The Bruce Herald MILTON, MOND., AUG. 25th, 1919

Bruce Herald, Volume LV, Issue 65, 25 August 1919, Page 2

The Bruce Herald MILTON, MOND., AUG. 25th, 1919

Though the country has chafed .at the protracted delay in reverting to constitutional government since the signing of the Armistice, mild sur* prise was never-tlie-less created at the eleventh hour resignation ol Sir Joseph Ward. Had this been tendered nine months ago, some merit might have accrued, but now coming at the last moment when the advantages of kicking the ground from under the Reform Party's feet apparently outweighed those of a continuance of good faith, the average elector will regret that the parties responsible for the conduct of affairs during the past five years did not!" break clean " after a short and ex« peditious " wash»up," The pretense that the Liberal party has become completely dissatisfied with the stagnation of the National Government, and the fact that criticism is necessarily suppressed out of a sense of loyalty to the compact will amuse more than it impresses, and emphasises the fact that though the leader of the Opposi* tion may have enlarged his outlook from association with European states" men, he still remains sublimly unconscious of those finer instincts that distinguish between mere political oportuneism the spirit of the game. Taking his policy as a whole, it will no doubt appeal to Liberals and moderate Laborites, content to take it at its face value, as a bold protestation of ability to solve Dominion problems. In presenting it he undoubtedly displays ideas, but what is their intrinsic value in the absence of that courage and ability to prosecute them that has characterised his administration in the past ? The outstanding impression resulting from a careful perusal of his policy is that Dominion problemi have been exhaustively reviewed in the light of experience gained of the treat" ment of similar questions elsewhere, but the fact obtrudes itself that we are once more asked to take him on trust on no better ground than that his party was prepared to disregard the interests of the country by declining to collaborate longer with their colleagues of the National Ministry in the settle** ment of urgent business in hand, for the sake of the questionable tactical advantage of getting in first.