i Ward a= being one of the most capable , men in the Empire, but I think that ; .• hen T>, ri; .mos.r meets there mav, he a ‘surprise packet.' Anvhow, I heartily wish it for one, and a great i many others do also. When I was in j N'ew Zealand what struck me very for- | -11.- »he eei'mil-d na-ejng of Mr. Massey at winr Rremier. like a disappointed man. always threatening another, but frightened to take action."—l am. etc., A-

'TI TIP " "iror i i >ir.—The Relorm -party's meeting in the T'*wn Hall on Wednesday evening i marked an epoch in the annals of the party. It bore striking testimony to The organising ability of the responsible officials and to the general interest in the political situation, biit beyond that its practical utility is enveloped in nebulous dubiety. The meeting was to a certain extent of a triumphal character: by the coaghnnerate sympathy of the audience the champions were to be heartened for the tattles yet to be fought, a id conversely the rank and file were t be inspired by the sight of their leaders and the fire of their words. Music, also, was to have its witching sway—and did. The toTvn organ thundered out the strains of "See, the Conquering Hero Comes." and sweet singers relieved the arid political symposium with sympathetic song. But even these delightful accessories failed to accomplish what they were intended to do—to inspire, to enthuse, and to satisfy. There was a numerous orchestra of orators—little men who brawlv but ineffectually beat the big drums of speech with loud-swelling words; there were big men who toot-tootled on political pipes well worn with age: the loud cymbals of defiance were clashed with zeal by faithful henchmen, and the tomtoms of warning resounded in the hands of all and sundry. But there was a lamentable absence of ttrne cr time or harmony, and such unity as did occur appeared to be accidental, and not the fault of the piece. Here one interpreted the situation as a paean of praise for a totally unexpected victory; the dialectical melody of another soared in contemplation of good things to oome; to another, doleful laments for the dark happenings of the wintry past appeared as a c<*rect rendition of the theme: while to others little solos of their own composition and to their own praise appeared the most charming notes of all. Ah, me! They weTe a poor gallery of I speakers. Three such meetings as tha*, I addressed by the same group of men, would prove the undoing of the party. In personnel tbey were not inspiring. One of them described their partv as ' having been in tihe political desert for | twenty years—they looked like it—worn I by fruitless maTches. buffeted from pillar to post in the amphitheatre of politics, denied tne cheering sustenance of office, I and longing only for sortie safe haven. I Another of themselves described them as tunnel-builders who -had been groping ! in the dark. Thev looked almost as if the fierce white light of publicity were too much for them. While as for their talk! it ooirfd best be described as the -i pitiful patter of inadequate oratory." As a whole, they failed to rise to the occasion. Here weTe the representatives of a party, avowedly triumphant at the polls, with the pahn of victory rn its hands, before an andienee professedly sympathetic, and with one exception they contented themselves with the repetition of stodgy shibboleths and wellfrayed pla.Tftirdes, regarding the obvious relation of town and country, of the indictment of nrisoeHansoos "graft, 1 ' and of the cotrimearplace vaoer'troncf ermal imtßiriii nitre—

Can you imagine the cultured tongue of Sir George Grey on such an occasion, or the rugged eloquence of Seddon, doing justice to a time like this? Notwith- : standing a certain disparaging slur on 1 these great Liberals, I affirm they would 1 have stood the test, and have made such ; a meeting an event to be remembered : instCTd of a memory to be buried as ; quickly aa possible in the deepest obj livion. I I say again that the meeting was suo- . cessful in its externals merely. The i place was right, the crowd and the conduct of the meeting left nothing to be desired, beyond a wish for a more j audible chairman. But where I say the | causerie was barren the reason lies here: ; I admit there was enthusiasm of a cer- . tain type: it was manifest in welcoming cheers and applause at the mention of Mr. Massey’s Christian name and the ancient party gags of promise -and defiance, and that was all. There was nothing said to create enthusiasm. No one speaker had that indefinable magnetism that infuses hope into the hearts of the people ami makes them see political visions that will inspire them to work for the general uplift. They were merely new men who were going to sweep the old stable a little cleaner 1 maybe, but they were destitute of that | magic insight that could make it appear i a palace. Most of them were deplorably ; destitute of humour; some were insufferably egotistic, and all dealt in vague generalities and promiscuous prophecy to a n extended degree. While as for any j evidence of capable statesmanship and , constructive ability, criticism draws a hopeless blank. The whole symposium I was intended as a composite presentment of the Reform Party and its ideals, . and viewing the political situation as one i demanding insight and generalship to a marked degree, and knowing that the welfare of the whole Dominion depends on the sum total of the wisdom and political genuis of the party in power, I frankly confess myself disappointed in the Reform Party and the net result of its bumper rally in the Auckland Town Hall.—l am, etc., PESSIMIST! CUS.