The Press Thursday, March 8, 1923. The Position of the Liberals.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17707, 8 March 1923, Page 6

The Press Thursday, March 8, 1923. The Position of the Liberals.

It is natural that the Liberal "die- " hard-" should I*- overjoyed at Sir Josnpii Ward's decision to contest the Jaaranga. seal, and nobody will grudge ii)«Mn eiioii comfort as they may find in it. Ik';v and there, perhaps, soico Liberal may think it tactless and unkind of the "diehards'' *=o to praise Sir .Joseph os to imply a feeling of relief that; Mr Wilford may be superseded in the leadership. This, however, is rather a domestic concern of the Liberals, who may be left to settle for themselves their problems in taste and manners. Nor need we outsiders seek for more than entertainment in the {tinny extravagances of th»ir eulogies o; Sir Joseph. Dr. Thacker and the local Liixral newspaper long ago discovered and proclaimed that Sir Joseph is tho greattat statesman who ever lived, but one never tires of hearing them repeat this. Yet this unmeasured enthusiasm has its perils: it leads its victims on and on until they lose all touch with tho realities of politics. The local Liberal paper, for example, permitted itself to go the length of saying "the Iteform Party is so ob- " viously on the down grade that im'•'portant changes cannot be long de"layed."' This is an assertion which is susceptible of tent by recorded facts, and we know of no fact more important or relevant than the fact which emerges from the follo'ring table showing the votes secured by the different parties at the last general election and the general election of 1914:

Tliis is a "down grade" -which we, as Reformers, are quite willing to see continued and the measure of it is the main part of the reason why the Reform Party is perfectly ready to have another gejneral election—an event which the Liherals cannot tliink of without silently shuddering and changing the subject. The_Liberal paper adds that it "feels sure that the time " is fast approaching when the people "will see Liberalism once more in its "rightful place in the political oon- " stitution." But it does Dot feel sure enough, to say what it means, ir, indeed, it knows. Every student of politics understands the diehards when they talk in this way. They know "that .they could not hope for credence if they said that the Liberal Party would ever again come into power; therefore they, use vague phrases which Labour is left free to interpret as a signal that the Liberals are still ready to forget the past and live happily with the Reds. We must look, however, to Sir Joseph Ward to explain what" he understands to be the position and the purpose of bis old Party. As a lookeron he must have discovered, despite his natural bias and his natural limitations, that the mixture of bluff, nonsense, and scolding which has been thought sufficient by his Party is not sufficient at all.

1914. 1922. Reform ... 237,580 279,933 Liberal ... 218,549 179,i82 Labour ... 47,88=1 152,329