HERE AND THERE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1282, 10 November 1911, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

CAMPAIGN POINTS AND PRESS COMMENTS. "Office at all or any cost."—Mr. Fisher's idea of the Ward Government's motto. A Scriptural Warning, Mr. Fisher seemed to think that the following question, which was handed up at the close of hia meeting, did not require an' answer:—"Do you not think that Sir James Carroll, Sir John Findlay, and Sir Arthur Guinness should be heartily pitied - for having in a moment if dazzling exaltation allowed themselves to become knights, for it is clearly stated in the Bible that 'there shall bo' no night there'?" Cost of Living. <■ Asked at Brooklyn last evening whether he could advance any suggestion calculated to reduce the oost of living, Mr. Wright, M.P., said that the first stop was to remove all duties from absolute necessaries of life. Women in Parliament. ■•"Are you in favour of legislation to make provision for women in Parliament? was a question addressed to Mr. Wilford, M.P., at Petona last evening. "No," replied tho member for Hutt, "but I am favourable to giving women seats in the Tipper House. It would suit thorn bettor!" \ One is Enough, ' "Don't you think ono Government House is enough in New Zealand?" a questioner asked Mr. Wright, M.P., last evening. Mr. Wright replied that ho did, particularly when these expensive luxuries cost the price of the Wellington residence. A Fallacy Exposed, . "It is a favourite and well-worn analogy with some of onr political speakers to liken tho body politic to a commercial corporation of which tho electors aro the shareholders and tho members of the House of Representatives aro the directors, with, it may be assumed, tho Prime Minister as managing director." On this fallacy the Hawke's Bay "Tribune" writes an excellent article. In the courso -of tho article these facts are pointed out-.—'"The director of a company, onco elected, does not find himself under the domination of a managing director who dictate? what shall and what shall not be done, but feels himself at liberty to ■frwly 'disenss, criticise, and, if necessary, oppose any proposals that may bo brought forward by the managing director, and that without, imperilling his position by the intervention of tho latter among a small body of the shareholders. With a ■company, dividends are payable only out of ascertained profits, and divisible evenly among shareholders in proportion to /their contributions. In the political world, if there are any dividends, they are paid out of borrowed capital, ana are ladled out by tho managing director at his sweet will, with all the patronising beneficence of a professional philanthropist. If the management of a company were, in the course of its operations, to follow the most expensivo and extravagant methods of carrying them out, and wero to neglect the adoption of all economical auxiliaries readily Available, they would soon bo deposed from office by indignant shareholders, all suffering alike. Not so our political managing director, who oan so distribute his expenditure as still to retain his majority and his well-paid and otherwise profitable office, while in reality despoiling tho general body and effecting but little permanent benefit to the greater number' even of the participants in his largesse out of public funds. 'Finally, for this occasion, no company director could hope to retain office were he to withhold information of material importance to tho shareholders' or, without them, commit them to a vast expenditure to redound to his own personal prestige with outsiders." The "Liberal" Parrot Cry. ; It is always a mistake to play a useful trick too often, and it is equally foolish to destroy the value of a phrase by frequent misapplication. Yet, for some time past, the Ministerial papers havo been working the "inarc's nest" idea to death. Every administrative exposure, no matter how damaging to the Government, is a "mare's nest.' Every breath of financial oriticism is part of a conspiracy to ruin the credit of the country. Every proposal for administrative reform is a scheme for putting an end to the "liberal" legislation of the past twenty years. In fact, the Opposition is all black and full of evil political design; the Government is a spotless saint, pure in heart, and as innocent as tho dawn. The newspapei apologist? of the Government really ought to vary thoir tune. The average citizen is not such ft fool as this stylo oi political controversy assumes him to be. It iui«ht bo worth while to toll him thai <he Mokau affair was a marc's nest, i] '■•»e paper that wants him to think sc -onld be sure he had not troubled tc ■ hidy it. But, if he has, then he cai: longer retain a particle of respeci 1 r , or confidence in, tho perverter o! ■:'Jiiic opinion that tries to hoodwinl i.ij■ |in this fashion merely to serve parts In fact, the average citizen vil! ,;'.M'ptly realise that when the phrasf ; "mare's, nest" appears in fho lending ■ !iiimiis o'f a Government newspaper, il invariably means something so discredit .il-.lc or so utterly wrong and indefensible that it cannot lie answered or explainer awav. Consequently it is called r "mare's nest. —Christchurch "Evcnlufi News."

