The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1908. ELECTION TACTICS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 341, 30 October 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1908. ELECTION TACTICS.

Ode Ministerialist friends are carrying their misrepresentations of Mr. Massey and his policy to such a. pitch that they cannot longer be left unnoticed. The other day Mr. Hislop, who declares that on a no-confidence motion he will vote, with the Ministry, stated that he could not join "the party of reaction." What he meant-to insinuate is that Mr. Massey is the leader of "the party of reaction," and, no.doubt, if he were forced to stoop to something more precise than the generalities that do such good service to the candidate who rolies upon the support of the 'thoughtless and the ignorant, he would say , that Mb. Massey is the present-day representative of "the old Conservative party. - ' It is hardly worth mentioning, in passing, that Mii. Hislop, who recoils from '.'the party of reaction," was himself a Minister in tho last "Conservative" Cabinet— the last Cabinet, to use his own phrase, of "the party of reaction" which he now opposes. However, we may give him the benefit of the possibility that,' although a grown man in those days, he wa3 still a learner, with the plastic mind of aspiring youth. We cite Mr. Hislop's remarks only as an example of the kind of nonsense which is being talked by the Ministerial gramophones on the platforms and in tho Ministerial press. / To describe Me. Massey as tho leader of "the party of reaction" is to make a grotesque mis-statement, and those who refer to his policy as "reactionary," or even as "Conservative"—the absurd people who use the word "Tory" need no attention, and no advice excepting.a suggestion that they. should turn 'to any penny history 'book to discover the meaning of "Tory"—do so either because they have not read Mr. Massey's programme, or because, having read it, and seen that it is the reverse of reactionary, they do not hesitate to resort to what We can only call a calculated falsehood.

There is also a. kind of criticism which is rather worse than frank mendacity. This is the criticism which cloaks partisanship with hypocrisy. This kind of criticism takes the shape of warm praise for the honesty and value of Me. Massey's programme, coupled with the insinuation, couched in a tone of kindly regret, that Mr. Massey is burdened with the weight of reactionary -sympathies. This is the policy, as wo may say, of the poisoned bouquet. Not a single word is ever said by these critics in proof of their constant allegations that Mr. Massey is a "reactionary" in the sense in which they use the word. The best proof of the dishonesty of these tactics is in the programme which tho Leader of the Opposition has laid down over and over again in his recent speeches. In what sense is there "reaction" in the proposal tliat the control of the public finances shuild bo removed from tho whims of Ministers ? that a Civil Scrvico Board should be established to end the "stuffing" of the Civil Service and tho alarming increase of the cost of govurnmant ? tJiftt a system p£ local goveramect finance should bq.

inaugurated which will make the carrying out of a public work dependent upon the merits of tho case and, not upon the fidelity of the district to the party in power'? that the freehold tenuro should be restored 1 that the Native land problem should bo settled in order that the Natives may no longer bo robbed by the Government while tho country's interests are injured? that the school-teachcrs, just now the victims of Ministerial disingenuousness, should be treated with generosity 1 that the duties on tho necessaries of life should bo removed ? that a l'eal defence policy should be pursued 1 that the drift towards Socialism should be checkcd ? These proposals are "reactionary" only in the senso that they mean a reaction from a policy that is manifestly injurious to ( the country's welfare. And that is tho kind of "reaction" which every progressive patriot must desire. It is also Mr. Massey's definite policy. When, therefore, tho public hears the Opposition referred to as "tho party of reaction," it may know that that description originates either in ignorance or in dishonesty.