WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER G, 1911. VOTE FOR REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1304, 6 December 1911, Page 6

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER G, 1911. VOTE FOR REFORM.

It is hardly necessary perhaps to make appeal to the readers of The Dominion to be certain to record their votes to-morrow in the cause of Reform. There is always the possibility, however, of over-confidence giving rise to neglect, and we would impress on electors that,.every vote should be recorded to-morrow. Every vote will be needed if the evil forces which have grown up under the 20 years' rule of the Continuous Ministry are to be routed. From all parts of New Zealand come encouraging reports of the prospects of Keform candidates, and it is safe to predict a sweeping advance. Whether that advance will be sufficient to thrust the Government out of office and for the. first time in 20 years permit an independent investigation of the country's affairs to be made remains to be seen. The signs point to a tremendous change oi public feeliug_ antagonistic to_ the Ward j Administration—and with good rea-1 son. The feeling is very prevalent that it is time—in fact, the time is overdue—that a new set of men were returned to ofh'ce to replace the small circle of politicians who for 20 years have kept to themselves the innermost details concerning the affairs of the country. No one can for a moment question the desirableness of that close scrutiny of the position of the country's affairs which can only be made from within. The opponents of the Continuous Ministry have done their best to expose to the light of day the maladministration and political jobbery of the Government, and the. disclosures made have been such as to urgently call for the removal from office of this little clique which lias placed its own interests above the interests of the country. But the whole truth will not. be known until the Ward Administration is displaced and the official files and records are closely examined at leisure. There are people no doubt who do not agree with the whole of the platform of the Reform party and others who may have nersonal' rcasonr, for wishing to vote for Ministerial candidates. To such we would point out that the occasion is not one for small issues or personal considerations. There is the one large and dominant issue which outweighs all others: the necessity for a national stoqktaking. Every interest—individual and national— calls aloud to patriotic citizens who have a proper regard for the future of their country, for the future of their children, to cast their votes in such a way as to put an end to the drift in the administration of the country's affairs which has produced a Ministry whose only concern is to retain office at any cost. These are not empty words. Every reader of the public press must know that the WaFvD Administration is prepared to offer any bribe, to make any promise, in its endeavour t6 retain office. Ministers have been offering these bribes and making these promises from one end of the country to the other for weeks past. Nothing more demoralising; nothing more degrading, could bo conceived from men in their responsible position. l ). If the country is to be bought in this open and shameless fashion—bought with its own money—if the electors of New Zealand are prepared to tamely suffer this crowning inault to their intelligence and national spirit, then the corrupting influence of the Continuous Ministry has been deeper even than the most pessimistic, hava proclaimed. Tor ourselves we believe that the people are awake to the necessity of lleform and that tomorrow's poll will indicate that the extravagance, _ trickery, secrecy, and selfishness which have so disfigured the administration of the country's affairs under the Wα3d Government have outraged the public conscience and sealed the doom of the Continuous Ministry. Every elector desirous of getting at tie full truth regarding the country's affairs which has been hidden from the public by the one little circle of men for 20 years, should, as a matter of national duty and in his own personal interest, sink all minor considerations and vote to-morrow for the Reform, candidate ia bis electorate.