WHAT DOES MR CUTTLE MEAN?

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15987, 2 December 1919, Page 6

WHAT DOES MR CUTTLE MEAN?

To the Editor. Sir, —I have head Mr Cuttle’s letter in your issue of Saturday, and there is one part of it that I cannot for the life of me understand how he ever came to write. He says: “I am, and always have been, opposed to AVarclism; but, rightly or wrongly, I felt that I was in duty bound ,to play the game with Mr Hogan, even to the extent of ing to stand down on this occasion if he had desired to stand.” Now, what does that mean? If it means anything at all, it clearly means that Mr Cnttle tells the electors of AA r anganui that, whether his action was right or wrong, ho was prepared “to stand down in favour of a Supporter of Wardism, and that he is and always has been opposed to AA r ardisra. What a mixed, muddled, and distorted mental vision a man must have who can present a statement like that and ask for support on it. Just think! Hero is a man who says to the people of AV anganui: “I will do a thing whether it is right or wrong, and 1 ask you to elect "me to Parliament.” If we granted Mr Cuttle’s argument about the New Plymouth incident, and believed (wliich I do not) that Mr Yeitch was wrong on that occasion, in the name of common sense how would that justify Mr Cuttle’s present statement that he was prepared to do a thing whether it was right or'wrong because he “felt in duty bound to play the game with Mr Hogan.” It appears to me that Mr Cuttle is trying to jjlay a game with tbe electors, and it is not a very creditable game as far as he is concerned. The part of Mr Cuttle’s letter in which he discourses on the statesmanship of Mr Massey and Sir Joseph AVard shows that he is a very young man, iu fact only a child. These young people always know all about it. If Mr Cuttle would travel a little over New Zealand and keep hia ears open and his mouth closed he would learn that there are thousands of people in .this country, older and better informed than he is, who possess the conviction that if wc rolled Sir Joseph AVard, Mr Massey, and Mr Harry Holland into one we would not then have a statesman. I am a man nearly twice your age, Mr Cuttle, and may I give you this advice: If you want ever to be a good politician, leam to do something other than talk. Do not be so exuberant, fanciful, and extravagant in your blame and praise, and, above all, learn this couplet off by heart and try to apply it: “To do right because-it is right' Is wisdom in the scorn of consequences.” —I am etc., PATER.