THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 149, 18 March 1908, Page 6

THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

The suggestion has been revived by Mr.; Field, M.P., that the Leader of the\ Opposition should be "paid, a substantial salary for his public services. When he hears the good-natured proposal of the member for Otaki, Mr. Massey,; himself 'the best-natured of men, , will be amused rather than indignant. Upon the face'of it, nothing, could Appear more "reasonable than that the important and valuable functions of the Leader of the Opposition should-be recompensed as liberally, as the work of one of the minor Ministers.' When we'see Mr. Massey working harder in the public, interest than any private member of the House,' and than , some of the Ministers, unremitting. in ;'his.'attention ..to the debates, and. unwearied in his campaign on . behalf ,of purity of administration and soundness of finance,' it is impossible not to, think, that he; is as ill-paid a public servant as this country has ever had: Nobodyj however, who values devotion and self-sacrifice in an. age which becomes more and more the age of the professional politician, and, the wire-puller, can view with approval the suggestion that the Leader of, the Opposition should receive a single penny of salary above his honorarium. A better case could be made, out for the payment by the State of a prirate; 'secretary, to ease' Mr. Massey. of, the heavy- burden of plain toil involved in attending to the mass of correspondence,, that assails .him.. in his ofiicial position.'

. No : doubt it occasionally; depresses lovers, of fair, play When they see;', the. ,whole Ministry v engaged in, electioneering tours -which are paid ,for by the public, aiyl .which are-too often undertaken for no better purpose than 1 the encouragement of the visited districts, by means of bribes or promises, to return to 'Parliament .men who, have no higher aim than to .vote steadily for the' _ Government on every • division. While the whole Treasury is ' at the back of-, the' electioneering 'Minister— there .is practically no limit to the travelling • expenses and travelling allowances /■ of .' Ministers , except that which is set by the speed of railway trains and the number of days ,in the year—Mr. Massey has to find his own expenses out of his own pocket, and has, moreover, to contend against the fact that he cannot,'.like Ministers, lighten his-educative tasks by promising bridges and billets to the people wliom he meets. If he complains, ;it is.;not of- his own want of: a salary or travelling expenses, but of the Ministerial abuse of.i the financial privileges accorded to Ministers. What, is desired is not the payment of a warfund to Mr. Massey, but the withdrawal from Ministers of the ihonev which enables them to rush up and down the country for 'party: purposes at the expense of-the taxpayer. •. , ■; .The suggestion put forward by Mr. Field, while it has'the appearance of reasonableness, illustrates a regrettable change that has .occurred in some quarters in. the .view which is taken of the' duty of a public man. Once it. was considered a high privilege, carrying' its own rewardy; to be able to labour for the public good. Nowadays the talk is of increased salaries ;for members of Parliament, and the estimation, of patriotic service, as a marketable commodity. As'we have had occasion to: remark before, it will be a sorry day for tlie country if the idea underlying, such suggestion's as that of Mr. Field is to govern public life.' To some people it may appear strange that Mr. Massey can continue to do. his useful, and arduous work as Leader of the Opposition without any financial reward beyond; his honorarium as a.member ,of the House. But happily, everyone is not: yet for sale, and the. Leader of the Opposition is not likely to countenance any proposal that would deprive him of a moral satisfaction, under existing conditions, that is denied to Ministers, in duty well done at a personal sacrifice.