THE POLITICAL ISSUES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIV, Issue 20969, 23 February 1938, Page 13

THE POLITICAL ISSUES

To the Editor ot “ The Timaru Herald " Sir,—The ancients used to say that, whom the gods wished to destroy they first made mad. Now, if there is any truth in that old saw, the Nation-;! Party of New Zealand must be heading straight for destruction, for judging from the rantlngs of its principal spokesmen, it is certain the gods have taken it in hand, and will annihilate it very shortly. If the gentlemen referred to are not beside themselves, how else can it be explained that they are wasting their golden hours and their “glorious youthful prime,” on a mission of deliberate misrepresentation and deception? How, otherwise could grown men have been induced to go about like roaring lions seeking whom they might deceive by pure clap-trap and flapdoodle and by the abuse of men far superior to themselves, in every conceivable way? There can be no doubt about it. They are mad with Jealousy. The reflection that a Labour Government has danced rings round them as statesmen, has un-

hinged their minds. To think that the political representatives of the workers and working farmers, have, as if by magic, lifted the country out ot the ditch of depression, into which private enterprise had thrown it, and placed it on the road to permanent prosperity, unbroken by either slumps or booms, has made them frantic with envy and chagrin. Furthermore, the writing on the walls of every country informs them that the days of private enterprise, exploitation and the extremes of wealth and poverty, are numbered. So they have determined to make one supreme and desperate effort to regain the privilege of reaping where they had not sown, by the simple process of keeping the workers and primary producers poor, through the mechanism of debt. This they would do by again placing the money system of the country in the hands of a private foreign company, which waxes wealthy by robbing the industrious, by controlling prices and incomes by the dexterous manipulation of money. Thanks to the broadcasting of parliamentary speeches, it is now being widely admitted by former opponents that the brains of Parliament are certainly on the Government side of the House. And the high quality of the legislation passed by the Labour Government, is appealing to all and sundry. The Opposition know this, and, of course such knowledge only adds to their wrath and their fury. Concerning the New Zealand Labour Government, an expert has said that “With the passing of the Acts instituting universal superannuation and national health insurance, the Labour Party will have created a world record. No previous Government in history has ever implemented practically every plank in its platform during the first two years it held office, as the Labour Government has done.” Now then, th” people of New Zealand are being asked, on the one hand, to decide for their own economic security, from the cradle to the grave, for social justice for all, and for plenty for all, health for all, and reasonable leisure for all. On the other hand, to revert to the jungle struggle of private enterprise, in which the masses will certainly suffer in the future as they have suffered in the past; being driven back to slumps and slums, wars of finance, war preparations and enslaving debt. We have rung out the bad old policy of disorderly scramble, in which only the few were successful. We have rung in the good and the new policy of order, justice, economic security and freedom to live honest and honourable human lives and we intend to retain what we have, at great cost, at last secured for all, rich and poor alike.— I am, etc., A. M. PATERSON. Timaru, February 19.