The Dominion. TUESDAY AUGUST 6, 1912. FALLING TO PIECES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1511, 6 August 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY AUGUST 6, 1912. FALLING TO PIECES.

It is quite pathetic to note the helplessness, and we might say the hopelessness, of that of the so-called Liberal press which is either too dull to see or too dishonest to admit the facts of the changed conditions in our politics. One can admire an opponent who, while admitting defeat for the moment, is still prepared to go on fighting; and one can understand that defeat may be prevented from developing into utter rout by the exercise of strategical skill, and by encouraging the beaten force with hopeful intelligence. But our "Liberal" newspaper friends arc sadly lacking hi strategical skill, and their sole idea of raising the hopes of their party appears to be to parade once more all_ the old threadbare catchcries and time-worn exhortations regardless of their past failure.to influence public opinion, and heedless of the facts which are plain for everyone to'sec. A telegram from Christchurch received last evening affords an illustration of this. The "Liberal" evening paper there, the Star, discussing the great success of the Reform movement, which, by the way, it is now forted to admit, harps on the necessity for the "Progressives" organising to ..combat the "Conservatives" and to "stop the, drift towards Conservatism, and so on. The purpose of the paper, of course, is to create the impression that under the new Government the country will not progressthat the ltcform Party is not "progressive." It hopes by constantly dwelling on the term "Conservatism" as applied to the Government, and "Progressive" as applied to the "Liberals" to prejudice the Government in the eyes of the public, regardless of the facts. This, of course, is a very foqlish, as well as a very dishonest, method of fighting. It is foolish because it has already been tried and failed to deceive the public; it is- dishonest because it is in direct contradiction of the facts. But it is doubly {oolish because it is made on the eve of the announcement of 'the Government's programme, and when road in conjunction with that programme' will be seen in its full falsity. It is not our intention, however, to discuss at any length the unfortunate methods of that section oi the Opposition press _ which still deludes itself with the belief that the public is wholly ignorant of what is actually hanponing in political' circles, and will in conscquence swallow anything it chooses to put forward. What i; of more interest at the. moment is tin fact that these papers, and a good many of the public, do not appear tc have"yet fully realised why it is thai the so-called "Liberal" party has been so complexly broken up and demoralised, The reason; is plain enough to anyone-who has troubled to. follow the actions of the Continu ous Ministry and those, closely alliec with it, in recent years. That Ministry, as we have frequently pointeu out," in the closing years of its existence, sank to the level of placing its love of office before all else. It was prepared to sacrificc principles, promises, self-respect—-everything—ii: order that it might remain in power. . And of course it inavit-ably killed it ;

self. But before this happened it attracted to itself a following largely composed of those who, like Ministers, took as their guiding principle the "spoils policy. 1 ' The, party was really held together not by any high purpose which impelled its members to unite to fight for large principles and the public good; but largely on purely selfish grounds. Its followers supported the Government partly because it professed to believe in certain principles, but mainly because it paid to support the party in power and to be on the side of those who had favours to bestow. The, principles were easily forgotten in most cases where they seemed likely to prove prejudicial to a continuance of Ministerial favours. When such a Government, supported largely by such a,following, met with a reverse it was inevitable that it could not hope to hold together. AVliy should it I The chief incentive to unity was lost when the Government was deprived of its power to bestow favours. Its supporters had no "cause" to fight for—nothing at least worthy the name—no policy to rouse the country with, and win back popular favour; no record in recent years to point to but one of selfislTness and incapacity, and constant acts of cowardice in abandoning policy proposals when danger appeared to threaten. Many of those who had honestly believed in it because of its professions and because of the name it bore, had gradually, and often reluctantly, drifted away fromit, are still drifting, and will continue to drift. There is nothing now but the name to cling to. And if the programme to be announced by the Reform Government to-night is on the progressive lines hinted at by its leaders the doom of the so-called Liberal party as at present constituted will be to all intents and purposes sealed. The public will then fully realise how grossly the Reform party has been misrepresented by its opponents, and which is the truly progressive party in" Parliament. There are many people even now, in and out of Parliament, who have had it so dinned intp them that the Reform party is "Tory'' and "reactionary" that they will not believe until the new Government states its intentions that it is anything else. These, however, are the people who when oncc convinced of. the truth will go tc swell' the growing forces which arc gathering behind the new Govern rncnt. The so-called "Liberal" pavtj is falling to pieces, and we expect t( see a new state of parties grow up The Reform Government will attracl the moderate and progressive ele ment, while the radical section wil drift to the Labour party. At the next general _ election these i in ali probability will be the principal parties in the contest. Those who an attempting to revive the "Liberal' party on the old lines are foredoomec to failure.