OUT OF HIS DIPTH

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2154, 21 May 1914, Page 4

OUT OF HIS DIPTH

If has been painfully evident for sometime past that since lie has been deprived of the assistance of Government officiate to compile the materia] for that portion of his speeches rolatlag to iinanoo and statistics, Sik Joseph Waud is' very prone to error ape! inaccuracy. It is hardly possible. however, that ho could havt been so stupid as the Press Association report of his spwjch at Hastings suggests by its summary of his reference to the cause of the tightness d ?- money. If the report is to be credit-! &d. Sib Joseph led his audience to l believe that, the real cause of the! tightness of' money when the Massey ; Government attained office was the fact that deposits in the Post Office ; Savings Bank foil considerably dm- ■ mg their first yta-r of office. To suggest, ji fa-lling-off of deposits in ■ the Post Office ba.vi.ngs Bank was the (51 use of the tightness of money is so : very absurd that' it would be charitable to assume that the Leader -of the i Opposition has been misunderstood. ; A tightness in the money market,: instead of being caused o}% might easily account for a falling off in deposits, for it would enable depositors to obtain a more profitable return for their money in the open market, they couid ser.urc from the Post Office, (savings Bank, Sir Joseph, we fear, if correctly reported, has once more gob out of his depth and confused cause with effect-.' He was equally unfortunate in his reference to the Question of advances to settlers and cheap money. His heart just now is bleeding for the unhappy settler who is unable to borrow through the Advances to Settiers Office as speedily as lie would like. But has he so soon forgotten that it Wcis -owing to the reckless plunging of his own Govcintiicnt that the -amount of advances to settiers had to be curtailed? It was his cnvit party that bv its extravagance temporarily crippled the Advances to Settlers Department and put, the screw on settlers by cutting down the amount which could Kb advanced to settlers to £500. Sin Joseph Ward of course knows this— ho was mainly responsible for it. He knows, too, that his successors in office have relieved the settler of this oppressive restriction imposed by Sir Joseph Ward and his associates in their muddled endeavours to escape from the embarrassments . in which they had landed thcsftlelvcs. The Massey Government did not waste its time in shedding crocodile tears for the edification of the settler unable to borrow the money he wanted, but instead set about straightening up the finances of the various Departments of State and placing them on a footing which would enable the fullest possible benefits to be conferred. And what j has been the result 1 Who raised the limit of advance from £500 (to which it was cut down by the Ward Government) to £(5001 The SlasW Government. _ Who again a few months later increased the limit to' £?50! Again the Massey Government. Who a few weeks ago raised it again still higher, to £1000'! This dreadful M.\s«i-;v Government, again was responsible. Sin Josmi Ward, of course, has to find fault with the Government s.omclicw, mid judging fvrjiu his .speeches ho is at times liarti pressed for grounds of attack, But

in is surely very indiscreet for hi in to venture on this delicate ground, where his own most recent actions in office contrast so unfavourably, with t-he_ performances of his ojppoitonts quring the brief time, they have, occupied the Treasury benches. Sir Joseph Ward, it is to be feared, wants a little assista-n© from his lieutenants in the choice, of subjects to bo dealt with on his electioneering P Ol ' 1 ': Plainly ho is out of his depth in his handling of financial and land questions, and badly needs coaching on 'the Advantages of things better left unsaid.