THE OPENING SHOTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1515, 10 August 1912, Page 4

THE OPENING SHOTS.

Not yet having chosen a leader, the Opposition were somewhat at a disadvantage at the opening of the Financial Debate last evening. Mr. G. W. llussELL, who filled the role for tho occasion, is a very fluent speaker, and given his own choice of a subject is often effective; but itwas asking rather much to expect him to prepare a critical analysis of the Budget. As a matter of fact, he did best when he left the Budget alone. Tho weakness of his case may perhaps be judged from the fact that at one stage he was to be found accusing the Government of haying stolen the policy it had outlined practically holus-bolus from their predecessors; while a little later he was gloomily prophesying all sorts of misfortunes for the country as the result of the accession to office of men imbued with such ideas. On another becasion he assailed the Government -for the theft of the proposal to increase the graduated tax —which apparently he considered was the special perquisite of his own Government—whereas, a few minutes later, he was declaiming at the top of his voice, that the graduated tax was a, fraud and a delusion, and that it was a tax-on mortgagees that was really wanted. Then again, he make a bad blunder in charging the Government with extravagance, and quoting the Estimates to show that the expenditure proposed for the year was in excess of that of the previous year. As the Minister of Marine, who followed, pointed out, the Estimates, with a few minor alterations, were the Estimates of Mr. Russell's own Government, and the exigencies of the situation alone had compelled the present Government to adopt them for the' time being practically as they stood. This snrt of thing, of course, largely diecounted the ex-Ministers criticism, but in any case his speech was hardly up to expectations. It was thought that, with the leadership of the party trembling in the balance, he woulcl endeavour to rise jto the occasion, but lie contented himself with simply pottering along on narrow lines instead of laking the larger questions of policy and dealiug with them in ,a broad and liberal spirit. The Minister of Marine, who fol•lowed on behalf of the Government,

v.'RS grbrttly assisted in scoring the Jiuints lie had iu make by the interjections hurled tit him liy exMinisters now on the Opposition benches. In turn Messes. Laurensox, Ell, and Sin Joseph Waud each interrupted to their , cost. Mn. Fished, with the knowledge of Dcptlrtiiletlt.il lilttttel'B which lift lias gained as a Minister of the Crown, wan ill a position to counter these gentlemen in a manner which undoubtedly impressed _ the House. He told of files missing from the official records; of instructions from Cabinet to place the whole of the business of a large Department of the. State, hi the hands, of A certain solicitor in inverCargill—a decision Which the head of the Department had stated waa to the detriment of the business of the Department —he hinted ut eases of favouritism; of disparity in the wages, of .State employees j of long leave given to favoured Civil Serviints on full pay, while the less favoured had to go without their pay; of secret^ dealing with tenders and the continuance of contracts without recourse to tendering. Mr. Fishek indeed, "took the gloves off" and his colleagues would do well to follow his example and expose all such cases of maladministration as may come under their notice. The shameful waste disclosed by the figures, quoted by the Minister in connection with the expenditure on Parliament Buildings since the fire, will open the eyes of the public to the incapacity and blundering of the Continuous Ministry as a volume of general assertion would never have done. The opening shots in the debate have been all in favour of the Government and on present appearances it would seem that the Opposition is entering on the fight sadly lacking in zest and demoralised for want of a capable leader.