LIBERALS & SOCIALISTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2319, 28 November 1914, Page 7

LIBERALS & SOCIALISTS

9 - ■ \ MR. .WRIGHT'S SCATHING DENUKs i CIATION. ' Mr. R. A. Wright, the Reform cam' didato for the Suburbs, addressing the electors last evening at Belmont, said that the "Liberal" Party had moved heaven and earth to entor into an aln lianco with the Socialists and the Lahour people. Thoir baiting, however, had not been as successful as tho Opposition had anticipated. The Labour, : and Socialist Parties had their own. ideals, and however much they differed < from them, they were bound to give them credit for the honesty of their ; convictions. But their avowed purpose i was to subvert the existing constitution, and to bring about their Utopia' by revolutionary processes. Under cir- — cumstances such as these there could be no compromise between Reform, which meant the preservation of the ; small man, who was hoping in later years, by the exercise of prudence and ■ thrift, to become an independent member of society; and Socialism, with all its attendant evils, which spelt moral, physical, and financial disaster. Nowi theso views which the Reform Party/ hold were supposed to bo the views j .of tho party led by Sir Joseph Ward, < whose acceptance of the title of baronet branded him infallibly as being antidemocratic. Of that thero could be no, doubt. _ He had directly encouraged by, his action the spirit of ca6te which was entirely alien to democratic government, in a country like New Zealand. Yot horo was a party professing to bo tho j party of the working classes, snatching ; at every opportunity to ingratiate it- i self into the aristocratic atmosphere of the older lands, and at the sama j time dangling a florid programme before tho people, whom they hoped to j bamboozle, and then step into office.. '• 111 tho "Liberal" Party were many o£ j tho most wealthy men in the country; . 1 landed plutocrats, who possibly, in tho dim and distant future, saw a vision \ of a baronetcy—potential merchants, rich browers, and others who positively, detested and abhorred tho policy of tlia Socialists. In order to obtain office, . the Opposition Iliad ' stooped to means which' he' did not hesi-ij tate to characterise as discreditable.Ho knew that by liberalising tho old age pension scheme, by amending thor, Shipping aud Seamen Amendment Act, 1908, by introducing amendments to the Sliops and Offices Act, by extending thai facilities for workers' homes,'and for workers obtaining advances under the; Advances to Workers' Act, and by)', many other measures, the Massey Gov- 1 eminent had demonstrated in the most effectivo and tangible manner possible: that they bad tho real welfare of the people at heart, and that their legislative enactments wero worth all the' multitudo of promises mado by tlia right honourable baronet, whoso imag-r. inativb faculties and capacity for see< ing pictures instead of realities had de«. veloped with extraordinary Tho obsequious atiitudo of Sir Joseph Ward during tho late strike .excited the indignation of tho proletariat, and provoked the consternation of his followers. "What we want in this coun-, try," concluded Mr. Wright, "is. a ro-( newed lease of sano and honest adminis-, tration. You can only have that byi returning the Reform Party, to power.,| If you want your credit to depreciate, ■, if you want industrial unrest, financial l despondency, and-national decrepitude—r) then vote for the right honourable bars onot. If on the other hand youj want tho country to progress, if you; want to maintain its credit abroad, t<v ensure peace and prosperity within youti borders, you will unhesitatingly voto fox', the representatives of that party which' during the past three years has given: evidence of wise, beneficent, and enlight. ened statesmanship, tho effects of which will be felt when Sir Joseph. Ward and his ,place-seeking politician^ will only bo remembered as an evil poly tical dream."