THE LIBERAL PARTY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16606, 18 July 1914, Page 14

THE LIBERAL PARTY.

ITS PRESENT POSITION,

INTERVIEW WITH THE | -ORGANISER.. •- j 1 Mrj T>. F. &nnehy;organiser of the j liberal Party, who was in Christchurch j yesterday, speaks very. enthusiastically of the prospects of the party in the. North Island, where he has spent much | time amongst, all classes of the people, j la an, interview ho said that the., spirit of i determined opposition to thoj Reform Government showed itself j everywhere. Many people who did not j vote,' at last election were out to fight the.SGevernm.ent at next election. It was".'complained on oil sides that tho Government was utterly devoid of I either originality or imagination. It was ■'■frequently stated that at last olec- I tion' the Government had achieved its I partial success not on political issues, but on the circumstances that seemed to: play into tho Reformers' hands. There were the Dreadnought, tho honour Hhe Kiiig had conferred upon Sir Joseph Ward in recognition of his serviced to the. Empire, the compulsory j training scheme, the granting of totalisator permits, tho Mokau transaction, the Black pamphlet, supposed commis- j sions for loans, extra charges for rais- I ing'tho loans, the pigeon-holes wita their awful secrets, and other baseless | insinuations arid innuendoes. Oppor-; tunities for that kind of fighting were j ■ particularly plentiful at last election. They would be completely absent at tho j coming election. It was evident from j his in both islands that, the i public were shrewd judges, and] they- expressed a clear opinion that • they wanted progressive men to rule theni, not so-called Reformers. Over and < over again ho had heard all sorts and conditions of people say that they did not wish to be governed by a Ministry which possessed less imagination and initiative than Sir Joseph Ward had in his little finger. At last election, Sir Joseph, on acS count of'the shameful abuse heaped upon him, was unpopular. To-day, ,_he was the mo&t popular man in New Zealand. It was noticeable that even his strongest opponents admitted that I in regard to finance, departmental | control, work ,that required diplomacy, and the higher'.'grades of statesmanbhip, he had rfolequal in this dpmihien. AV very demonstration . of Sir Joseph's-position was found in the fact.'that .Reformers not infrequently, expressed a wish that he would lead them instead of leading the presont , Opposition forces. It was significant that the Reformers were delighted when it was rumoured ■■-'< that Sir- Joseph;, would leave New , Zealand 1 for- ever, and* were depres- I sed when : ho to Welling-I - ton fr6m-his visit to'tho Old Country, with .all.his: old. vigour and courage. Asa matter of fact, the majority of the peophvwere pleased to know that Sir JosephT:was stiil fighting their! battles, and they?yjould flock' under his banner when" Jthe issue was,jde- , cided. ••'-' l i\V, ■-.'.':■. ' I ' Occasionally the did insinuations | • were brought r out', again, to be knocked'down once more. An fllus- I tration of that kind of thing was af- | forded at one of Mr H. M. Camp- ' bell's ■■ meetings in ilawke's Bay. Mr Campbell was the Refor.ni member for I ' that district. He dragged tho Mokau , . transaction out of its cupboard, and said 7 that Or M'Nab, who was Mminister of Lands in Sir Joseph Wards I Government;' was responsible for tho I granting of the freehold to the syndicate that bought tho property. Mr '"Campbell's chairman happened to tie .- Mr'Mason Chambers, a leading Hawke's Bay Reformer, and a straight and honest man. He rose I and■«told Mr Campbell that he: had made a serious mistake, and went en to explain that'he was interested in 'tho; transaction, and that he knew v ; all the circumstances, and 'that Dt -.-'■ M'Naß had nothing whatever to do with'• the grantin& 0f.,/the , freehold. V On- that occasion,therefore, -the Keformer was completely bowled out by ,' a member of /his-.6wn party. Mr Chambers explained, further, that the present syndicate probably would lose^mahy-thousands of pounds on the 'transaction,' and that the Government, i;; therefore; had: made • a 'really v good" arrangement. . ■ .■• ■. . " Aglin, the Hon Jr Allen's little tricks were .find, him eut. At last election he- TeceivedavspM vote, from the prohibitionists. Hardly had ,' those people recorded their «wrtes for him Vhen ho rushed to Christchurch ,to denounce, at-the second ballot election Mr L M. Isitt, their most prominent leader" and the, man wlm had made a : life's sacrifice for their, principles. They i had not forgotten that incident. _ Some ■'." time ago a number of Mr Aliens sup- » porters told bim that as he was-a busy Minister they would look after his electorate. Since that time he bad made .two visits to the electorate, speaking Von both occasions. One occasion was at'Kaitangata, which probably he would not readily forget. The inference to be, drawn from his visits after his supporters' assurance was obvious. There ' was no doubt that he would make many mpre speeches in Bruce before he made it right with tho people whom ho had treated so despitofully. There was a feeling in the country that the Government's majority of five was contributed to by three members s who were elected to vote against the Reformers. If they :had "voted as they were pledged to vote, tho Government , , would have been defeated by one vote; - and in that calculation no account was taken of the votes of Messrs Millar and Clarke, who did not. vote on thodivi- j sion and who wero elected to vote! against the Reformers. .The people were not slow to express their aversion to those who deserted tho party they were elected to support. The Reformers in the Bay of Islands, for instance, would have none of Mr Vernon _Roed, although he had deserted the Liberals to take the Refprmers' side. Similarly the Otaki Reformers would have none of Mr Field- Both of those gentlemen once were Liberals, but now were '"would-be Reformers. , Neither party wanted them. In that way- people- expressed their disapproval of "ratting" tricks which "in the present case had resulted in a Reform Government being retained in power against the wishes of the public. ~' .: To sum up tho position, Mr Dennehy continued, it was clear that the Reform Government was weakening. Opinions expressed on all sides showed that the people would not tolerate a Government that did not know its own mind on the naval question and other Important questions of the day. It had not been forgotten that the Liberal Government used its big majorities to bring in beneficial legislation, which the present Government, in an underhand way, was trying to defeat all the time. ,