POLITICS AND REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 770, 19 March 1910, Page 6

POLITICS AND REFORM.

THE OPPOSITION POINT OF VIEW. A VIGOEOUS EEJOINDES. [To the Editor.} Sir,—After reading the final article of the . series you have published dealing with "Politics and Eeform," I am more than ever of the opinion that your contributor has missed a great opportunity. To those who have the welfare of the Eeform movement at heart it must be matter for regret that he has .failed so utterly to do justice to. the magnificent stand taken, and to the work ' accomplished, by. the Opposition party under the,leadership of Mr. W. F. Massey.. The Eeform movement is so inseparably bound up in, , and. with, the fortunes of the. Opposition that it is impossible to think, of the one without identifying it with the other. That, at least,.is the opinion amongst Oppositionists in this part of the DominionReforms Called For. ,

So far as I am aware, Mr. Massey and his supporters are the only advocates of reformed methods of administration n*nrl government; As a party they were the first to demand a return to democratic ideals in the conduct of tho affairs of State; ' the first .to . denounce the .Tammanyistic qualities' that have been introduced. into ..the public life of this country; the first and only . sincerely consistent adweates"of a Preformed Legislative Council, the members of which should be responsible to the electors, and the electors alone; the first to call for the establishment of a Public Service Board,' so that the Civil Service of the Dominion might be freed from political control with its many attendant evils; the first to direct public attention to the extravagant, and ever-increasing, expenditure of the governing party upon the Departments of State, and with it the alarming growth of taxation and the increased public, debt; the first to urge upon the country the. necessity for taking such steps as would' ensure the wiser, more prudent, and more economical supervision of its affairs; the .first to insist that the system of place-hunting, and the policy of apportioning , the spoils of office amongst the victors should be- ended; tho first to urge that Parliamentary authority over the.public finances should be restored; the first to advocate the reform of our local governing system, and the establishment of a sound and assured method of local finance, and. the substitution ,of more equitable methods of distributing public moneys; the .first to call for the reform of our land laws, and the encouragement of land settlement, under such conditions as would enable occupants of Crown lands to secure the,, freehold on equitable terms with due regard to the limitation' of area; the first to ad vocate the reduction of the. duties on the necessaries, of life; the first to demand that. the system of. carrying ; on public works' should be revised on such lines as would secure efficiency and economy; the first. to say - that - the Magisterial Bench should be' placed absolutely above political, control, so as to secure the independence of wardens and police magistrates; and (what I, for one, in view of the repeated . made by the Government to sap its independence, regard as of even greater moment, than all) the first to say that the law of libel should be so "amended that, in the reporting of public meetings. at least, the press of the Dominion should enjoy' the same measure , of freedom and independence as is enjoyed by the' press in . England.' Even before the; advent of the "new Liberal party," of illomened; origin; and short-lived. career, Mr. Massey and his followers w.ere ;con- , tending for these, and other principles, that are inseparably associated" with . the welfare of the people , and the well-being of the State. Their opponents were, and are still, the Government and its following—the debauchees and the debauched, the- men and women of "the 'right colour," who are interested in maintaining the status .quo, 'so that Ministers 'may continue to oxercise their , "powers of r political patronage and control, and in order, that they may apportion the lion's share of.the Public Works Vote amongst the districts returning Government supporters. >' •.. .

