"CLEAN HANDS"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22260, 7 November 1935, Page 12

"CLEAN HANDS"

The Labour candidate for Hamilton declares "The Labour Party is entering this campaign with clean hands." No suggestion of corruption elsewhere need be read into this statement; its obvious meaning, supported by the speeches of his leader, is that the party cannot be held responsible for any of the conditions in the country with which electors may be dissatisfied. It is a good tactical point in campaigning to have the other side wholly on the defensive if possible, to avoid having anything to explain or defend oneself. That is especially so at present, since in the past four years hard things have had to be done in the endeavour to meet depression conditions. But when Labour asserts this freedom from responsibility, it is quite reasonable to recall again the circumstances by which it is able to claim what it doubtless regards as a very comfortable immunity. Four years ago, when the Coalition was formed, the Labour Party decisively refused to join. Since then it has steadily declined to be associated, save as critic, with anything done to deal with the state of national emergency against which its principal opponents have been struggling. They may have done some things badly. They may not always have seen clearly nor chosen the best course. But at least they tried to fill the breach, while Labour merely looked on, lifting no hand to help. So, at this stage, when the leader of the party and his colleagues denounce all that the Government has done, particularly when they claim to have in their possession the secret of sound administration, of successful finance, of a policy that would have conquered the depression, the country is entitled to ask why they did not offer it to the common pool four years ago, when the opportunity was there. It might not all have been accepted, but it surely could not all have been rejected, and any contribution toward solving the problem would have been of national benefit. Clean hands can be a recommendation in an election, but when they are clean because they have refrained from helping in difficult and unpleasant tasks, they will not commend themselves to everybody.