The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1936. REALITY

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 223, 17 June 1936, Page 10

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1936. REALITY

It is an encouraging sign of returning animation on the part of the Opposition to the present Government that over 300 Canterbury supporters of the New Zealand National Party, representing all the electorates in that province and on the West Coast, have endorsed at a meeting in Christchurch the action of the recent conference in Wellington hi organising the party, and undertaken to. work ‘enthusiastically” for its success at the next General Election. What is clearly wanted is an Opposition Party in Parliament numerically strong enough to restrain the Government from going too fast and too far—its present tendency. The Leader of the Opposition no doubt gave expression to the unspoken thoughts of many when he remarked at the Christchurch meeting: “We have come up against a state of affairs which we could never have dreamed of.” When- the late Government was carrying out its programme for combating the effects of the Great Depression, complaints were heard that its methods savoured too much of. a dictatorship. Actually, the worst that could have been said of its methods in this connection was that it dictated a regime of economy and self-sacrifice. It was put into office on the understanding that if drastic measures were deemed necessary for averting a disastrous crisis, those measures should be taken. It took them,'because the peril was imminent. The Labour Party, then in opposition, contended, all along, that there was no need for sacrifice, and it has now gone to the other extreme. It is probably correct to say that the Labour Government has exceeded its original intentions. These during the election campaign were expressed 111 general terms. It was very difficult then, as the public will remember, to obtain from the party’s leaders precise definitions of its aims. With a bare working majority, and faced by a strong Opposition, the Government probably would have shown greater restraint. Given an overwhelming majority, it seems to have. succumbed to the dangerous temptation to make the best of the going while the going is good. It was a golden opportunity—the opportunity of a lifetime—and the party has obviously grasped it in this spirit. “The Government,” said Mr. Forbes,, “has no regard for cost, and no regard for consequences.” That is what many people are beginning to fear. The repercussions of its sweeping legislation in trade and industry are now plainly in evidence.. Assurances of cooperation and support, given in a spirit of goodwill and sportsmanship after the election, have given place to apprehension and criticism, and this after only eleven weeks of legislation. The reality, as Mr. Forbes remarked, has exceeded expectations. For this reason it is vitally necessary in the national interest that the Opposition should be strengthened not only in numbers but-*also in the quality of its personnel. It is to be hoped that the enthusiasm shown in Wellington and Christchurch in connection with the organising work of the National Party will be reflected in other centres.