PUBLIC OPINION

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1331, 8 January 1912, Page 4

PUBLIC OPINION

0-U-T. (To Ihe Editor.) Sir,—Our great aristocrat, Sir J. ti, Ward, with all Ms titles, who wont to England a few months back to tryjaiui tench the statesmen of England how to run tho British Empire, came back to New Zealand to face a general election, and then find* the people of Now Zealand have Ixen ruled long enough on Tsar principles. Now his friends are trying to explain -away the fact that so far as the Premiership of the Dominion is- concerned he is liko the I>oy .that fell out of the, balloon—he is not in it. liedies hard kicking against his Waterloo. If the Government liad one spark of chivalry in thrni they would liave thrown up the sponge and made way for a better. But the Prime' Minister still (Ties to make believe that he is still th« great—tho only man that is to rule New Zealand. But the country will not stand him; he is not the Leader of this Parliament. He should tako tho country's advice and throw in the towel. He is O-U-T.— I am, etc., POEOPITI. INDIGNATION. MEETING. (To .tho Editor.) Sir',— a constant reader of your morning daily, I write- to ask you whether it- would not he advisable, at tho, present unprecedented 'moment in political history, to get up a monster petition, or in fact, a big deputation to the Governor, asking him to have our Primo Minister (Sir J. G. Ward) removed from office, as he does not represent the wish of tho New Zealand citizens. I know for a fact that there are hundreds who would be only too pleased to fall in with any like movement, but are awaiting a start from an abler hand. I have travelled all through New Zealand lately, and the general consensus of opinion is that wcro another election to take place shortly not only his party, but Sir J. Gf Ward ''would bo, defeated, himself. It was a memorable liight in the Empire City when tho Reform candidates spoko in the largest hall here, and also when "Awarua House" was reached on the night of tho election result; but both would 1)0 totally eclipsed wcro a Ward indignation meeting held here. It would 1)0 useless to cull on Sir J. G. Findlay or Mr. I). M'Laren to address the gathering while either Dr. Newman, Mr. Herdmnn, Mr. Bell, or Mr. Fisher were-at hand? Need any more be said? Awaiting any of your readers' lead.—l am, etc.. i-:

■ , ANTMIUMBUG. '' January 2. CONSPIRING TO DEFEAT THE DE. MAND OF THE COUNTRY. (To the Editor.) V Sir,—l thank you for your outspoken articles on the atrocious attempt by the Ward Administration to set aside Iho clear verdict of the country. But newspnper articles are not enough. These must now be backed up by immediate action/ It will not do for Mr. Massey to stand aside and look on. Mere talk and giving tho views of this one and that one are now unless. An immediate petition to his Excellency by iho Reform party members and their supporters, requesting him to call Parliament together without delay, is tin urgent procedure. The Governor must'act'in .this crisis. But should he prove reluctant, a. cabkgrarn to his Majesty will have effective- results. Nothing must now bo allowed to stand in the way of instant reform. Delay means, danger. Mr. Massey ought to call a meeting in Wellington at once,' and deal, with the position right now.—l am etc., COUNTRY SETTLER. POLITICAL TYRANNY. (To Iho Editor.) Sir,—On reading this morning'J Dominion- I sec that the writer of a. letter signed "Fair Play" has solved tho difficult and momentous problem of tho day, namely, how to checkmate tho man who'bears the namoof I'rimo Minister, but who has not the eontidonce or goodwill of the people, .'or a right to the name. It is quite time something was done, but before taking drastic measures I would suggest that tho colony petition his Excellency the Governor to intorfero in tho matter. If he will not, then we must resort to other means and whatever the result may be the Prime Minister will be answerable for it. In Russia, Spain, or Portugal riots and bloodshed would have been the result of. such tyranny. If the Governor does not como to the rescue, then we will adopt the suggestion of "Fair Play," namely, to organise demonstrations in every city in the colony to bring pressure to bear-upon this tyrannical Government, Thanking you, sir, for space, knowing that you' always give publicity to the "wrong's that need resistance V'—l am, etc., ANTI-TYRANNY. Petonc, January 1, 1912.

WHY THE WARD GOVERNMENT DON'T RESIGN. (To tho Editor.) Sir,—Many people are . daily expecting the resignation ol the Government,. many also feel assured Hint Parliament will be convened at an eaily date, to decido by a division amongst eighty members tho very question that a iv.ajcri.ty of the electors decided on December 7 and .14. The people hnvo spoken, and "he that bath ears to hear let him hear";-but that voice haa not yet penetrated the auricular members of the Premier and his Cabinet; or have they boon mistaken and fancied they heard tliat welcome- sound, "Tnihoa":' Why should tho Government resign? They can. hold their position with vers" much ad-vantage-to "tliornsvlvcs. As for tho connLtrv—well, it seems to have been created lor a. certain amount of exploitation. "Let those take who have the power, let i those, keep who can." To abandon a position worth JLIOOO to .£I6OO, with all its advantages, and become an ordinary member at .£3OO would not bo good business. It would most certainly be discreditably to any financier, much less to any wizard 1 of Jin'anee. 1 assnro you that any wizard worthy of tho name would not do allything so stupid. 1 gather that'there is a probability of reconstruction of the Ministry, n. meeting of tho faithful in Christchurch havo so decided. What a beautiful bait to dangle Wore thosa chosen sixteen. Each member, I have no doubt, felt himself equal to any two of the rleform party, and capable of discharging any duty, and certainly of accepting a'iiy portfolio—or several portfolios, at so much per head. With such an inviting prospect, why resign? Several extra Ministers might bo appointed. For instance, there ought to )ir a Minister for Banquets and Political Ethics. A Department of Chicanery and Tergiversation, one capable of turning out "machine-made" speeches, and to see that those are duly forwarded to tho people, at the people's expense! The nicest discrimination would be necessary for the proper disehargo of such important services, and only men of "high culture and hue Liberalism" would lw eligible for the position. An educated audience could bo served with a No. 1 political dissertation of the very first order. An audience .if "squawking, discontented backbloekcrs," seemingly illiterate, could have a No. 2, or No. 3, dealt out as occasion might require. Those should bo, duly wired to a. waiting public at the time of delivery— a la Bellamy—or to show that we wero leading the world, I hey might anticipate delivery.., By a judicious manipulation of Ilic lap. the How of "oheors," "applause." "loud cheers," "long continued cheering" could be regulated according to the perming necessity. The groans and hisses, the very discordant noises and interruptions could be eliminated with marked nilvnn-' tigs to (ho speaker. Then there should be a Minister for Dialectics, one who could prove, <;'iy, "that a strike wn,s not o strike," but an indefinite period of masterly inactivity, etc, and get rid, once for all, of flint stunid notion thai it roallv was a strike.\ Ministerial promises would mine iimlttr the special review of this Department, promises of railways, roads, bridges. etc., ■ could lie explained as statements of an evanecent nature, governed by t.lie lnw of "rlif. Insion of gases," normally expected to ■• die aw.sy like a sweet perfume,, or an uu-

pleasant odour. So also with regard to promised legislation—"Tho Local Government Bill," fn wit. That whs really only a figure of speech, and embellishment of a fli.wer of speech from a mealy-mouthed author. It meant nothing, it was never, intended to mean anything—that is, so far as tho public were concerned. Given theso necessary Ministers—each one to count two—and arrange with the doubting Thomases, ench to bo provided lor, I see no necessity lor any. resignation, or oven for convening Parliament. J'o those who ljrge the one or the other thoro is the nil-sufficient reply, "Taihoa!" '"lVtilion!:"—.V am, etc., AGKICOLA.