MR. MASSEY IN PARNELL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14853, 2 December 1911, Page 6

MR. MASSEY IN PARNELL.

The very cordial reception accorded to Mr. Massey last night in' Parriell ought, to convince Sir John Findlay of the respect in which the Leader of the Opposition- is held in every Northern constituency. That respect has been earned by Mr. Massey's hard, honest,... and selfsacrificing work on behalf of the Dominion, and, we do not hesitate to say, is shared by all reputable opponents as well as by supporters of the Opposition. In the heat of political excitement many hasty words are uttered, and divisions between parties often prejudice personal relations, but the position of Mr. Massey in the esteem of his fellow-citizens has never been affected by the remotest suggestion of an unworthy action. As to his political acumen those who have studied his speeches—as those who heard him last night at Parnell— must recognise that his weakness as a demagogue is due to the careful attention he pays to public matters of vital importance, but • too • profound to be superficially attractive. The, Leader of. the Opposition takes that careful and critical view of financial, questions and of administrative problems which is only possible to men possessed of the true administrative faculty, and none need be afraid of the country suffering if its destinies were. temporarily committed to his care. In the matters of land settlement and of the allied native land problem Mr. Massey is particularly sound— we might expect from a genuine yeoman farmer, whose life and experience have made him wholly sympathetic with the struggles of the settler to form a home on the land.