NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2316, 25 November 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

No longer is the old Liberal ory "Trust the people" a part of the policy of the Wardißt Party. Sir Joseph Ward, whose temper seems to be getting somewhat frayed with the strain of the election, even as it did three years ago, became quite violent at Eangiora at the thought of trusting the mothers^and.fathers of New Zealand with his amusing baßy bonus. According' to the report of his speech in the Ohristchurch papers he delivered himself in this fashion: Coming to the baby bonus, Sir Joseph referred to the "silly, idiotic doctrine which was . being preached bj>those who were trying to ridicule the suggestion he had made of giving every child born ■£3 to be placed in the Post Office Savings Bank at three per cent, cumulative interest for fourteen years." A Voioe:.Why. not give it to themother? Sir Joseph: Becauso the mother might spend it before the child gets to be fourteen years old. (Laughter.) And tho husband might knock her down and take ■it off her when she had got it. (Renewed laughter.) His purpose, continued the speaker, was to inculcato by his scheme thrift in ithe minds of tho mothora as well as of the children. The baby bonus originally was to encourage the birth-rate; but now it is to inculcate thrift in tho minds of the mothers. This is delightful. Sin Joseph Ward proposes to give a bonus for every baby born and as ho oannot trust the parents with the. money he borrows it back immediately, from the innocent and unsuspecting infant for 14 years; and thj& no tells us inculcates thrift in tne minds of the mothers! This is so like the amiable baronet. It is a simple matter to follow his process]

of reasoning. "The more babies," ho can "be pictured saying, "the more bonuses; the more bonuses the more there will be for me to borrow; the more I borrow the more I will inculcate habits of thrift in the common people who have babies and who are not to be trusted with the money." And yet there are people who credit Sir Joseph-Wabd with a .sense of humour* i

A feature of the election campaign is the amount of abuse which has been expended bv Wardisfc newspapers and candidates upon former supporters of their party who have now transferred their, allegiance to the Reform Party. If these people stopped to reflect they would realise that they are simply sounding the death-wail of their own party and furnishing still another proof that it is no longer fit to survive. They are bewailing the inevitable for disintegration is invariably a feature of the process of decay in the case of political parties or anything'else. The outcry of the Wardists who are so .loudly shouting "treason" is based upon tho absurd assumption that the members of a political party owe it the same loyal adhesion when it has degenerated from its former estate as in the days of its prime when it was worth supporting. If this assumption were justified and acted upon all the political' parties that ever outlived their usefulness would be preserved in decrepitude to lumber up the. political arena in: stead of being swept into kindly oblivion to make way for more useful organisations. All the' outcry in the world will not get rid. of the fact that political parties, like individuals, lose their' best friends when they degenerate and fall into bad company. The. Wardist Party to-day finds itself rejected and despised by many of its own former supporters because it has in these ways lost all title to their support. It is despised even by the Bed Feds," in whose • company it seeks Bolace for the defection, of its own, members, for these people make no secret of . the fact that they hope at no very distant date to officiate at its funeral.

No one can fail to admire the splendid work done by the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) and Mrs. Luke in connection with matters arising out of the war. At the time of the dispatch of the Expeditionary Force and the arrival of warships in port, it was not possible to refer publicly to the steps taken by Mr. and Mrs. Luke to provide for the entertainment of the officers and men, and in consequence only those who actively assisted were in a position to know how admirably they organised, and oarried through this task. The. Jack Tars were especially grateful for tho splendid hospitality extended to them jiere and the public generally will be gratified to learn- that no effort was spared to demonstrate to our visitors as well as to the looal men how deeply their services were appreciated. As in the case of the strike of last year Mr. Luke showed that when the occasion. demanded he could rise io it and act for the citizens as their own inclinations and the dictates of duty demanded.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the' local election campaign is the success of the Reform candidate for the Hiitt seat;' The sitting member haß made the mistake of treating it as a pocket constituency. He ap•pears to have laboured under the mistaken idea that: whatever happened Mr. T. M. Wilford could always claim it as his right the electors of Hutt should cast their votes in his favour. He has held the constituency too cheaply. In recent years his constituents have seen little of him and ho has relied too much on his _ ability to talk them oyer at election time. Moreover, his election tricks do not count as they once did—the electors have in fact grown a little tired of them.- So it is that he is confronted with the unpleasant prospect of defeat. He has had a very long innings and the electors have wearied of his ready exouses, his soft pedalling, and his apparent idea that he has a monopoly of .the seat. Thus when a really live and active candidate has presented himself' in the interests of Beform the people' of the_ Hutt electorate have welcomed him with open arms. Mr. Samuel has made an excellent impression in all' parts of the electorate. He is a good speaker, has shown himself to be well informed on current political questions, is outspoken,* energetic, keenly interest; ed in the welfare of all parts of the electorate, and would make a very live member. The electors of Hutt ore having these facts brought home to them' and are rallying round Mr. Samuel in a manner 1 which speaks hopefully of his prospects at the coming- poll.

The pains to Which Bome of the Wardist newspapers arid supporters of the paTty go, bo assure the public that such demonstrations of favour as come tho way of Sie Joseph Ward and his followers ,ar<3 "quite spontaneous". and "without any stagemanagement," is calculated to set people thinking. _ Why should it be necessary to publish theso apologetic disclaimers? Is it tho practice of our Wardist friends to stage-man-age" these, littlo demonstrations; and. are they so unacoußtomed to any spontaneous outburst of enthusiasm that it is as a matter oalling for public jubilation when such an unexpected event happens 1' We should have, thought that even though the Wardists have declined so rapidly in public esteem in recent years they would still have a sufficient following to ensure their leader a hearty welcome in most parts of New Zealand. In practically all tho towns of New Zealand there are supporters of all parties and it' iB very stupid of our Wardist friends to create the: impression that they are bo surprised whenever their candidates receive a hearty reception that they feel it necessary to inform the public that it was not stage-managed. Why, tho Prime Minister had one of tha most stirring receptions ever accorded a public man at Winton the other evening—tho stronghold of. Slit Joseph Ward in the Awarua electorate. According to Wardist reasoning this should indicate that tho chances of election of the Leader of the (Opposition aro correspondingly slight. ..