A Misrepresented Party. -,■■■■ The Opposition'attitude has been misrepresented no doubt. 'But is the misrepresentation that has taken place confined to the Government and its friends? Has your contributor no responsibility in the matter? Could he not, out of the abundance of his knowledge, have put a very different. complexion upon matters, when discussing this Reform question? And would ho-not, so doing, have rendered material service to the cause he ia apparently to help forward? 'In, the directions I have already indicated he could have gone far in urging; upon the, public that it should support tho Jieform League party led: by Mr;Massey and his colleagues. . Tour contributor can hardly fail to be aware that the Opposition has made its < protests, again and again. It ' ha? not ceased ;to condemn .the- methods" upon which it has waged-'.war, nor has it failed to urge the electors to approve of the principles it champions. In common with other friends of the party in Auckland, I am, therefore,' surprised at the attitude adopted by your contributor towards Mr. Massey and his supporters. Where he has accorded credit it has been in such grudging fashion that he might almost as well have remained silent; in other instances, where he deals with the word and methods of the Opposition, his criticisms are both unjust and ungenerous. He seems, indeed, to .'have gone out of his way to flout the party and its leaders. This is ; particularly apparent when he says that "the party. 13 1 virtually asking the electors for a blank cheque.' It is impossible to reconcile or justify such an assertion with the' record IJiave cited, and the fact,that the assertion has been' made by him, snows how little your contributor really I knows about the subject upon which he processes to speak with such authority ■•! I fancied, however, he was getting he: yond his .depth when I read his second article, with its references to the Kyabram platform. The circumstances of this country are so different to those obtaining m Victoria, that it is itaposable to a-Eyabram movement being successfully developed here. The B-yabram platform was practically limited to the two planks-a reduced governing establishment, and a cutting-down of public expenditure, as it',was felt, in view of the Commonwealth havin ß taken over so much of the business of the country, that there should be a reduction m the number of Ministers, and in the membership of both Houses 0? ParliaP ont, aS V "I 50 ■ k the expenditure The Eyabram reformers demanded that the Legislative Council should be cut down from 48 to 30 members; that the Assembly membership should be reduced, from 60, ariS that, similarly- the number _ of paid Ministers should be reduced from ten to seven. Sir Alexander Peacock, the then Premier he felt himself to be with' his Liberal and Labour following (the Labour party had not then taken rank at a separate entity but was in alliance with the Government), laughed the whole busi"if to -^. orn, t an . d Wr party practically wiped out at the polls. MV. Irvine, the Opposition leader, demurred at accepting the full programme of reduction, but final v came into line with the niormers [there were some compromises that I cannot now recall), and, succeeding to the Premiership, reduced the numta of paid Crown Ministers to eight, cut.down the Legislative Council to 34 members, and reduced the Assembly membership _to 65; corresponding 'economies being effected m the expenditure. But —and • this I behove : to have been the great deciding factor in the business—the pr 055 , , ",.33. 33 on the, side of the reformer. Added to this, the shire councils taking the business in hand, were not depend dent, upon the Government for subsidies and special grants, in the-way so many of our local bodies are here. 1 The policy of "the spoils to the victor" was conspicuous by its absence, and, in the sturdy independence of the press, and of its local bodies, Victoria found her salvation. Her people were untrammelled hy Ministers of the Crown exercising autocratic powers, and unfettered by such restrictions upon the authority of Parliament, and the liberty of the subject, as have been brought into play by our "Liberal" Government. Public opinion counts for n good d<!al in such a contest. It remained ■mMaanced, and not even coerced to

Ministers, or members of Parliament during the crisis the Kyabram movement brought about. How the-Country is Drugged. ' If yonr contributor knows anything at all concerning the almost hopeless divisions into which this country is split;' of its provincial jealousies and conflicting interests', and of the clever fashion in which New- Zealand's "Liberal" Ministers play the one against the other, pitting district against district, the North Island against the South, the South against the North, and dividing the North in turn against itself (as witness, the disputes anent the Main Trunk and North Auckland railway routes, etc.), he must admit that it is hopeless, under existing circumstances, and conditions, to expect anything approaching such a consensus of public opinion as marked the ICyabram movement. Prohibitionists; brewers, and publicans; Roman Catholics and Protestants; leaseholders and freeholders; workers and employers, are all held skilfully in leash by ,fhe Government, which poses as everybody's friend, and declares' itself Trilling to accommodate itself to any demands that are made upon it, and to do anything except resign. A movement on the Kyabram lines would be impracticable in this country. But Kyabram has one great lesson for us. It ia this: The public must be educated in the direction to which it is desirable .the thought and policy of the country should tend. If the publi(\conscience is sleeping, it must be awakened; if it is dead, then an effort must be made to recreate it! And, in setting ourselves to that task, we must be prepared to denounco, as an enemy to the body politic, the man, or men, who belittles the efforts of those who are striving' ..to raise the standard of public life and morals in New Zealand, and'to place our institutions upon such : a basis that all appointments and promotions to the Civil ;Service-shall be made on merit,, and on merit alone... -■ : ,

