MR. HUGHES AS CRITIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19808, 1 December 1927, Page 15

MR. HUGHES AS CRITIC.

SINS OF FEDERAL CABINET. ATTACK ON FINANCE POLICY. - ..... - SOME CONFIDENTIAL CABLES. : ' "V' i • \ 4 . ■ ■ , . v ' • [FROM OUR own corhe spondent. ] SYDNEY, Nov. 25. During the last few years it has become the fashion among Australian politicians to follow the tradition of Irishmen and bo "again the Guv'mint." This rebellious attitude has not been confined to official Parliamentary Oppositions, but has spreud to the rank and file of the parties that hold the reigns of government. Rebellion among Mr. Lang's followers first disaffected the State Labour Party's members arid finally brought about its downfall. The samo feeing of revolt lias, arisen among a section of tbo parties who support tho Bruce-Page Federal Ministry, and. one of the first important decisions of tho Bavin Cabinet in New South Wales has resulted in some of the Premier's followers hoisting a flag of warning. The most hostile critic of the Federal Government, both in tho House of Representatives and outside it, is the Commonwealth's wartime Prime Minister, Mr. W. M. Hughes. Not even tho hottest opponent of tho Government in the Labour Party has poured so much vitriol over tho heads of the Government's leaders as Mr. Hughes. Ever since control of the National Party—and hence tho Government—was torn from Mr. Hughes' hands by a combination of the Nationalists under Mr. Bruce and Country Party members under Dr. Earle Page, Mr. Hughes has been a critic, ranging from friendly bantering to sulphuric acid bitterness. But never has he been so bitter as during the last few weeks. The debate in tho House of Representatives on tho Cabinet's decision to sell the steamers of the Commonwealth Line, which Mr. Hughes founded, found the latter in his most scathing mood. He caused a sensation by disclosing the contents of confidential cablegrams which tho Ministry had withheld from the House, and brought derision down on tho heads of tho Prime Minister and his henchman, Dr. Page. But the cauldron of Federal politics boiled over completely when Mr. Hughes S made a slashing attack on Dr. Pago during tho Budget debate, declaring that the Treasurer was sending tho country into a "political and industrial hell." He made a merciless analysis of Dr. Page's administration of the Treasury, denouncing reckless expenditure. Referring to a Nationalist's taunt of disloyalty, My. Hughes vigorously cried: "You charged me with disloyalty to tho party. You say that in sill circumstances we must sit behind this Treasurer like dumb sheep and have our throats cut. You say that when wo hear the country crying out and angered against this gentleman's extravagance- when we see this country flooded with an avalanche of imports, and adverse trade balance and a mounting public debit—when all these things are happening you say we must sit silent. If that is so, if I am to be bound again, then I tell you I would rather be bound to them (pointng to the Labour Party) than bound to you." Some <ro'i the Government supporters cheered Mr. Hughes, some cheered Mr. Bruce and some sat glum, while Labour members taunted them all. Mr. Bruce made a dramatic reply, saying that Mr. Hughes was wrong in criticising Dr. Page because the financial policy at stake was not Dr. Pago's, but the Government's, and declaring that he would stand or fall by Dr. Page. But the Prime Minister must be perturbed, for Mr. Hughes is not the only malcontent.