CONSERVATIVE DUPLICITY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5570, 20 May 1896, Page 4

CONSERVATIVE DUPLICITY.

The cat is out of the bag, says the Oamaru Mail. The Christchurch Press has explained the statement made in Auckland a month ago that, if they got into power, the Opposition would not repeal the land and income tax, the labour laws, and other legislation of the present Ministry. The explanation is eminently satisfactory, inasmuch as it exposes the hollowness of the pretence by which it is hoped to cajole weak-kneed Liberals into voting for Conservative candidates at the coming general election. We never had the slightest faith in Captain Russell's profession of a readiness to accept the Liberal legislation, but the explanation given by the Press of what the leader of the Opposition really meant by his statement is none the less welcome. The Press denies — and the Press knows the mind of the party — that the Opposition view the land and income tax and the labour legislation as "sound and beneficial." They hate these things with the same bitter hatred that caused them to resist them with violent pertinacity. When they say that they, if they acceded to power, would accept the Liberal. measures as milestones to inarkthe political progress of the colony, they' simply mean that they "do not intend to overturn violently all the legislation of the present Government directly they get into office." * * * The Press, the subsidised organ of the Opposition, has exposed the trick that is being practised upon the people. The Press must be commended for its candour, if it cannot be for its caution. It had become necessary to say something in order to allay the fears of timid Tories scared at the apparent blacksliding of their chosen chief, and to rebut the statement of the Minister of Lands that the promise of Captain "Russell to accept the. Liberal legislation was an admission of past error and a repentance of the sins committed against the people. The Press has performed its task clumsily, but it has done the people a good service. It has opened their eyes, and given them a clear view of the. intentions of the Tories if they can by any means regain control of the reins of power. We now have it upon Opposition authority that if the Opposition get into office there will be a period of "political rest," preliminary to " overhauling the Statute Book." The policy of the Opposition is now fully revealed. It is to get the Government out first, then to rest and be thankful, and finally to destroy all that has been accomplished during the Liberal reign. The Press has said it, and the Press has for once told the truth, though it is only by accident.