The Only Way, "When I was in Australia," said Mr. Fisher last flight, "I had no difhculty about getting information about tho Government Departments there, although I was a stranger. I cannot get similar information about affairs here. lon remember that wo had ft commission somo time ago on purpose to find a document. The'only wav to see a public document' hero is to charge somebody with something and have an inquiry. Ariy_ ralepayer in London can go to tho County Council, which is a bigger affair in somo respects than tho New Zealand Government, and pay a shilling and see any document they have." Tho Motor-Car Government. At the Hon. T. Mackenzie's Elthnm meeting, someone interjected: about motor-cars?" The Hawera "Star's" report continues: —"Hon. Mr. Mackenzie: Havo you got one? (Uproar.) If motorcars had votes in this country, Mr. Massey would not be long before he was Prime Minister. But, thank God, it is iren and women who have votes, and therefore tho Conservative party are out in the cold. (More uproar.)" The Pahiatua "Herald" ridicules the foolish insinuation of this absurd remark. It says: "Men of wealth of all walks of lifo will bo found supporting the Ward Administration, and, considered as a party, the Reform party consists of poor men and men of small means. The leader of the party is a small farmer, and we doubt if the combined incomes of any two men on the Opposition side in Parliament would equal those of the Prime Minister himself and Mr. A. M. Myers, an Auckland brewer, and a supporter of the Government. If motor-cars only had votes the Leader of the Reform party himself would be disfranchised, for he either walks or takes a tramcar. Mr. Mackenzie's suggestion that Sir Joseph Ward, Bart., in his motor-car is the leader of the poor man's party, and that plain Mr. Massey on foot stands lor the plutocrat is lunny. We never suspected the genial Minister for Agriculture of so muojj humour.

"A Gross Wrong."

"I think it is a gross wrong," said 'Mr. Fisher last night in reply to a question on compulsory training, that some boys who havo not registered should be prosecuted, while no proceedings at all are taken against others."

Those Dairy Regulations,

Tho notorious dairy regulations aro not •_>t forgotten in Taranaki. Tho following is Horn the "Star's" report of Mr. Pe-arce's meeting at Hairera last Mon"As to the dairy regulations, Mr. Pearce refuted the statement of the Minster for Agriculture that those regulations had n*v«r bfen passed by Cabinet, at only considered as a renort torn a Parliamentary Committee. The Hon. T. Mackenzie stated they were rightly pro-

• 'and evidently ho was in favour of them. Now, tho hon. gentleman was under a misapprehension about this matter, or he had not stated the facts. Mr. Pearce exhibited to tho audience a copy of a Parliamentary Paper for 1908, numbered ClB, and headed, 'The Dairy Industry Act, 1908; proposed regulations under.' It was laid on the table of the House by leave. Thy. paper bore the imprint of tho Government Printer, and 1800 copies had been printed. Surely so many copies would not have been struck off if the question were only under consideration! These regulations were distributed, and 14 inspectors were appointed, but were dismissed after their salaries for from five to seven months had been voted on tho Estimates. The candidate read an extract from the Opunake 'Times' instancing tho drastic action taken by one J of'these inspectors. Mr. M'Kinlay, in that district.":

"1 Want You to See It." • "I am watching this flood of molten metal running down the drain from year's end to year's end, and I want you to seo it."—Mr. Fisher on Government extravagance. A Mere Phantasy,

