MR MASSEY AND LIBERALISM.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2694, 12 July 1923, Page 4

MR MASSEY AND LIBERALISM.

The "New Zealand Times” offers |' very generous congratulations to Mr 1 , Massey upon his completion of eleven | years of olliec, and wishes him well i I for the future. As an example of theji | wonders the whirligig of time hash effected in the softening o,f party asperities, a paragraph from the!’ chastened Liveral stalwart’s observa-j< I tions is worth quoting. "The chief. < weakness of the Reform regime,” it |- runs, "is the lack of land for the closer settlement and the fuller culti-1 ration on which the development of j j this country chiefly depends. The fact i is that for poor men, no matter how ■ agriculturally capable, industrious, 1 and eager they may be, there is no , 1 land within their reach.' For even the I 1 sons of farmers who are in the rank of j | the very best possible and most desir- ■ able settlors, there is now no opening ‘ on the land. This must bo changed. 1 But, as we have said, the time is not ripe for t he practical consideration of i the deeper issues. That being so., and i matters of weightiest Imperial concern requiring closer attention, the Reform Government, with its broader , outlook, and its sound acceptance of r the past that was of good report, may r ] well be 'allowed to continue in office ] with approbation of all New Zealand ! to do good work.” Time truly has 1 do, > much to efface the old party distinctions. I ®

Probably the tendency towards independent thought is more marked in the House to-day than it has been at any other time since the granting of constitutional government to. the country. The personal goodwill towards Mr Massey has steadily and surely grown with the passage of years, but the former unquestioning faith in the political sagacity of the Prime Minister has distinctly declined with the disappearance of his big majority in the House. Quite a number of the Reform member? now venture to question his .judgment, in the lo.bbies, and to criticise openly the recent reconstruction of his Ministry. Mr Bollard's promotion to the vacant seat at the Cabinet table is not generally popular, the appointment of Sir Maui Pomare to the ofiico of Minister of Health is distinctly unpopular. Then, the Government is suffering, of course, from the approach of old age, an inevitable complaint which even Mr Scddon would not have held at bay inik'iinitely, and the desire for change, displayed at the recent general election is in a measure reflected in the House. Mr Massey may be able to hang on during the life of the present Parliament, and so. eclipse Mr Seddon's record, but it can only be by the sacrilicc of much personal comfort and some political dignity.