The Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1911. THE FORCES OF DISORDER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2327, 8 December 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1911. THE FORCES OF DISORDER

Yet another illustration of the fact that the forces of disorder are associated with the Wardist Party has been given the people of the Dominion. On Friday evening last Sib Joseph Ward addressed a public meeting at the Town Hall at Wellington without any attempt on the part of his opponents, who constitute the great majority of the people of Wellington, to prevent him getting a fair hearing. Last evening the Attorney-General, tho Hon. A. L. Herdman, delivered a speech in the same hall in reply to the Leader of the Opposition, and the supporters of Sir Joseph Ward did their utmost to disturb the meeting and prevent him making a connected speech. It was another deliberate and organised attempt to interfere with the liberty of free speech, and it failed to achieve its c-bject only because,the majority of those present were in full sympathy with' the speaker. Sir Joseph Ward can, of course, claim that he had nothing to do with the 1 disturbance, and we are quite prepared to accept such an assurance; but the fact remains that all .over Hew' Zealand the disorderly element has been attempting to dis-e turb Reform candidates' meetings while with rare exceptions it has enthusiastically supported Wardist candidates., Tho public can only draw one conclusion from this. It is quite obvious that' the forces of disorder want the Reform Party thrown out of office and the Ward Party placed in charge of the country's affairs, The publio cannot blind themselves to this fact, nor can they fail to appreciate what it moans. These disorders must bo suppressed. The publi6 safety as well as the decencies of our public life demand it. There is only one way to do this effectively, and that is at the • ballot-box. It does not matter very much;what political party a man or woman may belong to, there are. times when narrow party divisions are swept aside for the common good. The present is a - time when every reasonable-minded citizen must realise that he must take his stand on one side or the other; he must either range himself■ with the forces of disorder or against them. The forces of disorder have joined hands wifch the extremists of the'WARD Party; x the moderates of all parties, now have the opportunity to: unite in overthrowing these dangerous forces. Very faw people to-day believe that itlwould be any advantage to New Zealand if a change of Government took place— everyone realises that it would be a more or less risky experiment to make. a change. In these circumstancesy and especially in view of the increasing aggressiveness of the more reckless and' lawless element in the ranks of the extreme faction which now supports the Ward Party, there can be no doubt that many old supporters of the Liberal Party will 'on Thursday next cast their votes to ensure a continuance of the firm and sound administration of the past two_ years.

Since the above was in type news has come to hand of the disgraceful behaviour of a crowd of roughs at the Prime Minister's meeting in Auckland last evening. In this instance, as in so many others, the disturbance appears to nave been organised, the only difference being that it was carried to greater lengths than usual.' There were' the elements of a very serious tragedy in the situation,, and it is fortunate that the affair passed off, with only minor.mishaps. It is a" scandal to the whole country that these organised disorders should have been introduced into our'.public life; and a. menace to tho peace and security of all. classes. . ■ ' ■■