Tho Auckland "Herald," dealing editorially with the Prime Minister's speech, I finds nothing now in it except the customary announcement of a iloyal Commission, and the usual pettish abuse. The paper says: Sir Joseph Ward told his Winton audience that his Administration had placed 33,000 peopls on the land, and asserted that "every inducement had been given applicants to tako np Crown lands on the terras that suit their respective requirements." We hope tho Prime Minister will not think it "suggestive of everv kind of evil that it is possible for tho basest imagination to conceive" when wo suggest that this assertion is a mere phantasy, and that all his figures do not affect the hard fact that while huge areas have been locked up thousands of wouldbe, and, admittedly, desirable settlers have been tnrned away from the ballot boxes. If the Government has a land policy nobody else knows it, and for tho Prime Minister to object to his Administration being termed "weak-kneed or irresolute" on the land question is to object to the things that are, and wo would like to know what is a more "arrogant defiance of tho rules of tho game" than to attempt to smother land settlement problems by statistics which are largely non-applicnhle, and to claim credit for energy whero reluctant and inadequate action has been slowly forced by incessant agitation.

Interesting Triangular Contest. The triangular contest for tho Kaiapoi scat promises to be one of tho most interesting in Canterbury (says the "Press"). Mr. Buddo, tho sitting member, has got into the Ministry since the last elections, and ho enjoys, therefore, a certain advantage that an ordinary candidate cannot possess, though we very much doubt whether tho Ministerial "niana" will operate so strongly in favour of Mr. Buddo as that gentleman and his immediate supporters may hope. He is opposed by two other candidates. Mr. J. H. Blackwell, a young "Independent Liberal," has apparently been brought out by the Prohibition party, in consequence, as one surmises, of the difficulty that party has experienced in pinning Mr. Buddo down to a definite public statement of his position on the bare majority question. The other candidate is Mr. R. Moore, who formerly represented the,district in two Parliaments, fought a game fight at tho last two clecions, running very close to Mr. Buddo thrco years ago, and is now again offering his services to the electors as a firm upholder of the principles of the Reform party. Besides his experience in Parliament, where he won a reputation for sound and businesslike common sense, Mr. Moore has a long and excellent record of local public service, and though he has again, through tho alterations in the electoral boundaries, lost a part of the district in which ho had many supporters, lie embarks on the present contest with excellent prospects. For these, his speech on Monday night affords ample warrant. It was emphatically tho speech by a man who knows his own mind, and has tho courago 'of his opinions, in which respects it is vastly Jlilferent from Mr. Buddo's deliverance ou the . sarno platform last week. Indeed, weak and va-uo as tho Minister's speech was recognised to be, one hardly realised its ineffectiveness until able to compare it with his opponent's outspoken utterance. Mr. Moore naturally poured scorn on the claim—surely the wildest yet put forth—that the policy of tho present Government was a continuation of that of Mr. Ballancc, and he had no difficulty in showing that in finance alone the two policies were wide as tho poles asunder. Hot Resolutions. It is interesting to note that Mr. Hine, tho most' fiercely assailed member of the Opposition party, is inspiring tho hottest resolutions carried by political meetings in any electorate. Last week his stratford meeting concluded with a resolution that the Government should bo thrown out. At Ivaimata on Monday he had another meeting. Instead of according Mr. Hine a vole of confidence, t'lio meeting unanimously carried tho following resolution amid cheers: "That a heartv voto of thanks be accorded to Mr. Uine for his address, with rcnowed ooufidence in him as their member, and ; further, that this meeting has no eon- ' fidcnco in tho Ward Administration."

