CORRESPONDENCE

Grey River Argus, 26 November 1914, Page 8

CORRESPONDENCE

THE LIBERAL RECORD

(To thie Editor.)

Sir. — It is gruesome reading the accounts of, the sins of ommision and commisipn of the Reform Government since they took office; two years ago. Their excesses and cruelties, waste and extravagance ars about equal to the German atrocities in Belgium, while the twenty preceding- years of Liberal rule was a period of happiness and prosperity the highest recorded in human experience. Now there are two sides to that story of happiness and prosperity under Liberal rule. I have lived through the whole of the two periods above mentioned, and will let your readers know how matters went in these good old days. Twenty four or twenty-dive years ago the franchise was enlarged so as to embrace the whole of the mate portion of the population, The first election held under the franchise, old Sir Harry Atkinson, Prince of the Tories, was knocked clean out, and the sceptre passed to John Ballance, a hard headed far down Irish man, just like Bill Massey. John Ballance soon put matters to . right. He put an end to waste and extravagance initiated several administrative reforms, ended for - a the time political patronage, and tried to teach self-re-liance to administrative bodies and individual's. His adrriinistraton was a great success, but his time was short. His death was a great loss to 'the Dominion, all admit. .Hi? administration was so successful and his name, so popular that it carried his succesors on for the two following years. • A new Liberal policy had to be found or invented — a policy that would keep the party in. place and power at all costs for all time. It was simple and pleasant — da not faint I beseach you — it was ia policy of all round bribery. Ballance had promised a far-reaching scheme of land reform, and land settlement. His successors went in for borrowing large sums to buy out the bi3" estates. This quite fitted the big land squatters. Then the land was told to farmers and speculated later. Another class was bribed with railways. Others in defiance of all law were thrust into the civil service over the heads of qualified officers tested by examination, and trained Labor agitators were provided for as inspectors of factories, dairies,' noxious weeds, inspectors Labor Bureau agents. and many other sorts of agents that no one knows of or ever heard of any duties they perform. Several new departments of State were, invented. People were; led to believe that the big wooden house in' 'Wellington would be left or sold but no ! it had to be enlarged to accommodate those . children of fortune fed at the State table.

, Another set were made Justices of the peace. There was a time when the appended J.P. was considered a mark of/a decorous respectable levelheaded'" individual, who could render a reason for all he did, and, if asked, for all he did not do. those days are gone. . When the great Liberal Party fell to pieces three ago 27,000 J.P's mourned and cried alas ! alas ! the fountain of Honor is fallen. I am very sorry that I cannot approve of every detail of the Massey Government but they have mada a brilliant record in spite ..of the most dastardly and scurrilous behaviour of the Opposition who did all they could for two sessions to obstruct the public business. Never was such an exhibition of hypocracy and gross abuse, of free speech, but in spite of them the Civil Service Board has been set up. Our railways are running on business dines, and our public works are-- to be run no longer as a sort of benevolent institution, but to be hurried forward as instruments of production. The way the Mas sey Party handled the great strike entitles them to the gratitude of every true patriot in the Dominion. Sir Joseph Ward's hunger for office and hysterical behaviour and misrepresentations excite the contempt of a large number of those who trouble to read his wild tirades., I notice he says little of : the big- strike of last' year, and how he truckled to the state miners -when^ they demanded an increase to their already. large pay. He is raising a cloud to cover his own shortcomings, and blind those who de sire honest administration and a square deal to all. Hoping you will forgive my trespassing, so* much on your valuable space.— l am etc. ON OLD IDENTITY, Greymouth. 24th Nov. 1914.

"The. French airmen . are . using a new type of weapon — a steel-pointed arrow. I have one trhH me. It is about the size of a big blue pencil, is steel-tipped, and has an arrow at the top, so that the momentum allows the steel point to fall first. From a di^ tance of about 600 ft. this arrow will go right through ia° horse The arrows are sent to an objective automatically from a box. which is fitted on the bottom with holes like a sieve, through jvhich the arrows fall. Most of the qpiotof-tiajr factoriw! in Franc are making this arrow. "General Joffre is a great general in • France. 'He i s a most taciturn man,/ and randy speaks more than half/ dozen words, but what he says is always to the point : . ''My sphere of usefulness came to an end in France when the reserves were called out, for they had plenty of men ;to carry on my work. " "How" many men can France still tall out? 3 '

Well, I should say about a million and a half."

"Is there any doubt as to the ultimate issue ? ?J

"The general opinion- all over Europe — except. of course .among- the, m embers of the Triple Alliance— is that Germany is bound to be beaten, though it will take a long- time. — two vears/'"