MORE LIGHT.

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 12856, 11 December 1912, Page 7

MORE LIGHT.

(To the Editor.) • Sir, —In view of its igeneral (importance " present a-nid prospective," are' we not entitled to more enlightenment as to the aims and methods of the Reform Party? iEvery other political group has favoured us with propaganda, in plenty, and I thdnk it is up' to the Reform PWty to do -the Same. A platform embodying its principles <would, I feel sure, .be appreciated and would at the name time, indicate the. line of cleavage. Diverse interests that become intensified through universal education, popular fnamefhise and social pressure generally make such a line more pronounced to-day than ever. The absence or paucity of labour and small tenant representation in its ranks hardly presages & long and successful career. The good old dia.ys when Labour ■had to do what it was rtold without question, and ta:ke what was left, have gone for ever. Thankis to their own efforts •labourers are no longer a social and political nonentity. To the same source is due ia slight addition to the human land, "corresponding diiminration in the property sanction. We knoiw it as one of Nature's invariable laiws, ithat society like the oak is fed or regenerated from the bottom land jdies off at the top. Just what constitutes a, reform is generally determined on the dictates of pomonal or class dintereats. To widen opportunity, to secure to each a more general ipa.rtacii(pati'on in wealth and alll l)enefits accruing through social causes, the enjoyment by every one to the full of the fruits of. his labour, it seama to mo should be the object of real reform. In our muddle-headed way we are lialble to contfound the spirit of true reform with that of concession or its first cousin, patronage, common progeny of that hioairy incuibus, privilege. With a sincere hope that the ReformParty will rise to la Senso of its national rceponsibiMties, tihat national progressi in its ttt-ue sense rather thian class- aggrandisement wndl 'be ilte objective, these qualities with an intuitive insight imto future niationiail. need's, must in their degree determine the length of its life The alienation of all lands without regard to these future /requirements —educational, military, industrial and altruistic-—^would constitute* a grave infringement of the people's alights and will not stand the supreme test of time. tLf not all, at , least .ample foi" future requirements should be retained by - the State. History, if .it proves nnyithiin.g, proves this .provision to be) one of tihci essentials, to a niation/s welfare. Allow me to 'outline an urgent need that evidently w:as not anticipated. A menace to our agriiicuiliturafl) growth lies in the fact that no .land is aviailable for allotmente off :whnch |a farm labourer can supplciment his eann^-, in,gs and so comipensat& him for (lower ,^'ages and intermittent work .relatively to the town worker. It 'would be difficult to im>aigmo 'a more pitiable thing than a Grovei-nment without ample ve-\ seiives of land to diiaw on to meet the exigencies of development, unless it be a lamb-like connivance on the ipiart of the people. A few good, far-reaching, nationally-inspireH meas-ureis ibatoked by such political virtues as courage, dniibia- ' tivo -and'tolerance would inspire general confidence and connponsate (for that innate carponate tendency to diriiftaway from ideals- —to the spectacular or God knows Avhere. —Tliankaing you in antici-■pa-tion, I aim «tc.,

NATIONAL SENTIMENT Fordell, Doo. Bth.