The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1909. THE FULL-DRESS DEBATE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXX, Issue 15124, 13 October 1909, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1909. THE FULL-DRESS DEBATE.

ArrABENTLY the predictions of storm and tempest in Parliament are not to be fulfilled in the near future. The debate on the Address-in-Reply has opened harmlessly enough, and tho Opposition seem prepared to let the debate follow the, usual and sopiewhat uninteresting course. At any rate there was nothing in the speech of the loader of the Opposition to indicate that he had recovered from the mental depression following upon the Rangitikei election. In face.of that test, it is more than a little amusing to bo told that the country is strongly dissatisfied with the acts of the Government during the past half-year. We can agree heartily with the. leader of tho Opposition that this Parliament is being watched with particular care by the public. It would be strange if the public were not alive to the importance of the legislative proposals that are being submitted by tho Government and to the magnitude of the interests affected. For the moment the prospect of a fresh quarrel on the land question appears to be obscuring the vision of the politicians in Wellington; but at this distance we obtain the true perspective, and we realise that the most important question to be dealt with during the present session is that of defence. Naturally the public are anxious to know what proposals will be made in the direction of national training lor defence purposes and what the reorganised land defence scheme will cost. It is a little unfortunate that Lord Kitchener's visit to New Zealand is some distance away, but the Government can safely map out a scheme that will be acceptable to the country and suitable to its needs, leaving details of organisation and equipment to be decided after the distinguished soldier has seen for himself tho nature of the country and tho temper of the people, and has given the Government the benefit of his advice.

The public are watching Parliament, too, in the expectation that it ivill carry out the democratic programme outlined in the straightforward speech delivered by tho Governor last week. Perhaps they are also attracted by the suggestion that the strengthened Opposition may impart a lively tone to the political .battle. But if the Opposition has no intention beyond the old misrepresentations the public will be disappointed, and we 'are afraid that the opening shot fired by the leader of the Opposition will rather damp their expectations. It is remarkable, and not a little pathetic, that after neatly twenty years in opposition the Conservatives should not have realised the futility of the bad old methods. We have Mr Messey protesting vigorously against the imputation that tho members of the Opposition nro injuring the credit of tho country by their unwarranted attacks upon the Government, laying his hand upon his heart and calling high heaven to witness that he has ever kept a strict guard upon his tongue lest any word of his should damage the credit of New Zealand, and yet in tho same speech he declares that in Wellington during the winter the hardship and distress were comparable to the suffering and poverty to be found in Old World cities. Wo need not follow Mr Massey through his discursive speech, but thereis one point that demands attention. It is the habit of tho Opposition to attribute the financial stringency in some measure, to the local borrowing of tlie Government. The leader of the party laid great stress on. this point during tho Prime Minister's absence in London, but the truth concerning the money raised locally by the Government is surely not unknown to Mr Massey. Loans raised in tho colonies are almost invariably drawn from financial institutions that are looking for gilt-edged securities for their surplus funds. If those funds wore not invested in colonial Government stocks they would be invested in the Old Country,, and not one penny of them would be available to the private borrower. It happens that by going to London, " deserting his post " as Mr Massey puts it, Sir Josoph Ward was able, to send out to New Zealand a million sterling for the financing of public works, and so for the relief of distress and the lessening of unemployment. The Government, as every fairminded critic will admit, has dealt capably with the crisis, and there Is every reason to believe that its administration has contributed materially to the dominion's rapid recovery of prosperity. Tho Ministry has had to bear more than its fair share of adverse criticism, and it has never received full credit for tho courage, with which it faced the always unpleasant task of retrenchment. It is difficult, in aU y large business, to curtail expenditure when trade is expanding, and it was the rapid development of State activity and the multiplication of departments that caused tho growth of the expenses of administration. When tho prosperity of the dominion was checked the Gov-^

ernment followed the ordinary business practice of economy r , and circumstances compelled a comprehensive and simultaneous application of the pruning knife instead of a gradual process of. reduction.