AN UNFORTUNATE DEFENCE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 974, 15 November 1910, Page 4

AN UNFORTUNATE DEFENCE.

We pointed out a few days ago the absurdity of. the position that would bo created should the Prime Minister continue to sit on the Committee of Inquiry into Mn. Hine's charges during the hearing of the Flaxbourne case We went further than this, and expressed the opinion that the fact that Sib Joseph Ward waa a member of the Government, the subject of the charge in question, rendered his position on the Committee untenable in respect of any of the charges being inquired into. We illustrated our point by showing that' he would be sitting on the Committee as a' judge in relation to certain of tho charges, and that he himself, with his then colleagues, , would be on' trial before the same Committee as members of the Government, the accused party, in connection with another of the charges. In ,the circumstances we contended it must be clear to everyone that any finding by a Committee, a member of which occupied so extraordinary a position, could not possibly be regardod as unbiased or impartial. We had hoped that the Piume Minister would see the force of this contention and rctiro from the Committee. Instead of this, when the question was .raised at yesterday's sitting Sin Joseph Ward not only heatedly declared his intention of jtaying on the Committee, but made a most intemporate and unfortunate speech, which we think will be read with amazement and disapproval by tlie whole country. No charge was made against any individual member of any Government, but against tho Government as a whole, in office at the time of the Flaxbourne purchase. Sir Joseph , Waud, however, ch6.Ee to regard the charge as being levelled, not against tho Government , of that day, but against the .late Me. Sedpoj?- There was not the slightest evidence to support ithis idea—indeed, at that stage no evidence had been called at all—and if Sib Joseph Ward's intention was to protect tho memory of, his late chief, he was most unfortunate in his method of doing so. Doubly unfortunate, for his action not only served to drag in and directly associate Mr. Seddo>j with the transaction in a jniinner that was not in any way conveyed by the charge, but Sib Joseph Ward's words conveyed the impression that he considered that Me. Seddon, and Mb. Seddon alone, was on trial. Consequently his (Mr. Seddon's) colleagues ,of that period were not. That thoro shall bo n<3 mistako on this point we quote the Prime Minister's own words:

The Primo Minister said that this was a cbargo against the administration of Mr. Seddon; it was a charge against a Department of which Mr. Seddon was the 'headi it was a charge in connection with the purchase of an estate of which Mr. Soddon was the administrator, and was responsible • for tho carrying out of the whole of the details. More than that: It was a charge against a dead man. Mr. Myers: Nothing of the kind. Sir Joseph went on to say ... the people of this country would readily see what a cowardly, scandalous thing it was. "If," continued Sir Joseph, "I could use stronger terms, I would use them.- Let tna say in the presence of the press, I won't go off this Committee. But I won't deliberate on it. I wi'l sit hero!and take part in the examination of the men who are making this cowardly attack on a dead man. The whole thing is contemptible."

All- this, it will be seep; infers that Mr. Seddon alone was the object of tho attack, Dospito the wording of the charge and the denials of conneel, Sir. Joseph Ward persisted in this assumption. ' In his anxiety he probably overlooked the fact that in thus focusing attention on Mr. Seddon he was laying himsolf open to the charge of seeking to shelter the Government as a whole, or rather the remaining members of the Government, including himself. Sir Joseph Ward laid much stress upon what ho alleged to be an attack on the dead, but he alone was responsible for dragging in Mk. Seddon's name in the manner shown. It would probably have appealed more to the public's sense of tno. fitness of things had -Sir Joseph Ward and the other members of the Seddon Government now living come forward and defended the actions of their Minis-try-on their.merits, instead of taking up tho unfortunate stand assumed by the Prime Minister, which virtually, throws the onus upon the dead. The country, we trust, will be enlightened by yesterday's proceedings-of the EfaE Committee, not only as to the hopelessly partisan nature, of such tribunals, but also as to the deplorable political standards of the Government of the day. ,