ELECTION YEAR!

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 56, 7 March 1914, Page 9

ELECTION YEAR!

BIG CAMPAIGN BEGINS THE "N.Z. LIBERAL" ( . REVENGE FOR. ".LIGHT AND LIBERTY."' ' . (By " Memor.") It had, to come; the "N.Z. Liberal" has arrived to answer " Light and Liberty " (the monthly publication of I the Reform , Party). Some years ago, in the Seddonian days^ there was a Liberal Herald, in which ,the fulsome adulation of the Premier and his colleagues ,of Cabinet had a fantastic phraseology, much enjoyed by many a reader." That comic periodical deserved a larger circle of subscribers j its decease was. deeply regretted, by numbers who liad : found hea'tty amusement ' in the florid verbiage. The " N.Z. 1 Liberal" does not follow the extravagant worship* fur* style of the Liberal Herald, buf» it 'has a, few droll features. The purpose is to help the public to 'grieve over the alleged false pretences of the Massey Government, but _ eveu those who are disposed to accept the invitation to weep may mingle their wailing with a little' laughter. At. the top of the front page is an old friend that appears, and reappears in" various guises, especially in an election year. The form this time is :-— "Government of the .people, for the people, by the people is the essence of Liberalism." Beneath is a photograph, of Sir Joseph, Ward, taken, apparently, twenty, years ago. Sir Joseph has been caught' frequently by .the camera man during recent years, and therefore a peruser of the "Liberal" is puzzled by the reproduction of , an old pictuie. The face is calm, youthful, placid— not a line to suggest a, worry about tho Policy (to be divulged some day). Sprinkled through the thirty-two pages are the sage distillations of various great men. For example, at the foot of the front ( page is W. E. Gladstone's remark: — "Tho principle of Liberalism is trust in the people. Others are "by John Stuarb Mill— ", The influence of Government on the well-being of society can be considered or estimated in reference to nothing less than the whole of the interests of humanity " (the concluding six words appear in capital dress) ; Abrana Hewitt — - " Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Public office is public, trust." 'These aphorisms are dragged in by the ears, and they look uncomfortable among the motley company into which they have been thrust.' The selector of these sayings made one peculiar 'slip. He chose 1 from Edward Gibbon thi6 'line,' which is a common* place expressed by many authors long before Gibbon's time :—" All 'that is human must retrograde if it do not advance." The Liberal Tarty began .to retrograde in 1906, after Seddon's death. At the elections of 1905 Seddon was returned with a majority of about fortyfive members, which was 'much reduced in 1903, and wiped but in 1911. In that test the people chose a majority pledged to vote" against the Ward Admmistra' tion. At the by-eleetic-ns of Grey and Lyttelton last year, the Liberal Party's candidates fih'ished third. . In each case the seat was gained by a Social Democrat, assisted , by the - supporters of the Liberal nominee who hail been balloted out at the first count. , Part of the v "Liberal" consists of echoes of war-cries used by the Massey Party when in opposition. It is assumed tliat these' things helped the .Reformers, and""therefpre ' the' present -. Opposition hopes for a benefit.' Page 2 has a heading : "What the Reform Tories Have Managed to Accomplish," and ' below is a- 4 line : "Established the pernicious system' 'of. spoils" to . the" victor*.'.' Note the word f V established." ,';_ The' accusation is. not that' the /new,. . Government continued the -old iWoridus' spoils System of the "continuous Ministry," but '' established '\ the game of loaves-and-fishes and the bribing t of electorates. Another line is t * V Raised the dearest loan that New ■ Zealand' has been sad'died with for more 'than a quarter of a* century." ' It is a matter of -history that the dearest . loans . were, the shortdated five millions of the Ward Government and the four-and-a-half millions of the Mackenzie Government. After this, 'the "Liberal" gives an opinion that some of the methods by Which the "Tory Party" (the word "Tory" is used frequently) gained the supremacy were " the reverse of creditable." ' The assumption of' superior virtue by 'tho present ofliee-seekerp breaks down on .every page, particularly on one which has this mean, misleading remark :•— " The gentleman who said that the passing of tlie Old Age Pensions Act was the blackest piece of work ever done by the House' of Representatives was Knighted as' soon as tlie Tories got into' office." A reprint ffpm Hansard of Sir Joseph Ward's speech in the House of Representatives, 3rd December, 1913, on the 'motion for the second reading, of the Naval, 1 Defence Bill, fiJls over eleven doublecolumn p^ges (about li;O00 words).'