MR. LANG’S HECTIC WEEK

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19786, 9 March 1927, Page 8

MR. LANG’S HECTIC WEEK

Mr Lang, State Premier of New South Wales, has had a lively time of it during the past week. First, the Courts declared his proposed newspaper tax unconstitutional. Then five of his own party let him down by refusing to vote on his Liquor Bill and the measure was defeated.

After these two rebuffs, something had to be done quickly to restore the Lang mana. So the Premier decided to revive his old quarrel with the Governor. Public demonstrations were arranged which fell so flat that, a day or two later, it was announced that the dispute would be dropped! The reason given was that it was found further action would be detrimental to the Labour Party, a euphemistic way of admitting that the public was sick of it.

But as Mr Lang must have some sort of a fight on his hands in order to keep his name before the public, he decided on one with the Legislative Council for rejecting his Motherhood Endowment Bill. But, while he was in the midst of arranging more demonstrations for this purpose, other people were staging a little fight of their own. The anti-Langites in the Australian Labour Party suddenly rose and smote the Lang faction, turned them out of the control, and took charge themselves.

Mr Lang must now think up some new publicity “stunt” to counter the effect of so many failures in the course of a single week. Meanwhile, he clings to office as tenaciously as a limpet. In that he is quite successful.