REFORM CAMPAIGN

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1136, 25 May 1911, Page 8

REFORM CAMPAIGN

MR. HERDMAN AT LEVIN. A CAPITAL HEARING. CABINET MINISTERS AS TRUSTEES. (By Telegraph-Special Reporter.) Levin, May 24. Mr. A. L. Herdman, M.P., who has taken a prominent part in the pre-ses- ' biohrtl campaign of tho,Reform Party, addressed: a.', meeting in ; (ho Century Hall to-night. '.V: Mr. 8..\ G.;',.Gardiner, Mayor of Levin, presided, 'and amongst thoso on the platform wero Mr. C. Monkton, one ; of tho Opposition candidates for tlio district. "I belicvo in getting face to face with people,".;said.,Mr. Herdman, at tho outsetii..and;ths'remark was'followed by a. ■repetition of'the hearty applause which had) greeted Turn on rising. He went ■on to 6a'y that Sir Joseph Ward was not exerting the 'samo influence as was oxert- / ed by his great predecessor. There was much distrust of the Government amongst tho people at large. ■Ministers should' bo courageous, but these wero not. They should'-Have minded their own business, '/hilt 'they had' not', They should have capacity, but in many respects their administration and legislation showed that they wero incapable of. properly administering the public Departments and legislating for the people, of. the. coun-, try. ;. . . .r . '•';•. ■'■ ■I'New-Zealand, limited." Tho electors should regard themselves as shareholders in a huge estate and business concern called Now Zealand, Limited, of which the Ministers of the Grown were trustees and directors. He believed that . those directors ..were not,. administering that great-'business/ faithfully .'and; well,and tho time had arrived when tho shareholders should tiiru them . out. Tho State was of the nature of a trust estate, of which the Ministers were trustees. No Minister of, the. Crown, had.a Tight to spend a pound of public money unless ho spent.it for the benefit of the trust: If. he did otherwise he was. not fit for the position'he held. Yet tho present Ministers regarded, the money which was borrowed in London not as trust money, but as .money -which they could, gpend.for the purpose,of keeping,'them-' selves in power. ' This was proved by ithe.speech of Mr. R. M'Kenzic, .in Taranaki, when he said: "Those .who "vote. .for us, I. am with them." That, Minister.-', was speaking' at. the time about : expenditure of'' : borrowed money on railway'-, construction. .When a Minister of the Crown had the audacity to'st'ate at a public, meeting.that he.was prepared to take out of the public purse money; that : belonged to ."you 'and me," and use it for the pin'poso'of keeping,himself in power 'he was propounding, the most detestable doctrine ' that evoiv fell from the lipsof a public man-in a British community. (Applause.) Mr. M'Kenzic had'constituted himself the apostle of .the pernicious, doctrine, of "spoils to the victors." Those i who approved of this doctrine should imagino u Judge acknowledging- that a prisoner who had been, guilty nf theft'deserved, severe punishment, but admitting him..Jtb probation on,the ground that he had "spent the. money'in tho district." ;■ '~,..' A Mistrusted Ministry. --" ' • , What he (the speaker) would advocate ■was a commission to recommend.what public works should' be gone-on with. This plan had been- adopted by the.Hon, Lloyd-George .in England. It would prevent: .public money -boinK used in the .way indicated for the -.purposeof • buying votes. The if act., that the present Government apparently thought- it.'right to'use the people's money to buy -votes for them- , pelves was,one: of:the reasons why' he ; ad-.. vised tha electors to turn them out. -Another .reason - was" the presence in^tho i Ministry of Mr. Fowlds, the single, taxei';' who .would like to.place all. taxation on the'iand; a matter of much interest to a farming district'like that of Levin. Yet another reason why the. • Government should he turned out was "that even its own followers did not trust it.' Mr. Poole had said, as much, Mr. ;Wilford had implied it in .his strong 'protests . against ' the Tramways' Bill, and Mr. Barclay, who formerly supported the Ministry in Parliament; now described'thenras'-"shiftless;, thriftless, and spineless," and said that a man who associated himself too closely with the Government might have difficulty later in clearing his political name. \ The, Magic Word "Influence." .Regarding the public' service, ,he was sure from matters within his own',.knowledge that its-members"did not get.justice . from : tho Government. .AVhen there was troublo in.' the /Income Tax Department,two highly-placed. officials had to leave though the public ,were never allowed to know what ,'tra'nspired : before.'the judges or at the inquiry by "Departmental heads. A pbficeriian-who was identified as'a-con-, victed thief .from..'