TRAVELS OF THE PREMIER

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 70, 24 March 1914, Page 6

TRAVELS OF THE PREMIER

With . luncheons, banquets, official openings, deputations, speeches at big meetings and at quiet select assemblies, and much travelling by steamer, rail, motor, and other conveyances, Mr. ]Masspy is learning how compound the life of a Premier lias to be in a democratic fountry. Tho. head of the Government is not hedged with cordons of red-tape. The leader has to make himself visible ond audible to the general public, and has to be a special pleader foi 1 the suffrages. Mr. Seddon was such a tireless personal solicitor of the people's goodwill that his successors cannot ypt afford to leave the "stumping" to' the lieutenants. However, it is fairly admitted by reasonable people that the duties and responsibilities of Ministnrs of the Crown oblige them to "learn the needs of the country," as the old phrase has- it, and the present Ministers find now that they have to imitate an example which they once condemned as excessive. The active campaign of the Opposition — various skirmishes and other engagements at many points between Auckland and the Bluff — compelled the Government forces to take tho Old. Each party is •naturally eager to work hard in territory wheie the other sidy is believed to be strongly established. Hcucc, Mr Massey is hnxing bu.-y da\s and nights in Westland. .'md tho Press Association reports of hi.-, meetings leave no room for doubt about the Coast's cordial treatment of the visitor. Less tha.n a decade ago tho Mass^y Party regarded that coaet as almost forbidden territory, a land lost utterly to tho Liberals, a region hopelessly around the corner, so much out of sight that it ,wus a, waste of time to have it in mind.

When Mi. Massey made his first visit a jcar a<io, he discovered that the poJ!t'cs of the West Const were mainly what they had always, been— just West Coast. The West Coast voles for the West Coast ; the Conet is kind to the stranger, but does believr that charity begins at lnmc. Of course, many other electorates ;ue similai in their politics. The re-\var()s-nnd-f>unishments scheme, easily puicticahle with the political control of f>e money for roads and bridges, railways, and other public works, has had a profound effect on the politics of New Zealand for some years— and that political control has not yet been reformed., though a change has teen promised. Vet. apart, from the West Coa-st's hit. man wish to appear worthy of generous treatment by the Government, Mr. Mas•scy is entitled to be pleased thoroughly !>> the warmth of the greetings. No doubt the reports of the Coast's goodcheer will give some uneasiness to the Opposition, and will induce the leaders to arrange a counter-campaign soon. At Hokitika on Saturday Mr. Massey remarked that he would be New Zealand's representative at an Imperial Conference in London next year. Apart altogether from the importance of the business to be done, such a journey to the heart of the Empire is necessary f6r "toy colonial Premier who has' either not been to London or has not visited the city for many years. The incidental advantages of such an expedition are so patent that they need no labouring. However, there is more than enough straight-out business to justify a trip by Mr. Massey to London. Naval defence and Asiatic immigration should have prominent places on the order paper, and them are other matters— mostly deferred from previous conclaves.