The Dominion MONDAY, JUNE 5, 1911. WANTED—A BIG REFORM CAMPAIGN.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1145, 5 June 1911, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, JUNE 5, 1911. WANTED—A BIG REFORM CAMPAIGN.

The success met with by the leaders of the Keform party in the campaign work carried out of late has been very marked, and should be very encouraging to those who realise the dangers arising out of a Continuous Ministry controlling the country's affairs. Even if the Ward Government were displaced for only one session, it would enable the people to discover many things concerning the Dominion's affairs of which they have been kept in ignorance—information which has been improperly withheld from them and the withholding of which must necessarily arouse suspicion and distrust. Practically everywhere that the members of the Ileform party have spoken they have attracted large audiences, and their addresses have been received with strong evidences of approval. Even in what have been regarded as strongholds of the Government, the most unqualified denunciations of the' administrative methods of the present members of the Continuous Ministry have been cheered and applauded. This is a very striking thing. Wc are quite aware that the Reform party has its weaknesses just as every other party has weaknesses. But the Reform party's weaknesses have been mainly weaknesses in tactics, not weaknesses in political principles. It has failed to win the full measure of public support which its platform warranted, not on account of any lack of merit in its platform, but because it failed to recognise the necessity of, or had not tho means of placing _ that platform before tho public in tho plainest possible way on every possible occasion. The party has not properly realised in the past tnat however sound its programme might be—however great its-merits—it was necessary for its leaders to do something more than outline it on tho floor of Parliament, and make a few speeches at odd moments outside Parliament. Those leaders are now doing systematically what they should have dono long ago—that is, meeting the people face to face throughout the whole country, and, not only exposing the evil effects of the present Continuous Administration, but also exploding the false idea which has been so insidiously instilled into tho public mind that the Deform party is a '"'party of reaction."

Mr. Massey, Mr.. James Allen, Mr. Herdman, and Mr. Herries have each travelled away from their homes of late to preach the gospel of Reform. Quite a number of other Opposition candidates are touring their own electorates, giving an account of their stewardship and incidentally enlightening their constituents regarding the state into which the politics of the country have drifted. This activity is a hopeful sign for those who have striven for so many years to elevate our political life to a higher and a cleaner level. If the public would only treat tho administration of the country's affairs as their personal concern, which it really is—if they would take the trouble to investigate for themselves, even a few of the shady practices which arc constantly being brought to light---thc Ward Government, with all its powers of political bribery, would be hopelessly crushed at tho coming elections. But the public at present docs not trouble to go' to this length. It realises in a way that things arc not as they should be. It is aware that the Government is not honest in its professed convictions, that it will change its views at any moment to save its skin, and that it is unscrupulous in its methods. But it has grown accustomed to this state of things— many of the younger generation have known no other, and regard it as quite a natural thing that their Government should act in this way. The people have not had it properly brought home to them that every political bribe that is paid, that every thousand pounds that is wasted, comes out of their pockets, and is their money. That the Government which wastes the people's money in bribes and in extravagance does so not in the interests of the people, but to further its own ends. That the liabilities which arc being heaped up so recklessly arc incurred in the name of the people of New Zealand, and that when the day of settlement finally comes it is the people and not the Government who will have to face the cost. Of course, these things arc perfectly obvious to those who have troubled to think seriously about the country's affairs. But how many do trouble to think about them, or if they do think about them to appreciate their personal responsibility to see that their affairs are properly and honestly managed ? It is the business of the Reform party to leave no one any excuse for not fully understanding the position. To do this they must extend their campaign work. Mr. Massey has done great work, but, as we have pointed out before, cannot do everything himself. _ It is little better calling on his lieutenants to assist with nothing more than an occasional speech. Some gcod is dono thereby, but not enough. What is wanted is a big campaign, a sustained effort, in which every member of the party who is capable of carrying on platform work, and who can spare tho time, should bo called on to participate. Let the country, see

that the Opposition is a really live and active iorce, let the people know what its members are capable of, and what it will do if returned to olliee. The accumulated evidence of maladministration and selfish disregard for the public interest is suiiicicnt to damn hali-a-dozen Governments, and the bulk of the people have a glimmering idea that tins is the case. Prove it to them everywhere, and show also that the lie form party has a definite policy which the country can rely on it to stand or fall by. Even at its best the Government majority throughout New Zealand —that is, amongst the people—is not by "any means an overwhelming one. The awakening and conversion of even a small proportion of the electors would be sufficient to give the lie form party a working majority. The Government, of course, will fight desperately, and it will have*the advantage of lighting its battles with the people's money, whereas the members of the Reform parly have to pay their own expenses whip travelling about the country. But the case for change is so strong—the Ward Administration has so obviously outlived any usefulness it may ever have possessed and its last desperate expedient of increased extravagance in its already reckless borrowing habits as a means of buying the constituencies is so full of menace to the future of the Dominion—that every person with any stake in the country, whatever his political views may be, must feel that there is a call for a new Ministry with a sound and definite policy and pledged to carry out those reforms in the administration of the country's affairs which are so urgently needed to check the waste that is going on. The Reform' party offers all these things—with it the unrest which exists in the public mind and which is a check on business enterprise of all kinds, owing to the uncertainty as to what the next wild experiment of the Government will be, would bo removed. It is really a very cheerful prospect which a'change of Government holds out to the electors of New Zealand.