Mr. Grounds’ Retirement

Northland Age, Volume 8, Issue 2, 12 October 1938, Page 4

Mr. Grounds’ Retirement

Speaking at the conclusion of the Hon. H. G. R. Mason’s address at Rawene last • week, Dr. G. M. Smith referred to the withdrawal of Mr. W. Grounds from the contest for the Bay of Islands seat at the genei’al election. He said he agreed with Mr. Grounds that the only thing to do under the circumstances was to withdi’aw. At the same time he considered that in "spite of what Mr. Mason said in favour of and the inevitability of the party system, there must be something wrong with a system which prevented a man of outstanding ability, and l’ecognised as such all over the Dominion, from getting into Parliament—especially when it was the desii’e of the vast majority of the electorate that he shou d be their representative. However, there was no good talking any more aoout it, and as far as Mr. Grounds’ supporters were concerned—however indignant and hurt many of them felt over it—they must try to forget about it in the meantime; but only in the meantime. Mr. Grounds had left them in no doubt as to what they should do—they must support the Labour candidate. In his, the speaker’s, opinion, the Labour Government was vastly superior to any they had had in this country since he landed in New Zealand twenty-four years ago. He was prepared to go further and maintain that they wei’e the most enlightened Government at present controlling the destiny of any countVy in the world. The Labour Government was nearer the truth than any other; but they had got to go on. Thei’e must be no pause; they had got to take the final plunge and use debt-fi’ee money to make up the deficiency inherent in the present system. If they did not do that, they must go. On this point Mr. Mason was noncommittal. Lao Tse, thousands of years ago, made this profound and, to a politician, devastating aphorism, “Those who know do not tell: Those who tell do not know.” I leave it to you to classify Mr. Mason. tm