THE POLITICAL SITUATION

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 54, 27 November 1928, Page 12

THE POLITICAL SITUATION

“IMPATIENCE FOR OFFICE”'

Sir, —“It may be soon or it may be some time off, but when the electors discover they have been played a confidence trick there will be a grim day of reckoning'for the United Party.” In an editorial on the indecent, haste displayed by the United Party.. to get into the shoes of the Reform Government before the result's of. the election were known, the Wanganui “Chronicle”" concluded, as above, an excellent article last Friday. That there will be a. day of reckoning ’tis true; but it won't be the United Party which will do the “reckoning,” it will be, as in days of old, the Reform ers.

How do I know? (1) Because-history has an uncanny way of repeating itself; and (2) the Libera! Party always allows its opponents to do the reckoning. When our Prime Minister was a baby the Liberal Party—which has been rechristened the United Party—-had had a good innings under the leadership of .Sir George Grey, and got the colony;into g financial mess. We were on the verge of repudiation, but Sir Harry Atkinson came to. the rescue, ousted the Government, and, by drastic retrenchment —he took on three Ministers’ portfolios, who had been receiving £l2OO a year each, at a salary of £BO0 —abolished many extravagance* and stabilised dur financial position. However, the public soon forgot the good work done, and the Liberals got into oflice again, only to repeat the muddleirient of the Grey Administration. Sir Harry again came to the rescue and ■saved the colony from disaster, after which the “Liberals,” Seddon and Ward, took office under exceptionally good;circumstances. Later on, when they needed money, they collared the Sinking Fund established by Atkinson, saying, in effect, “let posterity take care of itself.” Other trifles,, such as the New Plymouth harbour. reserves, were collared to keep the political pot boiling. Wellington was also deprived of Miramar (a property which would have enabled us to be, probably, the lowest rated city in the world)' by this Administration. Two factors were made use of to the utmost by the opponents of the Government during the late campaign, first,-the unemployed problem, which they falsely attributed to Mr. Coates,- just- as they attributed the “epidemic”; to Mr. Massey. Second, the wheat tax which, although it doesn't amount to half a packet of cigarettes per capita per month, was whined about from, one end of New Zealand to the other despite their knowledge of the fact that the tax is in the best interest of the community and is a counter to the Labour-Commun-ists, who would have a deadly weapon if, in the event of., a shipping, strike, we were depending on countries overseas for our wheat supply. Let it be known-throughout the land that it was owing to the'extravagant “spoils to the victors” policy inajigurated by the Seddon-Ward administration that the Reform Party came into being, and although the wild statement was made in the country by supporters of the United Tarty that Sir Joseph Ward left seventeen million pounds . in tlie Treasury, I have no recollection of it and would be glad to know if it is true. It was found necessary to send this “wizard of finance” Home to London to reassure the British financiers, who were becoming alarmed at the way this country was being run, and it leaked out that he told them that we had between four and five millions liquid cash at our disposal for use.in time of need. The New Zealand newspapers, which were unaware that we were so wealthy, asked where this money was. Was it in the Post Office Savings Bank and the Publie Trust Office, the combined funds of which amounted to a somewhat similar sum? To this day that question has never been answered.—l nm. etc., REFORM. Wellington, November 23.. T.S.: It would.be advisable,. Mr. Editor, for you to place some of this ancient history in the hands of the people before next election that they may s'ee what they are likely to get from the United (“Liberal”) Party, and also from those whose policy is to “seize the means of production, distribution and exchange, which they openly preached in days gone by.