THE LIBERAL PARTY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 20057, 21 September 1920, Page 6

THE LIBERAL PARTY.

The new loader of the Liberal Party struck tiie right note in his address nt Pctono last evening. His expositiou of the attitude of Liberalism towards Labour was concise, but its brevity only emphasised its clearness, tho Liberal Party, Mr Wilford said, stood for the moderate men and women of New Zealand; it stood as a strong wail or buttress against extreme Toryism and extreme Labour. He invited moderate Labour to form a partnership with tho Liberals, a partnership which had been proved worthy of trust in years gone by. The invitation is a timely one, and wo hope and behove that it will no t f„U on deaf care. The Conservatives and tho extreme Labourites nro endeavouring to irrevocably sepaiato the Liberal Party from moderate believing that if that object is achieved Liberalism must ..disappear ns a political force. The country would be divided into two camps, one headed by extreme Labour, and tbo other by anti-Labour. It has been demonstrated, however, that Labour as a body is not prepared to plump for tho extremists. Recent events havo revealed that extreme Labour the world over is not concerned about constitutional government or the rights of the subject. It aims at securing the reins of power, not through the will of tho people expressed at tho polls, but by the unscrupulous exercise of direct action. There is no autocracy more dangerous than that which is fed on class consciousness, and which puts the interests of any section above tho rights and welfare of the community. The possibilities of reform by constitutional means have not been exhausted, and there is a solid body of opinion among the workers that reform should proceed on evolutionary rather than revolutionary lines. It is to these workers that Mr Wilford’s invitation is addressed. Liberalism is not, and never can be, opposed to tho interests of the masses of the people, but it stands .definitely opposed to the direct actionist, who knows no creed save the selfish interests of his own following.