An Unworthy Appeal. Says the "P.ahiatua Herald": "We do not "know who has been responsible for the circulation of the misleading return by which it is sought to show that the I'ahiatua electorate will benefit this year to tlio extent of «£33,075, but there ran be no doubt that it is being distributed with a view to furthering the candidature of the sitting member by making an unworthy appeal to rho most sordid in-

stincts of tho electors. . . . Electors will hotly resent the circulation of this document detailing the votes for the constituency just before tin election, becauso it represents an attempt to use the Public Works Fund for a political purpose and* because the return is entirely misleading. An attempt to bribe tho electors with their own money would l>e bad enough, but an attempt to bribe the electors with unfulfilled promises about their own money is not only vicious t but puerile. Vt'e trust that Mr. Ross will lw able to show that ho was not responsible for the circulation of tho pamphlet, but whether it was circulated by Mr. Ross or tome irresponsible followers, the effect will undoubtedly bo to injure his candidature." Maori Electorates. Mr. ITonin Tawhaio has decided not to contest tho Western Maori electorate, and the support,of his party will bo given to Mr. Pcpeno Ekotono against tho sitting member, Mr. Henare Kaihau. M.P. Hori Poao, a Native of Teko, will contest the Eastern Maori seat as an Oppositionist against tho Hon. A. T. Ngata. Tho first provisional supplement of tlie Wellington Suburbs electoral roll has just been issued, and will bo on view at this office to-day.

What Paper Does He Mean? Mr. Fisher's audionce last night was at first puzzled an dthen amused while he unrolled a narrow and seemingly endless strip of paper. When at last he had it all in view, he held it festoon-wise, drooping from his hands to the floor, and explained that it was the Hansard report of his speech in the Financial Debate. It was fifteen feet long. Then he held up a sheet of paper with a little newspaper clipping two or three inchos in depth, stuck in the middle of it. "That," he said, "is a report of the same speech from one of the daily papers." He next unfurled a nine-foot strip of Hansard. That was a speech which the samo paper did not even mention. One lesson which he had taken to heart was that he would have to win tho election from tho platform, rather than through the press. "I don't want to disparage the newspapers," he continued, "becauso I know they cannot report candidates fully. But 1 think they might report mo sometimes, and I want to take this epportunity of saying that there is one paper that does not report me sometimes. lam going to have an evening with that paper, and when you see a nannouneement that I am not going to give a political address, but amgoing to give you an evening with the Wobbler, I would adviso you to come along." (Laughter and applause.) Mr. J. M'Lachlan. Writing of Mr. J. M'Lachlan's opening speech at Ashburton, the "Guardian" says: "The audience was large and I'ricndly, but it was rarely aroused to any pitch of enthusiasm. It seemed to lie conscious that it was merely listening to echoes of former combats, and it heard with the patience that is accorded to the old soldier who shoulders his crutch and fights his battles o'er again. . . . For a first speech, after three vears' absenco from political life, tho address was perhaps as good as was to be expected; but it was, on the whole, a grievous disappointment to thoso who had hopes that Mr. M'Lachlan would be able to regain tho Ashburton seat for the Liberal party." Local Government. The attitude of the Government towards an important section of its responsibilities was neatly summed up by Mr. Mooro (Opposition candidate) in a spcecli at Kniapoi. He believed, he said, that the policy of tHo Government now was to centralise all power, and to decentralise expenditure. There should be a proper system of local government, whereby the local bodies would be able to carry out their works without going cap in "hand to the Government for grants. A Local Government Bill was prepared at the end of last session, but tho Prime Minister refused to allow it to be circulated. Was that a proper position to take up? Surely the local bodies should havo been given an opportunity of considering the measure during the recess. Probably what the Prime Minister feared was that tho Bill might excite hostile comment, and so prejudice the elections. The Christchurch Rolls. The roll for Christchurch North will probably contain nearly 10,000 names. Tho roll for Avon has been printed, and contains 8179 names. The roll for Christchurch South will, it is anticipated, contain about 8000 names, or approximately 1000 more than were on it three yeors ago. Tho registrars aro now preparing supplementary rolls. Tho back of tho work seems to have been broken, and the officers anticipate a smooth course for tho rest of the time up to election day. In all probability, tho numbcT of booths in each electorate will be increased.— Christchurch "Press."

Mr. Massey. _Mr. Massey will speak in Palmerst'on North on November 21.