DUTY IN POLITICS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19892, 21 March 1939, Page 5

DUTY IN POLITICS

OPPOSITION FUNCTION WATCH ON GOVERNMENT CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM MR. HAMILTON ON TOUR (Per Press Association.) INVERCARG-ILL, this day. "I do not have to apologise to Mr. Savage, his Government, or anyo.ie else in placing the facts of the political situation before the country," said- the Hon. Adam ' Hamilton, the Leaded of the Opposition, last evening., Mr. Hamilton left to-day for Gisborne and the Waikato district to meet supporters of the .National Party to discuss current political problems. f'Part of the duty of the Opposition under the British democratic system of which we are proud is that it expounds the views of a large minority of the people," said Mr. Hamilton. "Even although the Government may not. always admit the part which the Opposition plays in constructive criticism, a truly democratic Government, With the interests of the nation as a whole at heart, notes that criticism and frequently amends its policy accordingly." Half-truths repeated over and over again as propaganda aimed to discredit any legitimate opposition had reached such alarming proportions in recent times under the cloak of an "I-can-do-no-wrong" hypocrisy that it was his duty to speak plainly of them. Methods of Intolerance In the day-to-day life of men and women over-sensitiveness to criticism on simple and matter-of-fact issues and the tendency to personel abuse rather than to logic were rightly condemned. In a Government apparently so satisfied with itself it was amazing and significant. A feature of the present political situation was the dictatorial manner of the Labour Government. It was taking a leaf from the books of the totalitarian States which had used methods of intolerance and skilled propaganda of half-truths. "As the leader of the National Party, I will never shirk my duty in layin? bare the facts as I see them for the calm judgment of our people," said Mr. Hamilton. "Whether the change of heart of Mr. Savage and his colleagues in their present talk of national welfare rather than class struggle is prompted by expediency or genuine desire remains to be seen, but for it National Party members can take much of the credit, since their representations seem to have had some weight. "That the Labour Government's talk is not exactly to the pattern of that heard when its members were wooing popular opinion in their campaign to reach the Treasury benches may surprise most of its supporters. Again the National Party can rightly claim credit for constructive criticism aimed at drawing the attention of the Government to many of its shortcomings from the financial policy to defence. ,