The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1919. THINGS THAT NEED EXPLAINING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 59, 3 December 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1919. THINGS THAT NEED EXPLAINING

O.N'ic of the surprising things about this election is the way in which the grandiose schemes set. out by Sjii Joseph Wakij in his manifesto have been allowed to slip into the background. Now and then in the Press or on the platform one of his supporters will mention a Stale Bank or the nationalisation of the coal mines, or cheap houses,, hut such references are always vague and often incidental, They are Ihe flourishes and not the material of the Wardist campaign. This is a serious matter—serious, that is to sn.y, for Sn: Joskimi Ward, and serious also for his supporters in view of the poor material 11 pon which they are forced, for want of better filings, to rely. Between asserting that the Reformers are opposed to a'l_ progressive legislation, and that in freely promoting such legislation these intruders are stealing tlm birthright of the Liberal Partv. the Liberal rank and file is at an awkward pass. It wreild be a vest. improvement on this painful state of affairs if Sir •Tooth Ward could give substance and reality to even a few of the. marvels that are elu'sivcly indicated in his August manifesto. At present while his a'tiHied admirers are reduced to landing these marvels from a />• distance—the distance at which it is out of the question to ro into details—the average elector, ! hough polling day is drawing nearer, is simnlv not interested in them. Nor is this.all. Candour compels Ihc addition that Sir .loss,l'll V.'U'O himself is not doinor bv any means the right Ibimr lw these bantlingr "F his florid imagination. For 'he last week or so (he "nmtlr.v at large has heard nothing from him, and this is strange co'iduet on (he part of one who i'- able bv his own showing to perform so many miracles of national beU'Tru'-nt.., Wondei- is'inrreji'ed ■> hen if is ascertained how the leader of the Opposition is acl.ua'lv spending his lime. He is slumping ivs own elpeiorate of Awn ma. and doing it with a painstaking- thoroughness that proves his respect for his opponent and his determination to leaye nothing lo chance. No doubt these ure very neeec.f'arv aeti vii ies---Sl It, JoSKPH Wvn evidently has clear ideas on the point—bnl, are they so necessary that f hev have first e!" ; ni on the attention of one so (rifled as lo claim abiHf.y lo show the people how to set. good houses fov half a guinea a week, to cot a revenue of a ouarter of a million a 1- ear out of ennl mines that now hardly pa'- interest. on the capital required to purchase them, to extract twice e R mn p h in profits from a Stale Bank, and other thlnes in proportion ? If the Leader of the Opposition wishes it to be understood that in stumping Awarna he is (Wb'ng with Ihincs in their order of importance, his dietum must be accepted, but what becomes in that case of the alluring, if nebulous, hopes raised in his policy manifesto? Such are the questions that must arise at this time in the mind of any quietly observant elector.

it is incumbent, on Sn; Joseph Wmip for a number of reasons! to answer mid clear up. these questions. For one thing he has a past to live, down where big but vague promises of unlimited public benefits are concerned. A great, de*l is heard from Liberal candidates about some aspects of the past history of their partv, _more particularly about the obvious things it did in days when progress was easy and inevitable. But there are features in the political past of the present Liberal Leader which it is of more practical importance to remember. It has been recalled of la.te, for instance, that, during the election campaign of 1.914 Sir Joseph W,\nn referred to a scheme "which he had hern examining for the best part of twelve mouths," a scheme.

by which tho main article of food could be cheapened, and the fame sv.stem could lie extended In meat, bread, and coal, ft could l)o done with Hie assistance of the State. : The great bulk of our products had a tine market nbroad, and tho State, without interferincr with tlic man on the land, could provide a system whereby tho whole of the products (joing abroad could so abroad, and the portion rem,'lining hero for consumption could bo cheapened.

The Leader of the Opposition thus clearly asserted that he was able to cheapen the main articles of Food and other products and so reduce, the cost of living. But, though the people in 1914 refused him a mandate to deal with cost of living or any other problems, lie took office soon afterwards in the 'National Government in a position second only to that of the Prime Minister. He held that position in the years during which food and other prices rose at an unprecedented rate. A nkin question, therefore, is raised: Did Sin Josfi'h Warp allow prices to me rapidly and needlessly durine the war years rather than share with his Reform colleagues the credit of keeping them down, or was the assertion h» made in 1014 mereiv iu the nature of election bait' The latter view, evidently prevailed in the 19],| elect-ion and it was as evidently unheld by subsequent experience. No one really believes that while rising prices were imposing an ever-increasing burden on the people Sir Joseph Warp kept a. remedy securely slowed away, but the only alternative is to set him down a« one who regards a showy electioneering promise as a good thing in ilself and the fulfilment of such promises as an indifferent and irrelevant side-issue. On his record and under specific test be has earned Hie reputation of one who is :>l- - ready to sealt«r glittering generalities in lb" hopi> of catching votes, and let the matter end at that. Thai the facts of the position are apparent In the members of his own i;artv is clear from their careful a.vo'danee of anv attemnt to elaborate the a'rv nothiiifs leader has fwtlep'd abroad. That ill" public n-ener.'illv are as well ported is evident from the culd indifference with which they regard til" most attractive propositions set out by [he Leader of the Opposition —on paper. When Sip Joseph: ■ Ward is again able to spare some time from stumninn Awarna, it will no doubt h" Imrne in upon him ll'nt at a time "'hell th" people need i>i"t p l ie°l service and 1,"v1,-vfhip emotv talk about imnossihililies is none matcnl "'ilh which lo light a political campaign.