THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1913. MASSEYISM AND SQUATTERDOM

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 8 February 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1913. MASSEYISM AND SQUATTERDOM

A very determined effort is being made by tlio Opposition press of the Dominion to associate the Reform with the holders of large estates, and to make it appear that, because some of the supporters of Mr Massev are possessed of wealth, the sympathies of the -Government are with the big man, and against the small holder and the worker. It need hardly be sa-id that this concoction of -the discredited Liberals is being denied by stubborn facts every day of the woek, and almost every hour of the day. It may be, it probably is, true that among the supporters of Mr Mossey are to be found a number of the most industrious and successful settlers the Dominion possesses. This is as much a tribute to tlio sagacity of the settlers themselves as it is to the high principles and ideals that inspire the He-form Party. Any man who is capable of thinking for himself will recognise that because a sectibn of the community supports a certain political party, that support does not necessarily imply identity of interest. He would be verging upon the insane who would argue .that because a number of the titled and wealthy gentry of England support the Liberal Government, the sympathies of that Government a re bound up to capital. By the same token, it does not follow that, because Sir .1 oseph Ward is the leading aristocrat of the Dominion, and many of his supporters are possessed of considerably more than their share of this world's goods, ho cannot find it in himself to legislate for the amelioration oi' the condition of the people as a whole. Nor can it be .said that because Socialists, and Syndicalists, and anti-militarists are ranging themselves on the side of title and wealth, the interests of the two extremes are identical. How, then, can it be said, that a Government which lias been placed in power by the will of the small farmers and peasantry of the community is pledged to maintain the interests of the squatters at the expense of those of the remainder of the people in the Dominion? The verv composition of the Government gives such a proposition an emphatic contradiction.,. How many squatters

are there in the present Ministry.? Is there one? j)oe« the Ministry represent anything like the vested interests that wore represented in the Ward Cabinet? Arc the rank and file of those -who constitute the Government majority in the Houso associated as a body with landed interests? Most, assuredly not. '"By their fruits ye shall know them." The increase in tho graduated land tax does not display any marked sympathy with the man of wealth. The acquisition of large estates doe.s not necessarily imply a desire to allow the landed-proprietor to remain in binug .security. Tho granting of pensions to old soldier*, and the extending of the pension system to widows and othors, does not manifest an altogether brutal disregard for the humane instincts. The removal of the Civil Service from the realm of patronage and back-stair influence does not suggest a policy of conservatism or spoils to the victors. Tho application of the democratic principle of election on the proportional representation basis to our Legislative Council is not striking evidence of a desire to thwart the will of the people and to exercise autocratic powers. A policy of clean, straightforward, honest government, in which all sections of the community are given a ''square deal," is not entirely opposed to the best interests of the'country.' On the contrary, we believe that it will make for the elevation of tho masses, the progress of settlement, the prosperity of the nation and the permanent welfare of tho [ people as a whole, .It is because the | country has confidence in the honesty | of purpose of Mr Massev, because it I knows that ho will not be coerced by | threats or influenced by bribe, that I it is determined that he shall be given lan opporunity of "making good." The men and their hireling newspapers who are to-day assailing the Government and charging it with pandering to the classes, are the very men and newspapers who have been thriving for years upon a policy of autocracy, .spoils, and pandering. Tf they were possessed of the slightest sense of decency; if they did not estimate public intelligence at an exceedingly low standard; if they were not as brazen-faced in presumption as they are bankrupt in principle, they would maintain a discreet silence when th~> ethics of good government and clean administration are under j review'.

THE ARFSITRATIOX ACT. When the Arbitration Act was first introduced it was entitled "An Act to encourage the formation of Industrial Unions and associations, and to facilitate the settlement of industrial disputes .by conciliation." ' in the light of what happened in connection with the slaughtermen this reads like the bitterest irony. As the Christchureh Press points out, it is now apparently an Act to enable men to strike without incurring any penalty, and to prevent men who wish to settle their disputes by arbitration from forming a, union for that purpose. It is' interesting to trace out the several stages in this remarkable development. (1) The slaughtermen form a union and by its means get every concession which the Arbitration Court can be induced to sanction having regard to equity and the Jaws of economics. (2) The slaughtermen thereupon have no further use for the Act and cancel their registration. (3) 'Having thus put themselves beyond the reach of the law they cease work, •stopping the wheels of the whole industry and refuse to submit their dispute to arbitration. (4) Fearing that other workers may form a union with a view to bringing the dispute within the pacific operation of the Court, the slaughtermen who went on strike hurriedly re-register, so that it will bo impossible for any other slaughtermen who wish to come under the Act to form a union for that purpose. The move is a clever one, but we doubt if there ever was a mere impudent attempt to wrest a law from its original purpose, making use of its' provisions so as to efFeet the exact opposite of what its framers intended. Dlearly this much botched Act requires further amendment. It is doubtful, however, whether the .wit of man will ever succeed in making it into a really good and effective measure.