CURRENT COMMENT

Taranaki Daily News, 18 January 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

CURRENT COMMENT

OTHER, POINTS OF VIEW

('Bj

M.O.D.)

To the discerning, it was plain from tiio beginning that the name United Party, like that of Guelph or Vere de Vcre, would be awfully hard to live up to. , * * * * With the outburst of Mr. A. E. Davy, of Auckland, the chairman of the executive of the Party, the first signs of division have been revealed to the public gaze. Mr. Davy, after nursing his resentment like Achilles in his tent for some time, has at last thrown what he no doubt anticipated would be a bomb- - shell into the camp. He has denounced Sir Joseph Ward as the Mussolini of . New Zealand. # * * Sir Joseph, it will be remembered, for some time recently, sat in the House in single blessedness as the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party of that time was a shining and probably solitary example of a political party without a difference. The rank and file agreed with the whip, the whip agreed with the party leader, the Party leader agreed with the rank and file.- Sir Joseph was all three. * * * * Then matrimony was proposed. The upshot was that a marriage was arranged and the Liberal Party joined itself with the National Party for belter or for worse.- In short, Sir Joseph collected a political harem. ' * * # • Believing, contrary to the Bard, that the name , makes a considerable : difference to the scent of the rose, the new- family adopted the name United Party. And, having done that, they imagined they were as indissolubly joined as the Siamese twins. But whatever the effect of the new name on the isccnt of the rose, the thorns still refrained and . Mr. Davy has begun to kick against the pricks. # * * '# “For some time/' said Mr. Davy, “I have had misgivings that we arc heading for national disaster owing to the failure of the Government to grapple with the problems confronting it. The United Party organisation was primarily formed with definite aims and objects. The candidates elected to represent the Party pledged themselves to support them, but Sir Joseph decreed otherwise. He made it a one-man party, ■with a thoroughly cowed Cabinet, acquiescing meekly in everything suggested by him and completely ignoring the 'rank and file. The organisation has been restive and dissatisfied for some time.” “And,” said Mr. Davy, “the position created will shortly throw this country into the arms of the Socialistic Labour Parly.”

Picture of the Labour Party waiting with open arms to clrnsp the country to its manlv bosom. *’* * * Unfortunately, the Premier repliedthe same evening with a message headed Press Association Extraordinary. This was not a lapse in punctuation by the sub-editor, though some people might have imagined it should, have read:, “Press Association. Extraordinary!” like a lifting of the eyebrows. It merely meant that the Premier had sent a special message after closing hours to crush the serpent of revolt straight away. Sir Joseph said that he was not surprised at the sudden development of the critical faculties of Mr. Davy, because Mr. Davy must have been well aware that considerable dissatisfaction had arisen in regard to his actions and that this situation had been leading for some time to the “serious consideration of Mr. Davy’s salaried position.” Sir Joseph then sounded the trumpet call of Isaac Pitman, “Now is tlie time for every good man to come to the aid of the party,” and gave a resume of the good things the Government had done, besides several it had. not, * * # * And Mr. Davy’s bombshell, after all, turned' out to be nothing much more than an eggshell. #•# # * Auckland seems the home of Sir Joseph's troubles. It was at Auckland that he was said to have made Lis most astounding statement regarding an immediate £17,000,000 loan. And when the whole .country threw up its hands in horror at his audacity, Sir Joseph explained that what 'he meant was to borrow the sum in instalments over a large number of years. The newspapermen, he pointed out, had got hold of the wrono- end of the stick. * " . * * . * . The custom of .conveniently giving the newspapermen the wrong end of the stick is growing with politicians. A delightful instance comes from the Reparations Conference at The Hague. The tale is told with the beautiful simplicity of a biblical parable. M. Tardieu was reported to have said to the German delegation: “You ask us to have confidence in you, yet you don’t necin to have confidence in yourselves. Your attitude leads us to doubt your general capacity to negotiate.” The German delegation asked M. Tardieu for an explanation. M. Tardieu expressed regret and claimed that he had been incorrectly reported. The Germans eaid that the position was very difficult but they hoped the incident would be satisfactorily settled. The incident ended with ’ the issue of a French communique stating that “yesterday’s discussion was without incident and most Cordial throughout, adding that “M. Tardieu had pointed out to the Germans that over-meticulous examination Of the details might disturb the atmosphere so necessary for success."’ “Peace with honour/’ as Disraeli ogee remarked on returning from a European conference in which England lost her reputation for fair dealing and caused another war. # * * * In other words: M. Tardieu is reported to have said, “The cat is black.” The German delegation protests. M. Tardieu regretfl; ho was misreported. What he had really said wao: '“The cat is not white nor grey nor red. Neither is it any of these colours, orange, vermilion, saffron or purple. It waa merely darkish in shade, resembling a colour opposite to white.”