NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1295, 25 November 1911, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

Wk wonder whether a Prims Minister or any responsible public.man has ever before thought it necessary to assure his audience of 300 citizens that the reception he had received at their hands had not been prearranged ? Gould there be any stronger evidence of the state of mind of Sir. Joseph Ward than that which ho gave tho public in this way at Waiuku? So over-joyed was he, apparently, at being able to bring together a small muster of supporters in a little township in the electorate of the Leader of the Reform party that in his excitement he was unable to restrain himself and hastened to assure tho meeting and the world at large that ''there had been no prearrangement in connection with the meeting. , ' Really it is very amusing. No proarrangement ! How very unfortunate it is for Sin Joseph Ward that in the same issue in which this statement appeared we were able to publish that delightful little note issued from his electioneering department to the elect amongst his Marton supporters. It is really worth repeating in full :

"Dent "Just o lino to let you know that Sir Joseph Ward i> passing through to-mor-rov{. 1 iipsday, by Main Trunk express, nii'i I thought j-ou and any of vour iriemls whom you coulil get together might, like to =03 him at Hie station I {mi certain that ho would appreciate an interview with you. I notice, bv the way, that Massey is making the 'fullest UK- of his friends wherever ho travels to make up a Tecention, and then lias the Riimc telegraphed all over the countrv as jiayins 'received, etc., etc' Anything in this direction on our part would certamly have a healthy counter-effect. 'With very kind regards,—l remain, • "Yours truly."

Of course this is not prearranging anything. It is merely creating "a healthy counter-effect." As a matter of fact, the Continuous Ministry has been living on this sort of makebelieve for years past. There was a time when it was not necessary, but the dwindling popularity of the members of the Cabinet has compelled the preparation of these machine-mado receptions and demonstrations until they have become an essential part of the Liberal" organisation. There is no real enthusiasm behind the Ministerialists. How could there be 1 They are not fighting for any great principles—they are not fighting for any principles at all. They are merely struggling to retain office, with its emoluments, and now the fact has become quite clear to the public, they arc in deadly peril of getting their deserts. And it is because they realise this fact that they have been thrown into a state of terror that discloses itself day by day in the speeches of Ministers promising everything under the sun, and in the eager scrambling of their candidates to cut away from intimate association with their leaders and to declare their independence.

That pur "Liberal" friends have utterly failed to cover up the impropriety of the Government's connection with the > Mokau land deal becomes increasingly obvious. In many electorates faithful Ministerialists are quite frankly condemning this issue of the Order-in-Council which lost many thousands of pounds to the country, and which was made possible by the slipping of a modest and innocent-looking little clause into the Nativo Land Act of 1909. Whatever the politicians may say, the people will refuse to remove their eyes from this hard fact. "If it was so easy for the Government to provide fo'i the purchase of Land by private speculators," the plain man's argument runs, "it was far easier for the Government to purchase the land for the State and for the State

Mic profit on the re-sale. Tho Government has merely presented Mil. M'Nab and tha others with what ought to have gone cither to the Natives or to tho State. And if the Government could only have bought at the. risk of litigation, that; risk remains against the syndicate. But there never was any such risk." That our "Liberal" friends aro much worried about the whole business is evident from the latest despairing defence put forward by the Christchurch organ of tho Ministry. "The syndicate of which Mn. Roheiit M'Nab is chairman," it says, "has not yet made any profit out of the land, and it is by nr, means certain that it ever will." To which (he whole country will respond with hearty laughter, and not the least hearty laugh will come from Mil. Eobert M'Nab himself. "There is no need to go over the whole ground again," our contemporary adds. We think we can agree: the public has a pretty good grip of the matter by now.

It is not in the least surprising, in view of the enthusiasm with which Dr.. Newman - has been received in every portion of the Wellington East electorate, that; Mr. Bolton's friends should feel alarmed to the point of detailing a little handful of noisy and foolish fellows to give at any rate the semblance of a slight infraction of the unanimity of the approval given to the Eeform candidate. Although he has carefully abstained from attackinghis opponents, and this despite their eager attacks upon him, Dk. Newman has found in the electorate a body of enthusiasm for political reform that wo arc bound to say is greater than we dreamed of expecting. What Wellington East wants, and what the country as a whole wants, is a change of Government, and this not just for the sake of change, but because the evil results of "Liberalism" are pressing heavily on everybody who is not a sharer of the political spoil. Last night Dn. Newman emphasised the drift of Liberalism, as Balance know it, into one-man Government, with the added evils of huge borrowing, gross extravagance, and high taxation. The examples of extravagance that he cited are worth pondering upon; they show that extravagance has become actually a habit with the boom : and-borrow party. Of course most people in Wellington have learned by now, or arc learning, that it is this extravagance th:vt necessitates the high taxation that accounts for so largo a part of the rise in the cost of living. The fact that the Reform party's candidate in the East electorate everywhere i finds larger and moro enthusiastic meetings, the real feeling of which is so obligingly emphasised by the regular handful of disgruntled growlers, who appear to imagine thoy are doing Mr.. Bolton a service, is an impressive, testimony to tho desire nf the electorate to Lave its share in the lteform representation in Parliament.

