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Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 857, 1 July 1910, Page 6

A couple of brisk exchanges occurred in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. ' Mr. Heedman, discussing certain remarks of one of tho Radical section of the Government party, commented on the unwisdom of discouraging the investment of capital and incidentally quoted the views of the chairman of the Rank of New Zealand on tho present lack of confidence on the part of investors. In reply to an interjection by tlw Pkime Minister, Mr. Herdma'n said lie endorsed the views expressed by Mr. Beauchajip, and further submitted that the responsibility for this lack of confidence rested in part on the Government. Sir Joseph Ward, who is very sensitive to criticism from the member for Wellington North, later in the afternoon professed to construe the comments of Mr. Hebdman as attacking the soundness of the country. No one who heard what was said could possibly have put that interpretation on the criticism referred to, but it has become a common practice for Ministers to attempt to treat criticism of their administrative actions as efforts to injure the country. It is a system of meeting attack by counter-attack, which quite often serves to obscure tho original issue, and carries the fighting on to safer ground from the Ministerial viewpoint. Sir Joseph Ward is really rather skilful at this sort of thing. It is quite possible that there are people ignorant enough to confuse the personal-and party interests of Ministers with tho interests of the country, and, this being so, it is rather a pity that the Reform party does not more often emphasise the difference. Contemptuous laughter serves its purpose well enough for those within the House, but it does not reach tho readers of newspapers and those who study the pages of Hansard.