POLITICAL NOTES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16700, 8 December 1919, Page 9

POLITICAL NOTES.

Preparing for a Combination. "It is noccsfary iu view of futuro • possibilities," remarks the "Wardito •'Southland IVr.iy News" r.ignifieantlv. "to emphasise tho distinction between i expressing approval of tho extremist* I and accepting tho a s>i.stance of a progressive taction —sometimes irrationally .ind ruthlessly pn'grt ssive--in pn niot-ng the donuvratie poli.y that will solve this count ry"< n;o!-t ditlictilt- problems. . - - ; It must bo asMimod that i f Messrs Holland and Semite are sufficiently loyal to vtand for Parliament their support maA in l accepted to help along a worthy ! .>aiiso without the infection of so-valled j Bolshevism being carried into a pro\iottslv clean camp." Who it tfce Leader of (be Opposition? , Replying to n question as to whether j he was in favour of paying tho leader : of "the Opposition a salary as well as an J honorarum, Mr Sidey said, tlio other j night, that he was not prepared to sug- | gost such a proposition. It was sorneI time.s difficult to know who was tho ; Leader of tho Opposition. Did Mr Sidey mean to suggc-a that sometimes Mr Holland occupied tho ! jtosition? GoTframeot Competition. During la.st session. said Mr A. S. Malcolm. Roform candidate for Clutha, i the Now Zealand Government, hail • placed a very drastic law on the Statu to i Book. It gave power to inspect the j books of any concern at- any time, prohibited the salooor. r even single articles at unreasonable prices, and provided for I fines of JL".OO and for imprisonment for ; profiteering. If any law could stop pro--i titoering this should do so. But though he was glad to see it. tried, lie ' felt thnt it was only bv tlio omn'oynient of natural forces, which would work almost automatically, that they could hot>o to keep price* at. a reasonable, level. Tho one groa< forco -which would do that was competition. Hut this u:is ! an ago of trusts, pools, combines, nn<l, ! j understandings, and competition in the • liigm-r businesses was almost killed. Tho I only way to revive it wtut for tho (Invj eminent itself to enter into competition ! whorcver it found that unreasonable profits were being made. . . . "While supporting Government competition, ho was strongly opposed to Government! nationalisation or State Socialism. lie was satisfied that no Government department could be run as well as a privately managed one, and Government interference in trndo and industry was only tolerable so long as it was limited to maintaining competition. Nationalisation of Coal Mines. 3fr IX Q. O'Brien, Opposition caji<Lidate for Duller, is a practical miner, J who li as returned to the tnino after war ; service. His views on tho nationalisation of coal minos nra therefore of peculiar interest. At a recent meeting lie said: "The nationalisation of oca 1 mines was a pbnk in tho Liberal Party's platform, but on this question ho would' support it only on a no-confideneo motion, as ho /thought it would not he advantageous to the worker or the people as a whole for tho State to tnke over existing coal mines held bv private companies." Tbe Promite-malur. Tho burden of theso "fro®'' things that tho vote-hunters are perpetually promising must in tho long run fall on the industrious and tho thrifty, nnd it. i.« the industrious, thrifty, and responfciblo citieons who should strike onit tho namo of the spendthrift promiso-makor. because it is ho who is encouraging the leaning habit and helping to bring about the very perils which no affect's to dcpLoro.—Manawatu "Timee." Labcor Party and Workers. "Tho Labour Party reprofients 80 j»er cent, of tho people of this country," announced an obriously earnest woman at Dr. Newman's mooting tho other night. If tho statement wcro true, comments a Southern paper, there would not ho an.v eleotion battlo worth fighting. The party thnt represented 8f) per cent, of the electors would win every neat in tJie House of Representative!), and set about tho establishment of it« own particular millenriinm without any delay. . . . There aro a good) many uncertainties about tho election, hut. there nro some certainties, and ono of them is that tbe voto for official "Labour will he n minority rote. It suits the purpose of tho extremist "bosses" to talk as though ther had all the workers of New Zealand behind them, but they know tho truth well cnottgji. Sana Labonr'* Greatest Obstacle. In the course of his speech at Mangawni tho Moderato Labour candidate, Mr A. 11. Curtis, declared that ho would not bind himself to support tho official Labour Party. Ho had again and again stated that tho present leaders of the Labour Party, with their extremo views and enunciations, were the greatesi hurdle that real Labour interests and progress bad to overcome.

No Elec lira Euntin lor ti-. "I am not prepared to say whether an elective executive would be a good thing or not," remarked Mr AV. ]>. 8. Mac Donald at Makaraka. "But wo havo had four jcars of National Government. Thero was no party in tho House but tho National Government was tho target of all. It had 110 friends. I don't think anyone who has l»ad four yoarg in the National Government is desirous of an oloctive executive. ] would not like to bo in one." Eeijr! The "Pororty Bay Herald," a supporter of tho Liberal Party, has put it* foot in it: "If," says that journal, "Sir Joseph Ward can bnOd dwellinghouses and profitably let thorn at 10s a week, why is it beyond tho power ofoverybody efso just now to construct a house for leas than a rental value of £1 a week at least?" Well, you seo, Sir Josenh builds his on paper. Real Profiteering. Mr C. E. Major, candidato for Manukau, 6»ys tho differenco between a privateer and a profiteer is that a privntoor preyed upon tho enemy on tho high teas, but a profiteer preyed upon tho people within his gates. "The man who docs halt a day's work for a wholo day's pay is just as much a profiteer as tho other fellow.'' —Lientenant-Colonel Mitchell at Newtown.

Tk Path of Temptation. Sir Joseph Ward has certainly stated that ho will not voto with revolutionary Labour "to break this country." No one has suggested that ho has any desire to break or smash the country. "What is feared is something much more subtle. The danger, as it appears to moderate voters, is that in tho event of neither of the principal parties commanding an absolute majority in Parliament. Sir Joseph Ward may bo led gradually along a perilous path at the dictation of tho Official Labour Party. It could not be said, for instance, that he had any intention in 1913 of smashing the country, jyet in that year ho advocated a "heart-to-heart talk 1 ' uith men who, by active violence and lawlessness, woro doing all they could to bring the country to disaster. It n possible that many such tcmpt-uions may be placed in Sir Joseph Ward's way after tho election. Will lie n o«t them?— Auckland "Horald.'*