A sturdy campaigner in the battle for_ Reform is the West Coast Times, which has been dealing out some vigorous thwacks to the present effete Ministry and its supporters. We are indebted to this journal for a, very interesting disclosure by a candidate who _is a persona grata with the Ministry, and no doubt in their confidence, as to the reasons which actuate them in the abuse of their trust in the matter of the expenditure of public money in advertising. This candidate, with a candour which will probably got him into serious trouble with his political chiefs, gave the whole position away in the most complete fashion possible. He was asked his opinion as to the distribution of Government advertising; and his answer was as follows: —

I voted ajminst Tin: Dominion getiing Government advertisements because it is run by the Onposition to decry the Government, and Hie shnreliolders are wealthy landowners. The Government was incensed against The Dominion, run as it is by wealthy freeholders. Why should that paper be supported by being paid for advertisements by the Government which they are always condemning?

Here wo have the attitude of the Ward Administration in a nutshell. The public funds arc not to be expended in the interests of the public, but in the interests of the Government. If a paper criticises the Government, the Government is justified in misspending someone else's money —the people's—to punish it. This is truly delightful—it confirms what we nave said over and over again about the Ward Administration, and coming as it does from so authoritative a source, must be accepted without Question. The source, bv the way, is Mr. T. E. Y. Seddon, JVf.P. for AVcstIp.nd, who is having a very anxious time just now. His Parliamentary achievements have boon disappointing enough, and he will probably lose his seat next month, but his association with the Ministry affords a guarantee that he knows what he is talking about when he voices the views of Ministers on the expenditure of public funds. We republish elsewhere the comments of the West Coast Times on Mr. Seddox's admission, and they cover the ground so very completely that it would be superfluous to add to them.

Mr. Fletcher last evening wriggled just as we expected he would over his declaration that if he had his way he would abolish all Customs dues. We arc now told that, he did not mean what he said—that he is in effect a Free-trader who would protect local industries. The truth of the matter is that Mn. Fletcher has not given any real thought to the larger issues of government, and lie expresses opinions on the impulse of the moment which he hastens to correct when he discovers how erroneous thoy are. He has been far too busy a man, probably, to have had any time for the study of anything more than petty issues of parochial politics associated with local government. But no one is more dangerous in public life than the well-meaning man of restricted knowledge who rushes in with quack cure-all remedies of a pleasant-sounding nature to overcome the principles of economics and to set aside the laws of nature. Such men are always liable to upset the balance of things, and with the Lest intentions in the world do a great deal of harm. Mh. Fletcher also referred to the Hine charges and claimed that Ministers were not responsible for the doings of their followers. Perhaps so. But Mr. Fletcher really, should post himself a little more closely in the matters ho attempts to deal with. He apparently admits now that Mr. Hine did prove these charges, whereas he had previously stated that the member for Stratford had not proved any. Possibly having found out his error in that respect, he will now admit that the charges were very serious ones. He may not be aware of_the fact, but even tho partisan Committee, with its majority of Government supporters, deemed' it necessary to provide against a recurrence of such hap-

ponings, and passed the following resolution : Tim CaimniUen is of opinion that legislntinn should !>.-> passed "making it illegal for a i»pnil;fT of Parliament to act on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person in negotiating the saio ot an estate tu llm Crown. This is plain enough. That recommendation was laid before Parliament towards the end of the session of 1910, and the Government which Jin. Fletcher supports took no heed of it. They apparently did not sec their way to cut off any little privileges enjoyed by their following. In 1911 they again had the matter brought under their notice, but again they declined to protect Parliament and the public from the risk of these grave, abuses. And Mil. Fletcher asks the electors of Wellington Central to send him to Parliament to support this Government!