The Dominion. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1914. A POLITICIAN IN HIS OWN TOILS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2323, 3 December 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1914. A POLITICIAN IN HIS OWN TOILS

. — 6 Wanganui is one of the electorates in which the Wardist-Labour-Social-ist compact has fared badly. As in one or two other places in the Dominion, the smooth working of the arrangement to sink party principles and..aims in order to nourish-a common appetite for office at any price has been upset by _ the action of a single determined individual whose ideas about party boundaries ana obligations are old-fashioned and definite. The position now is that the nattering hopes entertained by Mr. VEiTOHof securing the "Liberal" support against the Reform candidate, Mr. f ihaki, have been destroyed by the appearance in the field of Mr. Hogan, who represented Wanganui in two Parliaments as a supporter of the Continuous Government, and was unseated by Mr. Veitch in 1911.' It must be confessed that Mr. Veitch is facing this, from his own point of view, untoward turn of events in a spirit anything but philosophical. He ventilated hiswoes at a meeting at Aramoho the oitier evening in a style calculated to add in no small degree to the ipiiblic stock of harmless amusement. According ,to v Mr. Veitoh, Mr.Hogan's appearance in the contest is a clear case of vote-splitting in the interests of the Reform Party. This, on the face of it. is more amusing than reasonable, for Mr. Hogan was served by Mr. Veitch in 1911 precisely as .he is serving Mr.- Veitch to-day. This, however, may pass. It is Mr. Veitch's wildly confused attempt to justify his position and claims f-hat constitutes the really interesting and diverting feature at the moment. His line of argument is both original and quakt. Tho electors of Wanganui, he contends, should not support Mr. Hogan, who stands for only one party, but should rally round the man who has tried to do his best for the two parties. Even in. these days 'of intrigue between anxious Liberals and Red Federationists most people would eurely regard'a readiness to support two parties as a ground of impeachment rather thas of defence.

But Me.' Vbwch ia far too worried a candidate at the 'present time to give heed to considerations of mere principle and political probity. Somo day when he has had time to survey at leisure the wreck of his political hopes he msi,y come to realise that frank loyal adherence to a single set of principles is the only trustworthy foundation of political ambition, and that his present tribulations are the natural outcome of a brief political career which for weakness and-vacillation has not often been excelled. As yet he has evidently failed to realise that, in politics, as in, .other human affairs, one man cannot serve either two masters or three. Meantime, Mb. Pieani, the Reform candidate, is prosperously pursuing his' campaign with good prospects of success. In 1911 the people of Wanganui returned a candidate pledged to eject Sik Joseph j Ward from office, and while this was accomplished,, it cannot be said that their member justified the expectations of his constituents. In Mr. ■PiKANi; the electors of Wanganui have"; <a candidate who is known throughout New Zealand as a very live. and vigorous personality, and one who has already won distinction, in Parliament. It may not be without infiiience in the electorate that ho : 'should: Have been one of the men who supported JopN Ballance, the political idol of Wanganui, in a bygone day,-and:a man whose Liberal-ism-was. as different from that of the so-called- Liberalism of to-day as-the .teachings':.of''-: the Bed Federation differ 5 froin the sane Labour Trades Unionism,of ten years ago. If, as was the-case three years'ago, Wanga-, nui still -sees the menace behind the loose and' : reckless opportunism of Wardism—and >that menace is. now a greater peril: ,:to. the, country'under, existing conditions than it was then— : there:'should, be 'no doubt as''to- the final issue on next. Me. Pirani is more forceful and able tKan'either of his opponents, and in his v case. 'electors know, where he is and what' he really stands for.