THE GENERAL ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2327, 8 December 1914, Page 6

THE GENERAL ELECTION

CAMPAIGN POINTS. NEWS NOTES AND 'ADDRESSES AND PRESS COMMENTS. x Have you ever considered the record of Sir Joseph Ward? Iβ it not an indispuatble fact that immediately he stepped into Mr. Seddon's shoes in 1906 the fortunes of the Liberal Party ' . began to decline? ' - Sir Joseph Ward when he first became Prime Minister had a solid following of 57 members at his back. When he faced the people in 1908 this was reduced to 48, and after the elections of 1911 it fell to 31, a clear minority'in a House of eighty members. ' That was the verdict of the people on Sir Joseph Ward. :, - What was the verdict of his colleagues in/Parliament? Several of'the former members of'his Ministry have not hesitated publicly to express their opinion of his leadership. Heie arc their .'• irords:— ' WKat I blame for is their weak administration. Why, water-gruel is nothing to it. There is no backbone or genuine life or 6oul in it—not a particle.—Mr. Hogg,' ex-Minister of Roads and Bridges,. Labour and/Customs, in Parliament, July 5, 1910. The land question is the basis of everything else . . . and .1 am very pleased indeed thai the Prime Minister has said he intends to deal with the question this session. I did not think at' one jtira'e he.had the .courage to. deal with it; we havo seen it parried aiid thrust aside year after year.—Mr. Hogg in Parliament, October 15, 1909. , . \ No explanation of policy (the Ward Admin istration'fi policy) was, ever tendered to me. I do not know what 'that policy is now, and I do .'not know! whether any member of the House knows it. " ' ''I (Urnot know whether tho right honourable gentleman's colleagues know-it.•■■At all events, it has never been disclosed to me. I have . grava doubts,about doubts. I do not,know that th« ■ ■ 'Government is.opposed to , land aggregation.—Mr. Hogg in Parlia■ment, October 15, 1909. The Government or members of Parliament for the time being don't constitute the Liberal Party. A party cannot live on tradi- , tiong and name labels alone. . . . Parties may even adhere to names, while they entirely 'reverse their principles.—Hon. G. Fowlds, ; ex-Minister of Education and Public Health, oa his Tcsignartion from the Ministry.—(Auckland "Starj" September 12. 1911.) . . . I have felt' it impossible for mo to 'remain, a member of a Government which was unable to secure that measure of party loyalty necessary to ,carry on th e government of tho country with some degree of dignity, and self-respect.—Hon. G, Fowlds in Parliament, September 5,' 1911/ I recognised when the House met in February that the Liberal Party, or tho remnant that remained there, were about finished. I am one of those who have fought for Liberal principles all my life, and the probability is that I will die fighting for them. At the , same time I: am Roinjt to fight for men who have principles,' not for men who have no .-fixed principles, and prepared for their own advantage to jump af anything that offers.—Hon. B. M'Kenzie, ex- ' , Minister of Public Works, in Parliament, July 5, 1912. (The last portion cf this exbact referrcil to the Mackenzie Cabinet, which comprised Messrs. Myers, Mac Donald, Hanan, Kussell, Ell, etc.) ... It seems to me thai Liberalism is this year' to be given its laet chance. To secure that chance tho leader must bo prepared to courageously ri=k" his political existence.—Sir John Findlay, ex-'Attorney-General, in a despondent articlo on the "Pate of Liberalism" in the "New. Zealand Times" of February 3, 1914.- . / In these extracts speak the voices of four men who have sat around the Wardist Cabinet table. The public is asked now •to forget the weak and vacillating record of the past; to forget that in the days when he had everything in his favour Sir Joseph Ward was able to retain neither the confidence of the public nor even of his own colleagues in the Ministry. Sir Joseph Ward_ was bequeathed the Liberal Party at the height of 'its ■ prosperity. It stands to-day a wreoky clutching at - an alliance with a party of anarchyi and disorder in a last desperate effort to regain office. Are you going to give your vote to this party of failure ,' under a politically discredited leader, or to the party which has steered the Dominion safely through the rocks and shoals of tho 'troublous days since July, 1912?

