THE DOMINION. FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1914. THE OPPOSITION LEADER.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1959, 16 January 1914, Page 6

THE DOMINION. FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1914. THE OPPOSITION LEADER.

The speech delivered at Greymouth on Wednesday by Silt Joseph Ward is not likely to reanimate his enfeebled party, and still less to restore public confidence in the somewhat dilapidated political professions' upon which he relies. As an attack upon his successful political opponents the speech was weak and unconvincing; as a rallying call to the disorganised forces of the Anti : lleform Party it lacked any note of bracing optimism or vigorous appeal. In fact, this latest deliverance of the member for Awarua was a lame and linking effort, which will do a great deal to spread the ■conviction, already widely hold, that lie is hopelessly out of touch with the people of New Zealand and their political aspirations. It consisted in great part of an overdone appeal to the traditions of the "Liberal" Party, and to the record ol its past achievements. This sort of thing is well enough in its wa.y, but something more than . sentimental con-; temptation of its own past ■ is' de~ niandod of a .political party.,s,;y In; any case, the Backward glanccftif. taken, should be comprehensivef-and' it is a very significant factthats.the period of his party's most rapifPdc-■ ciinc was that in which / Sir.: 'Joseph , ; Ward filled the office' , of'; Prime: Minister of New Zealand. "oSThc 1 - hollow pretence of Siis Joseph AVard' and his followers that the ieign;:.of.. his party was a golden , age ■ jsVexposed by facts which in the- memory .of'.every. -electoyßiifr New Zealand. Appurontly'Rthe-!

loudly ''and a 5 'J ??BVI uiiou t-itjw£J A be,r.a 1 - recpr <.. I • he; :£ a .iutteiitipit 'ffromffetlic: >^ise^''wh|cJi-;Vclcve|p^c(j^iMHlcr.'^'' , his : ■^ i, y i l }i2^ l jyin£«iltimatelj4?c.qnvinp!eSlii'nir.'6f4'his ■ticalf'fisiye^jvhich-Ueaves, the member ■fci:.j!Avi;ania%herei,hc-i;has: been;for :L fipunacring;inUlie ; political«doldrums;£?:sAß:vyet. lie : ; has ■;not,|cy(;htt : Jclrawn|Maigclear;»;,iHne : Sof (fcmarcatioiifsfiparatihgihis ' own If 01-' lawer3°|fromiethcfmeiiibersMof. : iAl:!ie Befurm i? his : ."attifcudo'- townrds'^hisif;jupponents may 'bo,: best described;"* 'of '■' negative eomplaint::s|^V.hileUhe.speech as- a whole' is a mere assortment of trifling ob-serva-tionsi-;and.Sthreadbare i. generalisaMons:;;oneXoiSWq - : of "its- details pjcrit^passing , ', notice, 'not be-eausc they-; are"' effective or forcible, but because" they-, betray'the poverty of the equipment .with which the member for Awarua hiss set out- to restorethe_ fallen ■• fortunes of hia party. It was to be expected, of course, that he would trot out oucc again the battered fiction about the failure of .the Ikforra.;Government.to carry out ite election pledges.-. This myth is : now an accepted part of the stock-in-trade of all Anti-Reformers who arc indifferent to the repeated exposure of their- misrepresentations. Not much, more need do said about it here than... ■ that s a ■ complete answer may be found in two bulky volumes of Statute law. Ever sine*; it • took : office _the.,.-. Reform Qovernfnent hasbeen industriously engaged in carrying out the pledges which it made to tho electors, It- has been greatly obstructed and hindered in that task by '> Sir Joseph Ward and the faction ! which he leads in Parliament, and if this obstruction had been absent.the record of promises fulfilled,'■■■swhich Stands to the credit. of the Government, would have been even longer than it is. Tho references of the Leader of the Opposition to'matters of finance were particularly unfortunate from his. own point-, of .-view. ,He said that the "Government had increased taxation, but neglected to state that the increases had been placed upon big estates ;and : incomes. ;In the saine_ spirit" he—attacked increased public expenditure, but apparently made no mention of the fact that it has been left to the Beform Government ■ to - redress- many injustices which were left as a legacy by their, predecessors.' Increases in salary to railway servants and to school teachers, military pensions, and additional benefits under tho old age pension scheme, are all items that will go to swell the public expenditure, but even Snt Joseph Waet> will hardly-venture to assail them aa extravagance..;,:; 1 . It.-is above al! when he ..comes to deal with State advances' that thev criticism «! the member for Awanui shows up in it& true colours. The present position, he says, is that there is dear money, and, for. this, he blames the Government. This is an extraordinary statement coming from the ex-Prime Minister of the Government winch ran the State Advances Department practically to a standstill by its sea-tter-cash policy in election year. The_ facts have been so often recapitulated that probably very few people m New Zealand do not know that for some months prior to the general election of 1911 money was poured out by the; State ; Advances Department in an amount just about twice as great as the resources legally available -to. the Department woilld enable:'it .to'.go on lending throughout the year.. One borough, Timaru, got £116,000 between January and July, 1911, and the Bemuera Road Board got £37,000 three days before, tho election, and £42,000 onemonth after the, election. These items fairly illustrate the lending, policy which was pursued under tho Ward Administration, and which made it necessary, at the end of 1911, to impose a limit of £5000 upon uie borrowing of local bodies. Another gem in the . Grcyroouth speech was the reference to the late strike. Sir J. Ward is reported to have said that.' "it had been the Liberal policy. to keep the ports open; but they wished to do so by legislative means and not by force. , ' . One can imagine the effect that "legislative means" would have had upon tho rioting mobs in Wellington and elsewhere liad not an adequate force been available to maintain the law. Taken as a whole, the speech of the Leader of, the Opposition at Grcymout-h is: ,, a confession of disordered ideas and lack of any definite purpose. It is likely to impress and hearten his own followers as little as it. will damage his political opponents. .; ... • : ,