What the Opposition Has Done. The Opposition submits direct issues to the public; it has enunciated its platform clearly and distinctly; it is not therefore blameable because your contributor has failed to grip its methods and objective. Its great need appears to be competent, and adequate, backing in the press of the.country and upon the public'platform. May I suggest, for the consideration of your contributor, that he would have scored, and scored heavily, had he, instead of playing the part of the captious critic, undertaken to point out what tie Opposition has done, and is doing, for the people,of 'this country? He might have reminded your readers of a good .many, things, for instance, when he referred to the fact that those on the other side' have- "consistently spread the idea that the Opposition is opposed to pretty well the whole, of the legislation since 1891, and. have effectively' insinuated that its. avowed purpose on being returned to power is to make a ; bonfire' of the Liberal measures." Amongst other things he . could hav« pointed out:— . (1) That old age pensions were first proposed in. this country by Sir' Harry Atkinson,,a so-called "Conservative." ■■: . j .' ■ ■"• (2) That the sympathies of the Opposition are so far with the idea of' ; old age pensions, that it is due to' . ; Mr. Massey's efforts, in conjunction with those of Mr. T. E. Taylor, M.P., that the' Government was persuaded to amend the law last session;' so that the 'pension is now payable to holders of cottage property not exceeding .£4OO in value, pensioners being thus enabled to live more com- : fortably, and with greater independence, in their own homes.

(3 That the principle, of adult I suffrage that obtains in this* country, is due, primarily, to'the earnest ad.vocacy of the Women's Suffrage movement by Sir John Hall, another of the so-called "Conservatives," who supported it when the late Mr. Seddon and other members of the Liberal party opposed the reform. (i) That many Government measures have been moulded on more liberal lines by the Opposition, a case in point being the Advances to Workers Act,'which "was really the outcome of a ; pro'posal made by Mr.Massey, who, when the-Advances to' Settlers Act .wW,before■ the'-House-in 1908, moved an"amendment which would have enabled workers to obtain' advances in the same way as-settlers: That proposal was. opposed by the' Government arid defeated on division; but was subsequently embodied in the Bill introduced by the Government and carjried later on in ; the same session, and Ministers have since hiid the effrontery tp claim the principle as their own. ' . ' .

'. Tour contributor might, again, haw gone beyond these and other matters, in none of which is there the slightest trace of the reactionary spirit which Ministers allege dominates the councils of the Opposition, to point out furthers— (a) That,,but for W stand, taken by the Opposition, the possibility of settlers 1 purchasing' the freehold of Crown lands would have gone alto- , gether two years-ago:- :■ ■•-■ (b) That th« establishment of sinking funds in connection with, the pnblic debt, for which Sir Joseph' Ward: now takes such credit, to himself, was!, really due to the efforts of the Opposition; that the first sinking fund was established'in connection with the New Zealand'jLoan Act, .1863, and that, in the greater number of instances since,'the sinking fund has . been conspicuous by-its absence, the late Mr. Seddon, for instance, being notoriously indifferent to its claims.,, (c) That the amendment of the Pub--lie, Reserves Act, under. which the whole of the accounts of the State are now controlled by the AuditorGeneral, was brought- about, by the persistent advocacy of the Opposition. '■■ ■■ " ' ■ .-■■■■■• : ' (d) That, but for the (Opposition insisting upon more prudent methods, the- cost of maintaining main roads would still be: defrayed out of loan moneys,: instead of from revenue. :. , The Past Session's Successes. I have only touched upon a: few'of the points your contributor'might have brought into stronger relief,.had he'-been' in the mind to help bn'the Reform-.-move-ment,, by showing -what: the Opposition has. already accomplished. Instead of doing that he appears, where he has not actually misrepresented the Opposition, to have damned its best efforts with faint praise. So. far .from-agreeing with his conclusion that the Opposition failed to score last "session, I am bound to say that: the general opinion, amongst the friends of the ; party in Auckland, is that it has never shown to better advantage, or.scored more heavily. It certainly defeated the Government often enough to warrant the latter' resigning. But the party which your contributor tells us has made "Humanism"—whatever that means—its watchword, is not easilyoffended,'and. regards such trifling mat ters'as defects with tolerable equanimity; because' its. members can .always be i brought to heel by the crack of the Government ' whip. Tour' contributor appears" to have altogether forgotten this, and a good many things of which he should have taken 'cognisance. If he is really anxious to help the Reform movement along, I. would suggest that-he goes in heart and soul to back up the Reform League platform and the. Opposition generally. The former is explicit enough to command, the support andi sympathy of the publio once it is properly understood, and no party ■propounding it, can, by any st'retoh of imagination, bo accused of asking the electors for a blank cheque. And I am sure, sir, you will agree with me that, given the opportunity, Mr. Massey and his colleagues would do infinitely better work for the country than the present • occupants of the Treasury Bonohes.—l am, etc., ••■.:. OPPOSITIONIST. Auckland, March 17.