OFFER TO LIBERALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18324, 14 February 1923, Page 10

OFFER TO LIBERALS.

END POLITICAL SHAM FIGHT. PARTY FUSION SUGGESTED. NOT PARTED BY REAL ISSUE j>r TELEGRAPH. REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Tuesday. The slenderness of the line of demarcation between the Government and the Liberals in matters of policy, and an invitation to the latter to fuss with Reform, was the feature of the reply by the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, Minister for Customs and Internal Affairs, to the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives to-day. Mr. Stewart expressed his disappointment that the Leader of the Opposition had evaded tho real issue of the debate. That was tho verdict of the country at the recent elections. " It was a most extraordinary confession of the Leader of the Opposition," said the Minister. " I waited and waited for him to come to the real issue. The House has been called together to ascertain what was the decision of the country, and I wanted to hear what ho intended to do if he succeeded with his motion of no-confidence. His speech was an entire plea to Reform to remit taxation, to do this or that, and he begged the whole question. Mr. Wilford admitted, in fact,, that the. Government was to carry on, that it was securely seated on the Treasury benches. If that is so, why the necessity for this debate? Why not take a vote now and let us get on with business " What the country wanted settled now is whether we are going to expect developments or get down to bedrock. They have realised that no success can attend the continuance of the policy of sham fighting that has been going on since I came into the House in 1914, and this party has not been responsible for it. The admissions of the Liberal Party are such that they aro not warranted in maintaining their attitude. In view of the serious position of the country and the necessity of getting rid of the old artificial alignments of party, the real Opposition should be on the Opposition benches. Labour Members: Hear, hear. Artificial, Resolutions.

" The Opposition, at its caucus, passed a series 01 artificial resolutions," Mr. Stewart continued, "which is not its mind at all. I propose to put the matter correctly before the country which expects something better than a relapse to party wrangles. All the questions dealt with by the Leader of the Opposition in his speech have been threshed out again and again during the elections. "I have read in the newspapers about the great ' wave of Liberalism ' that has swept the country. One has only to look back over the last few years to see that the position is as clear as in any State of Australia. That is. it is not necessarily through any great fault of their own, but by the course of political development that the two parties that have increased in strength are the Government and Labour, and that Liberalism has become stationary, and is a waning force. v " If it is true that the Liberals are still adhering to the principles of Liberalism, why nave the people steadily refused to give them sufficient support to enable them to carry them to the Treasury benches ? A comparison between the number of seats gained by the Liberal and Reform Parties over the last half-dozen elections is as follows:—

" The decrease in the number of Reform seats followed the carrying out of retrenchment, a heavy burden of taxation, and the greatest amount of misrepresentation any government had ever nad to put up with. The figures speak for themselves. A Definite Invitation. - "An invitation was issued by the Reform Party to those of the Liberal Party, whose views were not substantially different and at least they should have explored the position as to what could be done to help in stabilising the Government at a time when stable government was imperatively necessary. It would have been a right and proper thing for the leader of the Liberal Party to say to his followers: ' Here is a proposal put forward to us. I deem it my duty to investigate it and see what it involves, and in every respect discover how it would affect the fate of my party, and to see whether, in the circumstances of the Dominion, some steps could not Ha taken to clear up the doubt in the mind of the electors.' But this was not dona Reform Offer Genuine. " Mr. Wilford could have approached the proposals made by the Government and said, 'If you propose any sort of joint government we insist on your jettisoning Stewart, or any other of the Ministry,' but to suggest that the Reform proposal was for the preservation of Reform was entirely wrong. It was offered in the interests of the country and to show that there was 110 motive of self-interest in this party in assisting it to come to a conclusion." In reply to an interjection bv the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Stewart retorted: "You banged, barred and bolted the door before any discussion could take,-place. The country knows that in order to carry through legislation it is imperative that the Government should have a fair working majority. It would be impracticable to bring forward policy measures with a majority of one or two when: it is known that party feeling would endeavour to frill those measures." Mr. Stewart concluded "The House is entitled to know what the Leader of the Opposition intends to do." The Leader of the Opposition: I will make that _ statement if I succeed the Prime Minister. . Imperial Conference. Mr. Stewart said he wished to refer to a point of secondary importance, and one quite apart from the domestic politics of the country. What he referred to was that the nation was faced wibh Imperial problems of a momentous character held over from the last Imperial Conference, and that it was important that these should be considered at a conference at which the. Dominions were represented. The Prime Minister could not, however, go to such a conference under the circumstances that at present existed, and he (Mr. Stewart) would have liked to have seen the Liberal Party coming to some arrangement, even if it were only of a temporary character, so that the Empire might not be jeopardised. The Leader of the Liberal Party, however, had refused to answer the question that had been put to - -him by the Government Party. Would he then be content with another election ? (Government hear, hears). The party turned pale when that was suggested. (Opposition laughter). It was the clear duty of the Leader of the Liberal Party to say how: he proposed that the Administration of the country was to be carried on, or to say that he would agree to clear up the doubt by going back to the country. r

Election. Liberal. Reform. 1905 .. ..57 IS 1908 .. .. 48 26 1911 .... 34 37 1914 .. .. 30 39 1919 .. ..19 48 " 1922 . . .. 19 38