THE TACTICS OF THE SPOILS PARTY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1545, 14 September 1912, Page 4

THE TACTICS OF THE SPOILS PARTY.

The exposure made by the West Coast Times of the methods of the Spoils party,' which will be found in another column, is republished by us as a gentle reminder of the class of thing which we trust New Zealand has escaped from through the demise of the Continuous Ministry. It is a contemptible business all through. We do not refer to Mit. Seddon's telegrams sent at tho public expense, but to the whole sorry story of election slimness and political bribery by means of public works expenditure on the eve of an election. Readers of The Dominion, who are familiar with the many exposures we have from time t'o time made of the methods of the Ward Government, will have no difficulty in piecing the whole story together. The elections are drawing near and the Westland seat is in peril. Mb. Michel, an Independent candidate, is making progress, and the interests of the sitting member have to be protected. somehow. What more simple than to place a vote on tho Public Works Estimates for somb undertaking in the, district, and what more •effective than a vote for a new railway or a railway extension ? ' Nothing easier. A sum of £5000 is put on the Estimates for a work likely to cost ten times that amount; a few flowery lines of comment are included in tho Public Works Statement, and 'the member for the district sends off his cheering telegrams at tho public expense to the part of-his electorate whero the promised work is to be put in hand—some day. And, then, later, there still being doubt as to the outcome of this electioneering trick, at the last minute, right on'the eve of tho election, a survey party is sent down as an evidence of the bonajides of the Government respecting the railway extension—and withdrawn again as soon as the elections are. over. It is a pretty story, and as our West Coast contemporary remarks, this is one of the many irregularities which have come to light—it "shudders to think of what has really happened undcV the veil of secrecy. •