SIR JOSEPH WARD'S ATTACK

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 24, 27 July 1929, Page 10

SIR JOSEPH WARD'S ATTACK

MR. VAILE'S REPLY

Mr. K. U. Vaile, writing from Waiot;ipu (Auckland) to tho "Evening Post," makes the following reply to Sir Joseph Ward's statements in Parliament. Just liow the Prime Minister obtained access to my privato correspondence with his predecessor, I am at a loss to understand. Having got possession of the letter, it, of course, rested with Sir Joseph Ward's good tasto and senso of what is gentlemanly or even decent, whether ho should publish it. Every lino of the letter showed that it was a privato communication intended for. Mr. Coates's oyo only. But tho letter having been published, I havo nothing to withdraw or apologise for, except that, labouring under a sense of bitter disappointment and injustice, 1 address'i<d the Prime Minister in a tone I regret having used. However, Mr. Coates was high-minded enough not to resont this. And if he resolved to fulfil the promise made more than a year previously, who shall blame him? Be it noted that the promise was made not to me personally, but to a deputation. Aud I do not" flatter mysolf that my letter had thrcepennyworth of influence. It is not correct that the.railway was put in hand at once. It was not till a year afterwards, and at a timo when I had been out of tho Dominio?) for months. No reply to my letter was received by me, and from that day until my ruturu to New Zealand in April of this year, I had uo communication of any kind with Mr. Coates, except a letter of introduction ho 'was kind enough to send me.

As to my work for the Reform Party, Jam not in the least repentant. At that time tho Scddon-Ward Government was extremely autocratic, and opposition was necessary. Sir Joseph Ward now assumes the same autocratic attitude, but without the same—or any—majority. At tbc time I assisted in tho inception of tho Reform Party, there was nothing to bo gained but everything to be lost by opposing the all-powerful and seemingly permanent Seddon-Ward Government. At the time of. my leaving Auck land (1908), Mr. Massey—a leader with whom I am proud to havo been intimately assoeiated-^was the president, and I was the working vice-president. Since then I have not even beea a member of any branch of the Efiform Party and have had nothing to do with politics, dovoting all my energies to making tho wilderness blossom as the turnip. At tho time I was vice-president, Mr Coates was not a member- of the party, and he knew nothing of my early activi ties.

Sir Joseph Ward pretends to believe, and asks us to believe, that so soon as I informed Mr. Coates of what I had dono for tho party from twenty to thirty years previously and scolded him for a bad boy, he prostrated himself and immediately ordered the.construction of a railway for my solo benefit at a cost of £700,000. Such absoluto nonsense?

Sir Joseph 6eeks to condemn the Rotorna-Taupo Railway by dubbing it a political railway. That is the exact opposite of tho truth. It commands no votes. Otherwise it would have been built many years ago. Its case is tho case of the great waste spaces. My voice is the voice of one crying in the wilderness where no man is—but where many men are badly needed.

Sir Joseph Ward is reported to have said that ho did not know what I was. Well, ho ought to know all about a wonderful person who orders Prime Ministers and Governments about, and has £700,000 thrown at him to placate him. But of course Sir Joseph well knows who and what I am—and is likely to know better.

Would ho liko me to return tho compliment he has paid me by publishing a private conversation I had with him at tho time that I and tho other landowners of the district wore offering a rate upon our lauds to help in tho construction of tho railway?

It would be tedious to follow Sir Joseph through all his misstatemeuts. But I must challenge him on one point. Mr. Parry interjected—"A eouplo of your Ministers thought tho laud was quite all right." To which Sir Joseph replied: "I do not know anything about that." The Primo Minister professed to have referred this qustion to Sir Apirana Ngata and the lions. Ransom, Forbes, and Taverner, who wero to make a thorough investigation, on the result of which the Government would act. Sir Apirnna (who has for long been acquainted with tho district) and the Hon. Ransom (who made a painstaking inspection) reported in favour of the railway. At the timo of Sir Joseph's decision, tho Hon. Forbes had uot been near tho district, so his opinion could nut have been counted. As to what opinion, it' any, the Hon. Taveruer expressed, 1 have no knowledge; but anyhow, his inspection was most hurried and perfunctory.

Sir Joseph Ward also knows perfectly well that thrco successive ISngineors-in-Chief of the Public Works Department —Messrs. Blow, Holmes, and Furkcrt— have recommended tho construction of this railway and so has tho present General Manager, Mr. Sterling. Sir Joseph Ward's statement that I sold a largo area of my land after thn railway was promised displays tho same economy of truth as his other statements. I sold all my land (cxcopt loss than one-fifth of the original area, which I now farm) prior to May, 1925—more than two years previously.

During the discussion, a cheap laugh whs raised by the question whether I am a land-agent or not. "I urn not, but I formerly was, and am not in the least ashamed of the fact. I built up a great business of the highest character and standing. No single person who

trusted his money to me for investment or followed my advice, ever lost a penny. I sat severely on extreme values. I paid all my debts promptly and in full. But, after all, what interests the public is not what or who E. E. Vaile is, but whether tho Eotorua-Taupo Railway is justified. Let anyone read our pamphlet and judge for himself. It mak -3 an absolutely unanswerable case for the railway, though, of courso, anything can bo misrepresented and ridiculed by a Parliamentarian for party purposes. It may be had free by anyone who cares to write for a copy, to Mr. B. J. Lowry, hon. secretary UotoruaTaupo Nailway League, Uep'oroa. If there is any .statement in it which is untrue, tlicu let my case fall to the ground and 1 will remain for ever silent. If those in high places descend to unfair .statements and appeal to ignorant prejudice and greed, I at least will not so degrade myself. It has often been remarked that the Kotorua-Taupo Railway can be condemned only by misrepresentation, prejudice, and ignorance.' The member for the district reports that Sir Joseph has promised to afford our league all facilities for making its case before the committee which is to be set up If he performs this promise it will redound greatly to his credit. Let us see what he actually does.