NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2303, 10 November 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

There was a note of. cheorful optimism ■ running through tho Prime Minister's Bpeech at Pa-par kura last evening that will be welcomed throughout the Dominion. Mr. Masbey nas just come through a most arduous session; ho has been carrying during the past few months greater responsibilities perhaps than have fallen to the lot of any Premier of this country in recent times; on top of these be is faced with the heavy work and strain of what promises to be a bitter General Election, and despite the strenuous work, the tremendous strain and the worries ahead he came up as smiling and as cheerful as ever. It is inspiring in these days of stress and trouble to have at the head of the country's affairs a_ leader who faces .tho dark hours with the same buoyant confidence with which he passed through the brighter timeß of peace and prosperity. In his survey of the future as in his review of the past Mr. Massey was oalmly confident. The Government as he showed had carried out its pledges and done its duty to the best of its ability under most trying conditions, and it was prepared to stand or fall by its past achievements and by its policy for the future. There was no hedging or backing and filling. The speech will be read with interest, and most people will find it stimulating and heartening. Trouble is threatening tho alllanoe between the Wardists and the Labour-Socialists arising out ot what is claimed to be a breach of the understanding arrived at. One of the champion of the SocialDemocratic cause is Mr. H. Holland, a gentleman who distinguished himself during the late , strike. Mr. Holland was announced as a candidate for the Wellington Central seat, and it was understood that he was induced to transfer his candidature from that constituency to Wellington 'North, in order that Mr. E. Fletcher, the Wardist candidate, might have a clear field against the Hon. F. M, B. Fisher. For some weeks now Mr. Holland has been busily electioneering in Wellington North, and it was taken for granted that he would receive the assistance, sub rosa of course, of the Wardists. Unhappily for. him, while the Wardists were glad enough to make use of the Social Democrats wherever possible, one of their own supporters desired to stand for Wellington North, so Mr. Holland had to Be turned down. The gentleman chosen to carry the Wardist banner is Mr. W. H. Turnbull, who is very well known about the City, but has taken no active part in public affairs. Naturally the Social Democrats resent the intrusion at this stage of a candidate who will split the Wardist-Labour-Socialist vote, but they resent still more the suggestion that Mr. Holland should make way for this unknown (politically .speaking) new-comer. The idea appears to prevail that ' Mr. Holland will be forced to'give way. This is open to doubt. The Social Democrats hold' the upper hand. They have only to threaten to run candidates for Wellington Central, the Hutt, Wellington East, and a few other seats, arid the Wardists will soon be silenced. They know this well enough, and so also do the Wardists. It is merely a game ot bluff, and the Social Democrats on this occasion hold the winning- cards when the bluff oi the Warclists is called.

The Lytielton Times, in an election note, presents a choice example of the election methods dear to the heart of those who follow the fortunes of Sir Joseph Ward. Referring to Mr. _ Massev's favourite plank of "Settlement, more settlement and still more settlement," it presents the following table from the Lands Report for 1914 as showing what the _ Reform leaders have accomplished in this direction: No. of Tear. selectors. 'Area. 1908-9 18G3 521,145 1909-10 1712 637,120 1910-11 1194 403,150 1911-12 1503 472,050 1912-13 1345 ■ 355,658 1913-14 1405 353,805 "The last two years," comments the Ohristchuroh organ of the Opposition, "reprenent the work of the Reform Ministry." . Presented in this way the figures amount to a gross misrepresentation of the facts. In case thefe are any electors so ill-in-formed as to swallow this misrepresentation it may be as well to point out that the Wardists, in their settlement operations, had a vast estate of Grown lands to operate upon which had been practically worked out by the time the Reform Government assumed, office. The Prime Minister recently put it on record that when he took over tho Lands Department only one hundred thousand acres of first-class Crown lands remained available for settlement. Mr. Massey cannot make land in forwarding his vigorous settlement policy, but within the limits set by Nature he has beaten the "Liberal" record to a standstill, as is shown in the following return giving particulars of operations under the Land for Settlements Act during the last five years: ' N Area acquired Price. Year. (acres). ■£ 1909-10 42,805 260,793 1910-11 i 14,399 158,796 ' 1911-12 '.... 44,447 381,483 1912-13 52,098 428 044 1913-14 141,062 560,708. It will be seen that the' Reform Government last year acquired nearly ten times as much land and expended more than three times as much money upon estates for close settlement as tho Ward Administration did in 1911. This supplies a real comparison between the work of the respective Governments. It not only absurd but quite characteristically dishonest of some of_ the Wardist advocates to infcrentially blame tho Reform Government, as our contemporary has done, for not settling Crown lands which passed out of the hands of tho State before it took office.