THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15552, 9 March 1914, Page 6

THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

While the Leader of the Opposition remains discreetly silent on the question of policy his lieutenant, Mr. G. W.. Russell, has commenced to.feel the pulse of the party's following on some oi tne leading political topics. Mr. Russell's assertion of certain popular rights may be passed over as the cheapest of. all forms of political propaganda. It cost . the Continuous Government little to assert similar rights when they were in power; from the Opposition side of the House they cost nothing and mean nothing. Mr. Russell comes nearer to practical politics when he touches the land , question. The land tenure, according to Mr. Russell, is settled; leasehold is dead. For the future we are not only to have freehold but every acre of land is to be made productive under penalty of resumption by the state. It will be interesting' to note how this is received by the leaseholders who for so long controlled the party; it will be still more interesting to see whether even Mr. Russell is yet sufficiently in earnest over land settlement to apply his resumption proposals to unused Maori lands; The Herald has repeatedly urged this on the Continuous Government, and on the Reform Government. Mr. Russell, however, ignores the Maori. He proposes to entrust land boards with certain powers, which sound well, but which have little meaning in New Zealand unless applied to native lands and the land boards do not administer the native lands. Mr. Russell has also taken the responsibility of putting forward new schemes of naval and military defence. He favours torpedo destroyers and submarines instead of a cruiser, and proposes to reduce the age for compulsory training from 25 to 21. Nobody would care to take Mr. Russell seriously as a naval and military . expert. His views on defence are interesting only as showing how Opposition leaders differ. Sir Joseph Ward is as much opposed to torpedo destroyers as he is to submarines, and the age limit for compulsory training was raised by the Ward Government from 21 to 25 two years before Mr. Massey/;ame into power. Whatever Mr. Russell may think the Leader of the Opposition might as Well waive his preference for the British Navy to secure a New Zealand cruiser as to secure four torpedo destroyers and four submarines; he can hardly without grave inconsistency lead an attack on the compulsory training age limit which he was himself responsible for fixing.