'"It is, a perfectly fair , '-distinction Mm' , - call the Liberal Party, as it exists today, & party of uoids, and the Reform Party a party of action.—Timaiu "Herald." As a contemporarj points out - "The ," Liberals had aluajs fine, sympathetic words for.the,teachers, but.it was -the Reform Government who, with very' few worde, mado large increases to, thoir salaries, which had been woefully inadequate for many yeais, and did its' liest to put the wliolo education system . on an improved footing." ,';■ ' "By referring to the 'Liberal' Party," . observed Mr. R. A. Wright, Reform candidate for the Suburbs seat, at Maranui last evening, "people are apt to be deceived. It is no longer liberal in the sense in which we originally understood tho word In tho old days Liberalism might be summed up in the' words of Priestley's famous phraee; 'the greatest happiness of the greatest' i number.' But nowadays in New Zeaj / land' Wardism had /supplanted Liberal■i . ism. The ecce'ntricities and foibles of a single man dominated a once great , party. The people might accept a Liberal administration. They would not tolerate Wardism at any price. '.'An interjector, at Mr. Herdman'e meeting last evening eaid something' about "Pray every night." ,; Mr. Hordman: By your face I should say that you do prey every night—on \ somebody eke! Mr. 'A. M. Samuel, Reform candidate for the Hutt district, addressed a meeting at Menzies' Hall, Silverstream, last , night. Mr. N. J. Bennuigton presided. Considering , the rough weather the attendance was good. At tho conclusion, of the address several questions were answered, and on the motion of Mr. Sowerby, seconded by Mr. Hart, a motion of thanks end confidence in the candidate was carried unanimously. There is no man, m this Dominion who approximates so much to the late Rt. Hon-.R.. J. Scddon, as the Rt. Hon., W. F. Massey. Ho is buijt on similar lines. He is hone6t m his intentions,: and vigorous in the prosecution of bis duties. (Applause.)— Mr. J. P. Lukej - et Brooklyn, last evening. Every person interested ' in_ the (Jβ-' : relopment of our rural industries ; s interested in' the return of the Reform Government to power. —"Hawke's Bay Herald." ; : "Sir Joseph' Ward," remarked Mr. - R..A; Wright, Reform candidate, for the Suburbs, speaking at Maranui last evening, "has done much to lower the estimation of New Zealand in the eyes of the people of tho Old Country. The ' at£itndo which he cut at the great 1 featherings of ths representatives of the Dominions in London on tho occasion of' his last visit excited a good deal of surprise, and_ you will recollect that from- Botha in South Africa te . the leader of the Canadian people his proposals on the most vital point in the discussions were unanimously turned down, while the Colonial Secretary himself eaid that they wero such as preluded consideration." That only ehowed what he had all along maintained that aa a leader Sir Josoph Ward was a hopeless failure, and that ho ought, in his own interest and in tho interests of tho community, te retire te the somnolent atmosphere of f a ; Conservative Chamber, where he could assume all those airs'and graces which a democratic country associated iiith titles, estates, and'ease. That the Reform Government hae ; legislated in the best interests of all classes of the community is exemplified bv the wide scope of its policy and the measures it luis placed on tho Statute Book.—Mastcrton "Times." Speaking in Fullford's - Hall last evening, Mr. J. P. Luke, Reform candidate for Wellington South, thanked tho peoplo of Brooklyn for the very ronsideiablo support ho had received from them throughout his political career. He felt confident that when ■ the: numbers went'up o,n Thursday it

; wpuld be found that once, again Brooklyn had- stood by him. (Applause.) . ; ; of the Hutt Valley state that never : before have they seen so much interest being taken in a Parlia-mentary-poll as. the present. contest between Messrs. Samuel and Wilford, says our Petene. correspondent; At Petorie Mr. Samuel addressed what was probably the largest political meeting ever held, in that town, and this ovening lie is to: make his second and final appearance ..before a Petene audience.. 1 Stating ,the crucial, question to be: .''Whether''New Zealand,is to maintain the'Massey Administration or to revert to the control of-the Ward Party," the "New. Zealand Herald", say's: '"All other' electoral issues are insignificant, for the times '"are top serious,. the national emergency. too extreme, to permit any minor consideration to dwarf the crucial questibri: in the mind and thoughts of any loyal and: patriotic elector. The Massey Administration is wholly loyal and..unquestionably .safe." It struck" steady .blows at political patronage,-and has shorn Ministers and members of''a .good, deal of their former powers, in this direction. ',:< It has' improved the finances of the country, and now ; irithis time of national crisis, the people , are not experiencing undue hardship,- for the Publio Works are being administered in such a way as to provide, employment for those affected inother ;. ways,—Nelson'"Mail" on ; the achievements of .the Massey Govern--ment.. .•:- ." . ....'-,. ■- • . '. The election campaign in the Pahia-tna-.,district is proceeding very quietly (states our Pahiatua correspondent). It h fully expected that the retiring member, Mr. J. H. Escott, will again be returned. . ' . ■■'-.. '■ '■ ■ _ Mr. R. 'A. Wright, Reform candidate for the Suburbs', speaking at Maranui last night, remarked that the Reform_ Government has provided physical, instruction with healthy, exercises and medical , inspection for the children attending the primary schools, thus' showing its very real concern , for-the development of healthy,: minds end bodies in the rising generation. ■ The Oppositionists complain of what the Government has not done in'less than three years, but what it has done is surprising. The annoying thine to the # Liherals is that in' the short time at its disposal it.has done many things, obviously beneficial, which they .talked about but did not do in more than twenty years. It is a, favourite plea of, theirs that not a few of the £ood works performed by the Reformers were ""initiated" byi their forerunners. Initiated" some of these things wero, in the sense that they wore promised at the eleventh hour in a desperate attempt to avert the doom of Liberalism, Or.begun too late,, after many years of inaction, for a Liberal Government to do much more than look at them and paßs them, on to its successors.—Timaru "Herald." . . ■ ■ . Mr. H. P. Toogood, Reform candidate for Christchurch North, surprised some of his hearers at a recent meeting by stating that in " the' case of. a man with a large family, his boot bill amounted to, x more per year than his bread bill. This' statement was disputed by one or two members of the audience, but other members, , working men, supported the candidate's contention. Mr. Toogood, after mentioning the Customs duty that was levied on infants' footwear, suggested the importation of children's boots free of duty and the concentrating by New Zealand boot manufacturers on the manufacture of the larger eizes in footwear. Such a course, he claimed, would not throw ono man out of employment, ?nd would considerably lighten tho load that tho wage-earner with a Jarge (am • ily now has to bear. • ■ .

"It is a most peculiar fact that almost all the wobblers on the defence question are to be found on the Deposition side. They are not all wobblers there, but all the wobblers arc there." —H. F.'Toogood; Reform candidate for Ghti«*church North.'