The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1911. A GOVERNMENT CANDIDATE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1294, 24 November 1911, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1911. A GOVERNMENT CANDIDATE.

It has been made vory plain by Jin. R, Fletchkr, who is contesting the Central seat as the Government nominee, on the very lew occasions on which he has considered it necessary to air his views from tho public platform, that he knows very little of current politics, and still'less of economic principles. In these respects, perhaps, he is not singular,, but his weakness should make him more careful in his utterances than lie appears to be. In the course of his rather disjointed speech on Tuesday evening Mb. Tixtchek made this, statement: ....

The Opposition had made charge after charge against the Government, and their administration, hut not one of those charges had been proved, and he instanced tile llillo cliaf|;es.' Tlieiio charges li.ail been proved Kioimdless, and thousands and thousands of jjounds had been spent fruitlessly in'proving them baseless.

Now, this statement cither is true or it is not. Let us take the case which is specifically , mentioned by Mr. Fletcher, the Hine chargcs, and sec what justification there is for his very sweeping assertion. If our readers will turn up Parliamentary Paper I 14, 1910, they will find it contains the full report of the inquiry into Mr. Hike's charges and the finding of the Committee of the House of Representatives thereon. In respect of -four of the charges it will be seen that this Committee _ found that Mr. Hine had proved his allegations as follow:—

(a) That Mr. Major, a Government supporter, had received vnyir.cnt of commission amounting to .£3OO for securing 'or assisting to secure the fale (o the Government of Mr. F. .Bayly's estate in Taranalii. (b) That Mr. Symes, a Government supporter, had received payment and commission amounting to ,£3OO for securing or assisting to sccuro tho sale to the Government of Mr. A. Bayly's estate. (c) That .Mr. Svmes, a Government supporter, had charged and received commission rir sums of money for preparinn and conducting petitions in Parliament, (d) That Mr. llencire Kaihau, a Government supporter, charged and received payment of sums of money for services relating to petitions in Parliament.

Mr. Fletcher probably will be very much surprised to learn that a partisan Committee composed of six Government supporters and only four members of the Opposition found that Mr. Hine had proved these charges. Wc do not suggest that Mil. FLETCHER knew that he was stating what was incorrect when he made the assertion that none of these charges had been proved : he probriily was merely repeating what lie had heard stated many times over by the party he has associated himself with. But his indiscretion should enable the electors of Wellington Central to judge how welcomc so verdant a follower of the Government would be in the Ministerial fold. It is an easy matter to picture him feeding gratefully out of the hands of the Ministry,' and in his simple innocence treading meekly at the heels of his party leaders with tho rest of the docile Ministerial following.

But there is another point in tho speech of the Government candidate for the Central seat which in its ■way is of far greater importance, and which deserves especially the attention of the Labour party and those engaged in developing our local industries. It seems that Mr. Fletcher was discussing the Customs tariff, and he wound up bis remarks by stating thai, if ho had his own way he wculd wipo them [Customs dues] all out and make tho laild pay tho necessary (.-nation. Just so. .No doubt Mr. Fletchsr thought this an. excellent vote-catch-ing trick. Possibly he had been put up to it. by his political advisers in the Ministry.' It is really a very alluring idea. It simply means that it Mr. Fletcher'had his way he would kill in one act every protected industry in the country. Ho would ruin t tliose who have sunk their capital iii the manufacturing industries of the country, and would throw out of employment thousands of men and women who at present earn their living'through those industries. He would throw wide open the doors of New Zealand to the sweated goods of other nations; and would abolish Ihe preference given to British manufactures over those of foreign nations. And Mr. Fletcher is so very fond of telling of his love for the worker! The natural corollary, to' this pro-

posal is an increased tax —throw the burden on the la. Really both our country friends and the Labour party will receive an added stimulus to cast their votes against Government candidates. The Government are not Singlc-taxers to-day, but one never knows what thev will be tomorrow, and if_a few people, make a big enough noiso the timid gentlemen who constitute the Cabinet will do almost anything. Mr, Fletcheh, of coursc, when bo finds how indiscreet he has been will hasten to explain that ho meant, something else, and that the reports in the press, which unfortunately for him all agree, are misleading, or something of the kind. The truth is, however, that Mrt. Fletcher, though well enough suited to municipal life, has not given the slightest evidence that hehas anything but the most superficial knowledge of general politics, or that he possesses the particular qualities that would make him a useful member of a National Assembly such as Parliament should be. It is nossible that he realises his own limitations, and has been forced into the present contest against bis better judgment. But no one can attend bis meetings" without recognising how elementary his grasp of politicr. really is, and, despite his personal worth, how ill-equipped he is in other respects to represent an important. constituency in the chief legislative Assembly of the country.