The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1912. CRITICS AND FACTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1490, 12 July 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1912. CRITICS AND FACTS.

The Massey. Ministry, if ifc finds time to read the opinions of that section of the press opposed to it politically, will probably 'derive some satisfaction from the difficulty its critics are.experiencing in discovering grounds for complaint in the personnel of the Cabinet. Generally speaking, the opinion appears to be that Me. Massey has chosen a strong Ministry, and the.opponents of the party now in power are forced to fall back on all the old misleading parrot cries concerning its policy and intentions in order to bolster up the depressed supporters of the socalled "Liberal" party. This, in its way, is very amusing. For many years wo have been accustomed to hearing it said that the Keform party would never attain office; that its leaders were blunderers and incapable. Now that it has proved the falsity of these views, and by consistent and honest effort' won control of the administration of tho country's affairs, its critics can do nothing' better than prophesy that it will bring, destruction on itself by its "reactionary" policy. The term "reactionary" appears to have an irresistible fascination for a certain class of shallow critics, who, lacking the capacity to formulate arguments against the policy of their opponentSj fall back on some sweeping generalisation such as that quoted. They do not attempt to show that there is any justification for the use of the term "reactionary" in relation to the Reform Government. It sounds very dreadful, and apparently they imagine it conjnres up all sorts of terrible possibilities in the minds pf /the public, and so they drag it in and attach it to" the party they desire to injure, trusting that the public will not probe beneath the surface and discover what a sham and a fraud their bogey really is. ' Somi; clay, perhaps, one of these gallant swashbucklers will muster up effrontery enough to attempt the' task of showing how the policy of the Reform Government is "reactionary," but we doubt it. The fact of the mattor ib that tha oppouontn of tho new Government have bccu,

w,ry disagreeably surprised at the turn events have taken in recent times, and arc for the time being so demoralised that they are unable to do anything to stem the tide of popular feeling that has set iu so strongly in favour of Mr. Massey. and his followers. This is not surprising. Deprived of office and all that it means there is nothing to hold together the remnants of the so-called "Liberal" party in Parliament; whilst outside of Parliament a very large section of erstwhile supporters of the party are beginning to realise that the Massey Government is a very different sort ot Government from that which they led to believe it would be. The opponents of the Reform party, when unable to attack its policy, were constantly harping on what "it would do if it ever got into office, in an endeavour to convey the impression that' under it not only would the Dominion cease to progress, but there would be a repealing of beneficent legislation and the introduction of measures in the interests of the wealthy. This dishonest misrepresentation failed to have effect at the elections last year, and now that Mr Massey, as Prime -Minister, has declared his intention of carrying out a democratic and progressive programme on sound lines, the rout of the maligners is almost complete. It is true that the Reform Government has yet to fulfil its pledges, but its opponents, in Parliament at least whatever they may say to the contrary know well enough that there will bo no shirking of these. Mn. Massey can at least be relied on to carry out what he has promised, and tor our own part we are inclined to the opinion that when he places his programme before Parliament three' weeks hence ho will confound his critics even more than he has don,' in tho past by its progressive and democratic nature. In the meantime those critics would perhaps be wise to wait a littlo and learn exactly what is intended to be done before they commit themselves to further indiscretions. .They have bee,i so unhappy in their past prophecies respecting the Reform party thai; it should warn them to bo moru cavs-fiil-of their facts and the conclusions they draw therefrom.