The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1908. THE PREMIER AND HIS CRITICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 142, 10 March 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1908. THE PREMIER AND HIS CRITICS.

'In Ms'riiost receut "reply" to the critics of • his, financial administration,. the Premier exli'ib'ited . again,''and : in a more I .'marked,degree than usual, those semed' r ' of his bohtro-/ •.versial 'utterances—great! generosity of. 'assertion and great thrift'of argument. The ' strain of ;'deKyering 45 Speeches in 10 days, and receiving upwards of 20' deputations per day, is . no; doubt, partly, accountable for the poverty'of his. reply; But while we can the. Premier: for' amplifying his speeches " with pleasing eulogies of the vast benefits conferred by the beneficent administration of which he is the head, we must take strong exception to his astounding distortion of the attitude of those. who find reason to criticise the wisdom of his financial methods; To the : Premier the double phenomenon of a huge increase in taxation and an unabated increase in our monstrous public debt may appear to be actual proofs of, the unprecedented soundness of the Dominion's "financial position, but to many people it is a phenomenon that ma'kes' it not unreasonable to hold an opinion contrary to that of the Premier. ;. '■ Nobody, so, far as we. are aware, has suggested tliat the Dominion', is in' a desperate, case, or that ; the 'country is hot prosperous, but many authorities of as high a standing, as the Premier have urged, and will ho doubt continue to urge in despite of the Premier's indignant surprise, that a radical change in the Government's legislative and administrative methods is necessary in the best interests of the people. When a critic,' moved to reflection by a heavy fall in the prices/of our staple products, looks about him, he sees that neither the annual loss oh tha railways, nor the heavy commitment with respect to the unnecessary Midland Railway line, nor the astounding increase of the public debt, is regarded by the Premier as a good reason for giving up his extravagances. We should consider it neither singular not regrettable, that: such a critic jihpuld cenmue the Premier's foolish J

optimism, nor can we ; regard it as an aggravation of the'offence that this censure should be administered " immediately after " the Premier had indulged in one 1 of his most enthusiastic ' outbursts. Reference has been made iii these columns on previous occasions to the Premier's curious identificatibn of the Government's credit with the credit of the Dominion. Upon this point lie seems to be incorrigible. The two credits, we are glad to be able to say, are quite distinct. It is time that the Premier cultivated a sense of humour, for 1 there' is nothing so ludicrous as his established conviction that to call 'attention to any national weakness is ah affront to liiih personally. If there were to develop in New Zealand a system of corruption as detestable and' extensive as that ■iyhich grew up in Sap Francisco imder R.uef and Schmitz, would the Premier' have the ' tongue of censure silenced lest the. truth "should injure the country's credit,' and' lessen the facilities for a further piling up of the public debt? And yet Sir Joseph Ward adopts this attitude towards his financial critics, and tries to make the public believe that all , who will , hot share his blind optimism are traitors to their country, or,' as he; so elegantly puts it, criers'oi " stinking fish." The device'is' threadbare'- wi'tli' ■'service, and deceives only the' iihthinking : . . It- is iihwoi'thy of the Prime Minister of the Dominion, and 'degrading to his high office 1 tliat he' should' descend to political irickci-y-"of 'this kind;

Only one other point in '• Sir Josepli Ward's speech calls for notice here, "No Opposition ' memhev," lie is reported as saying, " had ever given any indication that'if "returned to. power the party would Remove from- the: Statute"Book a single one of the measures passed hy the present or late Administration.". The Premier overlooks the fact tliat for years past the Opposition has been calling for the repeal of the Public Revenues .'Act as a.first- step to sweeping financial reforms. Has the : Premier, also, already forgotten the Land Bills of last session? . Doqs not. the' Government' itself "intend—or, ."in these, .days of embarrassment, ' ,wc-should-perhaps .say: did .it 'not last year propose—to .repeal a, large and material .portion !of the Arbitration Act ? ]3ut, in truth, what" are more urgently wanted than the repeal oif Acts are administrative.;-reform: aii'd a cessation of Socialistic legislation;' The. Premier., pannot. 'say that these want's are not widely felt, and widely proclaimed, not only by members of the Opposition, but by all moderate moa.'