Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, JULY 5, 1923. THE DEBATE ENDED.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 750, 5 July 1923, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, JULY 5, 1923. THE DEBATE ENDED.

It took an all-night sitting to close the debate on the Address-in-Reply and to dispose of the eight amendments moved by the members of the two Opposition parties, and, as was generally anticipated, the Government won on the final division, securing a majority of threo votes over the combined Opposition. The only useful purpose the debate appears to have served was to demonstrate, once again, the hopeless attitude of the Labour Party towards private enterprise and the ownership of land. A great deal of time was unnecessarily wasted, and at £6O per hour, the estimated cost of Parliament when in session, the debate proved possibly the most expensive and the least profitable of any yet recorded. In the mainjtwasa repetition of the no-confi-dence debate which was the feature of the February session, very little fresh matter being introduced. The Labour amendments to Mr Wilford's amendment gave the Labour members the opportunity of ventilating their vi&ws on the leading planks or the Labour platform, and helped to put the Liberals "on side" with the Reform Party, the present object of the Labour Party being, not so much the overthrow of the Government as the elimination of the Liberals as the direot Opposition, a position to which Labour aspires and is determined to fill. Whether that will be a good thing if it comes to be accomplished is an open question. There are those who hold that the interests of the country would be better served by the maintenance of the three party system than by the amalgamation of the Reform and. Liberal Parties, which would have the effect of making Labour the real Opposition. No matter how good a Government may be, there comes a time when the people get tired of it and demand a change. Mr Mcssey's terra of office enters on its twelfth year on the 10th of July, and it seems quite possible that it may extend over a longer period than the thirteen years which marked Mr Seddon's occupancy of the position. But such lengthy terms of office are unusual, although they are not unknown in Canada, where Sir Wilfrid Laurier held office as Prime Minister for sixteen years, after being in opposition for eighteen years. By a curious coincidence, Sir Wilfrid Laurier's party was defeated at the polls in 1911, the year which practically witnessed the downfall of the Liberal Administration in this Dominion. Both in Canada and New Zealand the people had tired of such long spoils of government under the one party, and the desire for a change brought about the defeat of, both Liberal Administrations. So long as the Liberal Party remains intact and separate from the Reformers, there is always the possibility of replacing the latter by the Liberals, if a change of Government is really desired, and it is argued, therefore, that, by maintaining Van two parties us distinct

entities,' there is a better chance of keeping the Labour extremists out oi office, and, with their existing policy and under their present leaders, we fire afraid the country would bo in fov t a bad time if they, became the official Oppcftitioh and the'natural successors to a united Liberal and Reform Party. That is possibly a view which has not suggested itself to those who urge a coalescing of interests and a union of tho Reform and Liberal Parties. There would,' however, appear to be very little love lost, between the Liberals a n< J the Labour members in the House of Representatives and, while the latter followed Mr Wilford into the Opposition.lobby when the division bella, rang for the division on his amendment, they would no more follow his Jead, on policy matters than they would follow Mr Massey's. A WELL DESERVED REBUKE. Sir Maui Pomare administered a well deserved rebuke to the member for Wellington South on Monday, when he attacked the Minister of Health for the alleged neglect of the department in connection with the diphtheria outbreak. Mr McKeen had spoken in such a way as to convey the, impression that New Zealand is a most unhealthy country and Wellington a most insanitary city. His, remarks are likely to be. quoted elsewhere and may even form part of the Labour propaganda as. it affects immigration. Diphtheria ia certainly prevalent in Wellington, but the Minister was able to show t that, m contrast with former years, it is of a diminishing. quantity, the number of cases this year being very considerably less' than in 1920, IUI9, or 1913. ; Mr McKeen, as Sir Maui Pomare pointed out, had been decrying his own country unnecessarily. It is a curious trait m the "make-up" of the average Labour member that he is never happier than when decrying his own country, and contrasting it;, with such countries as Queensland and The latter is the great country for nationalising everything, from banks down to butchers' shops, and it has been truthfully, though somewhat scathingly remarked that it has made one great success.in that direction. It has succeeded in nationalising poverty. Diphtheria comes from unhealthy surroundings, and, even in the so-called "slums" of Wellington, it is possible for sanitary conditions to be maintained, provided the people themselves are cleanly in their habits and observe the necessary precautions at seasons suoh as the present, when diseases are apt to become epidemic. Mr MeKeaa had been demanding better housing conditions, and the Minister quietly reminded him that there was too much dependence on the Government for everything. "It seems to me (Sir Mam Pomare said) that everybody wants the State to supply him with a house, and when he gets it, he is dissatisfied with the paper or something else. I have never heard a member on the Labour benches advocate thrift. If from the age of 17 to that of 25 the young men would lay something by—say, the amount they spend on cigarettes and the pictures—they would in that time have enough money saved up to buy a house." There is a deal of truth m that statement. Thrift has actually been decried by Labour members, and. a fgrmer president or chairman of the New Zealand Labour Party (Mr F. R. Cooke) actually published a pamphlet denouncing thrift as something akin to 'a vice, demoralising in its tendency and inflicting an injustice on the workers generally. The demand, made so often now-a,-days that the,Government should do everything that is necessary for the comfort, convenience and easy living of the people indicates thai the story of Jupiter and the waggorier still has its application to TaelpFess folk who call out for assistance whenever the least difficulty confronts them.' In the early days settlers had to be content with mere, shacks, whicn they themselves erected, and could only provide themselves with tho simplest of foodstuffs and the homeliest of fare. They worked long hours and toiled hard to make homes for themselves. Now-a-days the "worker" wants the other fellow to do the toiling and to find the money for the building of his house as well and if it is not just to his liking he '"squeals." Sir Maui Pomare's straight j talk" to Labour, though strongly resented by the Labour members, was very much needed, and will, we trust, lead the latter to be a little more careful in their statements about the health of the community.. .