.Australia had since been'-.given a:• billet in "the Railway' Department; and the Police Commissioner under'' whose regime that man entered tho force had had. to resign,' but' had been placed in ch'argo of a.Maori Coun-cil.-in. the-far north. Influence, was the .magic .word that-got- men into tho public service,,, and'gained promotion for them 'afterwards... .There were, thousands of ener- ■ gefic, ambitious, capable men.in tho'p'utH lie service. anxious to serve their country honourably,'but there were also many who depended upon their influence with Ministers of the Crown. If a man was an obsequious flatterer, ready to bow before a Minister and say "Always at your service," he was likely to get more rapid promotion than the man of independent character, who relied upon his own. ycapable services and loyalty. • ' . Five Reasons for Reform. "I advocate Civil Service reform, for the following reasons,"' continued Jlr. Herdman: — . "(1) The.people as a'right are entitled to the best public service humanly pos'"(2) Tho public .servants arc entitled to better- masters «nd more scrupulous " masters than'the'present Ministers'of tho Urowu. ■ . .. • /-.••, a "(3) Able and conscientious Civil Servants," and there are'thousands of them, aro entitled to fair treatment and they don't get it. .'- , , . "(}) The time-server, the. sycophant, tho man who relics on influence, the obsequious flatterer of an all-powerful Minister, ■ the' incompetent, protege of' an incompetent patron, is a creature who should be culled from the public service. "(5)-, Political inllucuco and patronage should'be abolished, and, in making promotions, more regard should be paid to merit." (Applause.) ,-'.,,' Tho remedy he proposed was the non-. political commissioner system, and this proposal would bo taken. up as soon as the present Government was swept from office, and Mri Massey. made. Prime Jlinister. It had succeeded in Australia, though Mr. Millar had lately been ridiculing the idea. It. would lead to the work°being better done, and. we should have a happier and more loyal public Service. (Applause.) Our recent visitor, Sir Charles Lucas, of the Colonial Office; had said that nothing was more admirable in the public life'of Australia than the efforts that were made to keep the public servants out of.the reach of political influence. -In leaving this.subject, Mr. Herdman remarked that the commissioner system was only opposed by those who we're personally _ interested in tho present state of affairs. Land and Other Questions. In. outlining the Opposition land policy, Miv-Herdman was frequently applauded, anil his references to the advantages of the freehold from the point of view of the. State and' the farmer were clearly acceptable to his audience. . The Government, ho .went on to say, were leaseholders. and freeholders, hy turns, and tho Ministers changed their views according to, the district where they were speaking. Tho men who had made English history wore ' men who stated plainly what they wanted to do and what they believed wise and right, and stuck to it. The Ward Government, however, changed with every wind; it wailed to see where the biggest crowd was and then went over to it.

Railway reform with export : control was next advocated by Mr. Herdman, arid ho then went on to speak against pin-

pricking legislation, which discouraged the investment of capital in industries, and thus gravely injured the workers. The Native land question was also touched upon, and the speaker, in conclusion, expressed a hope, that a spirit would arise throughout New Zealand which would demand a Government that would b» strong enough to declare iv policy plainly, and carry it out through thk'k and thin.* If that spirit, became powerful anil widespread the Ward Government would- not long he in office. (Much applause.) • ..'..'

A vote of thanks was proposed by Mr. Kingdou and seconded by Mr. Kcbhcll (who described the address as very instructive, and very straightforward). The vole was carried with hearty acclamation.

Mr. F.:M..-.8.. Fisher, M.-p.', will address (he electors of Wellington next week. Jlr. Fisher always attracts a largo audience, and at the present.'juncture he should command even more attention than usual. - , • • . >' >