THE WAYS OF WARDISM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1856, 16 September 1913, Page 6

THE WAYS OF WARDISM.

The proceedings in the House of Representatives yesterday were a repetition of those of Friday and Saturday last. The Opposition, taking advantage of the generous liberty of speech allowed members under the Standing Orders of the House, have continued to systematically block the progress of the Estimates through Committee. At time of writing they have been talking for over 24 hotirs on the section ot tho Estimates relating to mental hospitals. Thay do not make tho slightest pretence of treating the votes on their merits, or, indeed, of discussing thein seriouslv in any way. They are simply talking against time, and, on the whole, doing it very badly. The pretence they made that their obstruction was due to the fact that they had not received the report' of tho Mental Hospitals Department for the past year is, as we showed yesterday, and as is emphasised still further to-day, a flagrant piecc of political dishonesty. Owing to' tho heavy rush of work at the Printing Office, the report had not been printed, but the Minister on Saturday had a few proof copies sent up for the benefit of members. If the Opposition had really been sincere in their protest they would have recognised that the Government had met tTiem as far as possible in the matter, and, moreover, between Saturday morning ancl Monday afternoon there has been ample time to study the report. The Opposition, however, were merely making the absence of this report a pretext for their action—they had organised this obstruction apparently because the Government, had been unexpectedly expeditious in bringing forward its policy proposals, and getting them on to the Statute book. Sin Joseph Ward no doubt realises that the manner in which the Reform Government is carrying out its platform pledgcs_ makes a very dccided contrast to his own unfortunate failures in this respect; and he and his followers want to waste as much_ time as possible on the Estimates, in order to delay the Government's legislative proposals as

far as they can. The Opposition plan of 'campaign ia very olivious. They started out by tamtting the Government with not having fulfilled all its pledges—and this despite the fact that the Massey Government in the short time at its disposal has done more _ than tho Wakd Government over did in twice the time. Now that the dishonesty of that taunt has become too transparent even for the anti-Reformers to use, they arc striving, as we have shown, to block the Government as far as lies within their power from carrying out tho remainder of its pledges. Such methods aro not calculated to do Sir Joseph Wakd and his party any service with the country, nor are they likely even to seriously delay the passage oi tho Government's legislative proposals. The Government has decided that certain measures must be passed this session, and the party is willing to stay in Wellington as long as is necessary to sec that promise fulfilled. The fact that the Government has had to fight against the class'of obstruefcion now being practised by tho. | Opposition under bin Joseph Ward j will strengthen the hands of the lieform party with tho electors. The public are not in the least likely to be deceived by Opp<3sition members who, with • tongue in cheek, inake protest against the passing of votes about which they do not care a snap of the fingers.. There is not a member of Parliament who does not know that the whole _ purpose of the obstruction which is now taking place is merely an effort to secure' a party advantage—that the pretended concern for the public interest in the matter of the votes for mental hospitals is nothing but the shallowest form of political hypocrisy. t The Opposition know their own insincerity, but they imagine they can, with the assistance of their newspapers, hoodwink the public. They have already forgotten the lesson of the last general, elections. The public then saw through the insincerity of Wardism, despite the desperate efforts to cover it up made _ by the then Government with all its farreaching influence and patronage. The public to-day are being afforded evidence that the methods of the party "which stands for Wardism have in no way changed—that their chief stock-in-trade still is trickery and deception. How long they will continue tho present obstruction remains to be seen* but the longer it goes on the more clcarly will the public perceive the insincerity of their professions, and the reckless unconcern of the Wardist faction as to the cost to which they may put the country in their petty endeavour to'hinder tho progressive legislation of their opponents.