Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established Third of a Century.] MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1905. THE BIG LOAF AND THE SMALL LOAF.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 8320, 11 December 1905, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established Third of a Century.] MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1905. THE BIG LOAF AND THE SMALL LOAF.

" The big loaf and the small loaf" is by no means a new phrase. Is it not historical and written of in the annals of " the early forties " when it was the battle cry of the people of England ? Was it not those great and true Liberals, Richard Cobden and John Bright, who then pleaded for a bigger loaf for a half-starved people ? The heart of the nation, the nation which dwelt in the cottage, went out at that time to Richard Cobden and to John Bright and gave eventually a victory to the big loaf. There were Liberal giants in those days ; would that there were such men alive to-day ! It may, perhaps, be laid down as an axiom that when the choice between a big loaf and a small loaf is placed before the people they always prefer the former.

Our friend, Mr Seddon, with his marvellous intuition, knows this, and, in the late election, he made good use of his knowledge. Did he not proffer almost every constituency in the land " a big loaf ?" The Opposition, on the other hand, could only tender " a small loaf " —a sort of " crust of bread and liberty." We were very sympathetic with liberty—if not altogether overfond of the crust; yet, we know, six months ago, that the " big loaf " of Mr Seddon must prevail over " the small loaf " of the Opposition. The people of New Zealand will stand a certain amount of slavery for the sake of a big loaf, but the time will yet come when they will want their liberty back again. Have we not twenty thousand leaseholders in shackles who are discontented ? They may be the first to turn against their master, but they will not be the last.

In " the early forties " Freetrade stood for the big loaf and Protection for the small loaf. Curiously enough, with us, Freetrade is supposed to stand for the small loaf and Protection for the big one. Freetrade gave England its big loaf, but our own big loaf is to come from Protection. The happy-go-lucky people of New Zealand, as long as they have a big loaf, do not care whether it comes from Protection or from Freetrade. The Opposition ought to have forseen this big loaf difficulty, and to have arranged its plans accordingly. They depended upon the people turning against the Government because the latter were not, in their opinion, virtuous. But the giver of a big loaf is always virtuous in

the eyes of the people. The Opposition really ought to have had a bigger loaf to offer to the people, for it was only on this ground that it had a chance to score.

The big loaf for New Zealand is made up of high wages and a moderate price for the necessaries of life ; but high wages are the essential ingredient. The Government score as' regards the high wages, but only to a very small extent as regards the cost of living. However, they make the workers believe that they are reducing the cost of living, at the very time that they are increasing it. This is exceedingly clever, and if we are not lost in admiration of the methods of the Government, we do justice to its ability.

Sensible men believe more in the middling size loaf than in either the big loaf or the small one. The Opposition loaf might well have been a size larger, and as for the Government loaf, it is too big to be genuine. In the early forties, sometimes called " the hungry forties," there was a make-believe bread compounded out of husks, which poor people called " Crammings." We cannot help thinking that there are Crammings in the Government loaf. It is, of course, not all Crammings, but its size is partly due to them. For our part we prefer an honest middling size loaf which combines both safety and nourishment.