ONLY HALF THE STORY

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

ONLY HALF THE STORY

It ie, recorded' by a -northern, paper that.when he spoke at Whan^arei.the other evening, the Leader of the Opposition gave ,a vivid account of the doings of. the State Lending Department under the "Liberal" Government. Without having heard the vivid account it is fairly safe to . .assume that Sir .Joseph Ward toy! only a part, and that the least important part, of th*e story. ' This indeed is shown by the Report of .his speech, for he broke off the' statement that his Administration lent two millions more than: the Reformers did in a similar period. Evidently, therefore, Sir Joseph Ward left out all the really interesting details of tho dealings of his party with the State Lending Department, and his story wduld have been much more vivid if .he had filled them in. In case tho public memory may be as short as he apparently supposed, it'is just as . well to recall the . fact that a goodly proportion of the millionE which he poured out with lavish hand were dispensod to boroughs and other wealthy local authorities in tho election year of 1911, and on the eve "of tho election. -The loan df £116,000 tc*Timaru, and another of over £8.0,000 to the Remuera Road Board just beforo the. election, are classic examples of this lard expiring'phase of Wardist'finance. Those were indeed vivid days. It was a glorious burst while it lasted! There is ■ material-for vivid description top in the ..after-effects, tho paralysis which seized upon the Department when its funds had been "knocked down" with such'splendid fervour arid which Sir Joseph Ward, with.tender solicitude for the peace of mind* of tho . public, concealed, from its knowledge until the distractions of the election had been safely left behind. No doubt he wished to spare the electors the painful task of calling him to account lit a time when they bad so many other things to occupy their attention. Against these vivid exploits the achievements" of the Massey Government, where ; tho Advances .-department ,is ooaceifnccl, must api

pear to Sir Joseph Ward very humdrum and commonplace. All that they have done is to rebuild the. gap which remained as a memorial of his election-year exploits. Ho will nob admire the spirit in which they laboured to cure the Department of the paralysis with which it was stricken at the end of tho Wardist era until in Juno last they were able to remove all but tho statutory limits upon loans to settlers, workers, and local authorities. Ordinary citizens, settlers, workers, and such people, will no doubt prefer the strong balances, which have enabled the Department to maintain a free flow of loan money in months of war, to the wild whirl which was followed by. the curtailment of loans in the final Wardist year. But, of course, a lover of the vivid like .the titled gentleman who has attracted to his election banner the vermilionhued battalions of the Red Federation _ can hardly be expeoted to appreciate such sober and commonplace details—indicative only of sound administration.