A DECREPIT GOVERNMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14923, 22 February 1912, Page 8

A DECREPIT GOVERNMENT.

THE PAST AND THE PRESENT. MR. HERDMAN'S INDICTMENT. Mr. A. L. Herdman (Wellington North) was the next speaker. He said there seemed to be a tendency with apologists for the Government to rely on what it had. done in its youth. What did it matter to' the House what the Government had done in the past? What the representatives of the people had to determine was whether, the Government was worthy of the confidence of the people judged by its recent policy and actions. The Government must be judged in this no-confidence motion not upon"its youth and its days of vigour, but upon its decrepit old age. The Government had not managed the railways satisfactorily, and it had shuffled over the land question. It had not dealt with the Public Service. It had not grappled with the native land question. It had not administered'the public affairs of the country as they should have been managed. A Preposterous Document. Mr. Herdman then described the Governor's Speech as one of the most ridiculous, preposterous, and degrading documents ever placed in the hands of a representative of the Sovereign. Instances of "backdown" were to be found in the Governor's Speech. The Government had conceded the freehold. This had been done not only in the Governor's Speech, but previously in the Land Settlement Finance Act. ■ The Prime Minister: Not Crown lands. Mr. Herdman: What difference does that make? The Government, he continued, had always declared for the leasehold in days gone by, but thev had gradually drifted away from the old policy, and had backed down. When the Land Settlement Finance Bill was brought down, the Government abandoned their old pretensions' for ever. A Late Repentance. Very tardily the Government had, said Mr. Herdman, come to the conclusion that the Legislative Council should be reformed, that native land should be more speedily settled, and that somo exemptions should be granted from income tax. The people had declared on December 7 and December 14 that they did not want tho Government. Now it was the duty of the Government, having found out what the people wanted, to give it to them by removing themselves from the Treasury benches. Charges Against the Government. Tho Opposition, said Mr. Herdman, had declared, and he believed the people had declared, that, the Government was borrowing too fast, that it had been reckless in expenditure of public money, that it had backed down and shuffled, and shillyshallied on the land question; that the public service was in a state of discontent; that the railways had been mismanaged, and that railway servants were in 'a state of discontent; that tho native land question had -not been grappled 'with and solved as it should have been. 'These were the questions upon which the Government had been judged, not upon things that were done in 1834. Political Corruption. Mr. Herdman said that Ministers had deliberately used public money for the purpose of keeping themselves in power. That was enough to damn the Administration in any British part of the world! There was the fact that money was voted before an election and never spent, and "as that had. occurred time after time the only possible conclusion was that the men on the Treasury benches had broken their trust, Mr. Herdman said that without hesitation he declared that appointments were made to tho public service as the result of political influence. Speaking at a dinner of the Civil Service Association in Christchurch, in October, Mr. J. Beid said that appointments were made which caused men to blush for the people responsible for them.

Mr. 0. W. Russell : A junior clerk. Mr. Herdman: Perhaps he was a junior clerk, .but he no doubt know more than the member who interrupted. Mr. Herdman mentioned an instance in which a man had been appointed to a position as typewriter expert, but afterwards it was found that he had to be instructed in the operation of a typewriting machine. After three years and a-half the Government had at last brought down the Civil Service. classification list. Those were some of the reasons why the people had voted against the Government, and not because of the maimer in which certain members voted years ago. Reform Party and Borrowing. .. Mr. .Herdman said the imprudent, dangerous borrowing policy of the Government taught the people to be extravagant and improvident, so that borrowing would have to be continued until no more money could be obtained. It was timo that the people learned to bo self-reliant. In seven years the actual' expenditure of the Dominion had increased by over £3,200,000, and there was no justification for such an increase. It absolutely convicted the Government of reckless finance. . Mr. Payne: It does not. Mr. Herdman: When you have been' here long enough you will understand that it does. Mr. Payne: The population has' increased pro lata. (Laughter.) Mr. Herdman: Don't make silly. obser- : vations. Mr. Herdman added that b<» -was confident the railways were over capitalised as a result of tint manner in which predecessors of Mr. Millar had expended borrowed money where the expenditure should have been borne by the system. A Firm Government > Wanted. ; The people showed at the elections said Mr. Herdman, that tboy desired a Government possessing firmness, courage,! and strength, and he believed that never in the history of tho country w'efo such' qualities more needed than they were to-, day. The Government had gradually lost' sight of tho fundamental principle that should inspire an Administration. It should endeavour to see that justice was secured for every man, and that tho whole of the legislation should be diverted towards securing for the peoplo of the country a. higher state of civilisation. The Government had mismanaged, the railways, muddled the public works, refused to open up.lands, obtained money recklessly, and spent .it recklessly. If' the country got another Government as ho was sure they would, (hero would be a hotter state of afifth's. All over the country people were afraid to invest money, because they had lost' confidence in the Government. Tho election had not been won as had been stated by innuendo and misrepresentations, but by putting beforo the people of New Zealand the truth, and nothing but the truth. (Applause.)