The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 1912. IGNORING THE FACTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1516, 12 August 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 1912. IGNORING THE FACTS.

It is a pity that the organs of the Opposition are unable to adjust themselves to (the new political situation and acce'pt the obvious facts of it. "We-say; this quite sincerely, because their inability to recover from the shock of the Reform party's victory destroys their usefulness in criticism. The Christchurch organ of the opponents.of Reform, tor instance, which, we understand, is regarded by some of the members of the as a reliable guide as regards both policy and tactics, is most unhelpful. It will not, or. cannot, say a word that will help the Opposition out of its present unsatisfactory position, and it is as silent as the other anti-Re-form journals concerning the leader whom the Opposition ought to choose. Allowance must be made, of course, for the difficulties of a critic who, after twenty years of the easy work of upholding a Government with an overwhelmingly strong and apparently indestructible majority in the House, has to get used to the fact that its Government has been destroyed. But there can hardly be an excuse for its 'failure to supply any other suggestion than its stereotyped formula that the new Government must be fought by a combination of tho Liberal and Labour parties. It apparently is not yet awake to the fact that the Budget took away from tho opponents of Reform •their last chance of denying that the Reform Government is thoroughly Liberal and progressive. There is nothing in tho Government's policy with which a true Liberal can disagree, and not very much with which the Labour party can honestly' find fault. When, therefore, we hear the Christchurch paper saying, in the course of an article on the Elective Executive Bill, that "the Liberal and Labour parties, once in combination again will be masters of the situation," we can only wonder what in the world it means. Probably it is only force of habit asserting itself. If it is not, and if our contemporary really has some idea that it wishes to express, then obviously it - attaches to the word Liberal a meaning that it has never yet borne. The grievance of the people in Opposition is that the Reform Government's policy is too Liberal and too stimulating; anyone is free to oppose it, but he cannot do so on the ground that hn is a- Liberal. Yrl L the Budget is not uerfcet, and one.,

would imagine that some sensible criticism would be forthcoming from the opponents of the Government. Of course, our Opposition friends Will in time recover their balance and sec the facts which they are apparently still too dazed to grasp clearly, and they will see the full absurdity of calling vainly upon to destroy what, judged by the programme it has just JjUt forward, is the most Liberal Government the country has had for a great many years. Instead of implying that the Government's policy is not Liberal, the journalistic advisers of the Opposition would be more usefully employed in helping their friends in Parliament to take up some definite course of action, the first step in which is the choice of a leader. Itmight be mentioned in this connection that The Spectator, a weekly sheet published by Mn. G. W. Kusse[.Lj tips Sir Joseph Ward as the corning leader of the Opposition. In view 'of the fact that Mr. Russell's own ambitions arc said to run in this direction, it is possible that, despite his fast failure, feeling is turning amongst the party in favour of the member for, Awarua, although it is quite as likely that the innate modesty of the member for Avon has induced him to place his rival in the position of first favourite. In any case the party is somewhat unhappily situated if, as seems to be the case, its choice is so restricted. Why should not Mr. Myers, who has been showing a good deal of fighting spirit lately, be entrusted with the task of bringing together the disunited sections of the Opposition party; or should Mr. Ism veto this proposal, why not invite the member for Hutt to take up the role 1