The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1910. OPPOSITION CONFESSIONS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7077, 15 March 1910, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1910. OPPOSITION CONFESSIONS

There are any number'of benevolent old ,gentlemen in the world very fond of repeating to a younger generation the copy-book maxims of their youth, and expanding with portentous •emphasis upon the soundness of these smug phrases as rules for the conduct of life. Our grandfathers groaned under the affliction, and there is very convincing evidence to show that the amiable weakness is one that even the patriarchs suffered from in a rather aggravated form. One' of the wise saws of a mature experience handed down from one generation to another is that "Thoy only babble who practice not reflection." This precept is at least a. useful one, for it reduces to short compass the more solemn exhortation of philosophers that every man should at certain intervals spend a period of time in retrospect and introspective analysis—should submit his actions and thoughts to a searching audit for the ultimate good of the individual's body and soul. Most religions, for instance, provide for occasional exercises of this sort on varying occasions. The daily observance of the discipline in secular life would be rather too severe a strain upon human nature, which generally finds sufficient compromise in balancing the cashbook, yet there are times appropriate to reflection by all manner of men—- " after the season " for the farmer, the last day of the year for the multitude. For the politician there is the Messed period of .Recess. Then can old battles be fought o'er again and fresh resolutions framed—reven, perhaps, can new schemes be hatched. This being such a time, it seems particularly appropriate that the gifted, statesmen in New Zealand who form his Majesty's Opposition—and spend most of their time calling his Majesty's Ministers rascals—should sit down and examine themselves, and, having turned themselves inside out, as it were, give an honest verdict to each other upon their individual deportment and collective accomplishments during the strife of sessional conflict. The Opposition has been doing this to some purpose, for we find it, after months of shouting and hurrying to and fro, suddenly wandering abroad doing penance in sackcloth and ashes.

Exactly what the Opposition thinks of itself is not yet quite clear, but its meditations have resulted in the publication by what may be termed the

" official organ of the Opposition of a number of articles giving the .show completely away. These proclaim to the world that the Opposition feels in a very bad way indeed, and, having decided that open confession is the best, publishes the diagnosis and the suggested euro. Wo hardly know which seems to bo the most painful, the disease or the remedy. At any rate, there is no doubt that a further consultation is necessary. Anaemia, the trouble from which our poor friends are suffering, is an ailment of many obscure complications. If not taken in time it is apt to lead to serious derangements. What is the principal sorrow of the Opposition P That it has gained no ground; that its stock-in-trade has been *' twecdledee-tweedle-dum duels"; that "there is no single issue before the- country"; that '' timidity arid procrastination" are fatal; that-the party platform is "undesirably vague," and amounts to " asking the electors for » blanlr cheque."

Seeing this much brought to debii>— the indictment could not be stronger if framed by an enemy of the "cause of reform " —one naturally looks for the treatment by which a cure shall'be worked upon the suffering organisation, and it turns out to be a recommendation—

(1) To "work out a policy that can be expounded and explained."

(2) To "rise to the situation ©yen though doing so should mean reorganisation from top to bottom." The natural inquiry is to ask what has been the fate of "the policy" hitherto expounded—the seventeeaplank one, for instance, of last election. Has that already fallen into decay P It seemed a frail structure; certainly, at the time, but even if it could not be explained, it might have been expounded again without mora than the usual loss of dignity. It-is, of course, true enough, as the Opposition newspaper's articles insist, that Mr Massey has been "unable to focuspublic opinion," . and that his greatest activities consist of such feats as "straining at gnats and swallowing camels," but, after, all, it must be agreed that,Mr Massey represents tho traditions of Conservatism very thoroughly. It H all very well to tell him and his colleagues to " drop fads and side-issues," "put their- heads together," and "'stop fighting, over trivialities," but when they have done this,' what then?, The'..stock-in-trade will have gone, and the necessity for a policy presenting olear issues would b# more pressing than ever.

Because of his own limitations and the dreary fact that the policy of Conservatism is fundamentally one which denies the need for movement, we cannot expect Mr Massey to bring clearcut issues into the political arena. Ho and his colleagues are all for negation, for weeping, for telling us the country is going to the dogs, ana though the oommentator'whose articles are under review sententioiisly observes that " the in life always end by standing stock still," even he ends at destructive criticism, and has nothing more substantial to offer than appeals to "arise" and "wake up." However, the Opposition has put its case verj frankly before the electors, and may gain inspiration after this act o'i voluntary purgation. The position has been put quite frankly, and we need hardly say that the following paragraph meets with our most hearty approval, as it bears out what has heen said in these columns a thousand times:—

The Opposition, to make headway, has to set to grip* with its public, and this it is still a long way from doing. It lacks vitality and persistence, it seems to havo no ideals, its tactics are poor, and its attitude to current questions lis often too academic to incite much popular interest. Laist year its opportunities were greater than they have ever been before, but, incredible to relate, it emerged without gaining any appreciable amount of ground. ••. » • •

It is not our business to make sug. gestions to the Opposition, but wo cannot help thinking that its meditations during recess would have been much more pleasant if its adherents could have induced the party mandarins to put away their handkerchiefs and stop snivelling, to drop bandying with cheap crudities about " Tammanyism" and give us facts, to ceaso wandering in the market-place with cries of " Woe, Woe, and Desolation" —to address themselves as men instead of like angry little boys to the business of working for the common good. The country has grown very tired of the vapourings and extravaganoes of tone of the spokesmen of the Opposition, and would welcome a change of tactics. The open confessions of the last few days may be "good for the soul" of the patient, and, we hope, the first signs of recovering health.