THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK

Hokitika Guardian, 16 December 1919, Page 1

THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK

SIR JOSEPH WARD AND “THE PRESS.” PARTY POSSIBILITIES. On Saturday Sir Joseh Ward made a statement to a representative of “The Press” concerning the following paragraph in a leading article on that moming;— “What Sir Joseph has not said —anu his omission to say it, if not an oversight is of cardinal importance—is that he will not move against the Government unless he has more direct followers, members of his own Liberal Party, than all other parties combined. If his omission to pledge himself to this (and thereby to give the only real assurance respecting his relation to the Reds is only an oversight, he will no doubt be glad to have his attention thus called to it.” r> “Does ‘The Press’ mean to say,” Sir Joseph remarked, “in putting such a question as that to me, or does it suggest, that Mr Massey should depend upon his existence as Prime Minister of this country on the support of extremists to enable him to keep in power, and that the Liberals (w ho, in all probability from what I know, will bo a stronger force than his own will be) arc to take no action after the appeal to the polls unless they have got a majority over all parties in the Houso? Surely that implies that Mr Massey, if he is in a minority, and has not a majority over all parties in the House, is going to depend on the support of the Red Feds to keep him in and to give him a majority. “When I spoke at Leeston last night I assumed that the paragraph I quoted was a ‘local.’ I accept the statement that it was an advertisement. But I have found that in the leading columns of ‘The Press’ of Thursday that the same thing is suggested in connexion with the Christchurch South seat. Does ‘The Press’ mean to suggest that Reformers are to support an extremist as against an Independent Progressive Liberal like Mr Holland, and that the extremist, if returned, is to be looked upon as a proper person to keep Mr Massey in power by.voting with him? I want to know whether this basis is to be regarded as the right one.” The reporter asked if Sir Joseph did not think that what was meant was that the Liberals in the new Parliament should number at least forty-one. “My answer is,” Sir Joseph replied, “that the people of this country at the present moment are being appealed to. If they give the Liberals a majority over the Reformers, my duty as Leader of the Liberal Party, will be to test the feeling of the House; if they give a majority of Reformers over the Liberals, the Leader of the Reform Party will be in exactly the same position. If the Liberals succeed in turning the Reform Party out of office—everybody in the House voting as they think proper, and all sections—then the duty would devolve on the Leader cf the party which moved the motion to form a strong Government if he could; and If ho could not succeed in doing so, except at the dictation of extremists, with whose policy, or methods, or .. .ons, lie did not agree, then, in the c. Jinary course of things, he would have to go out and give way to someone else. But for the editor of any party paper to be stupid enough—because that is the onlyway in which sensible men can describe his attitude in talking about a majority of all parties in the House being won by any party at. the present juncture to control the decision of any other party in the House—l think it is about as senseless a proposition as I have ever heard in connexion with public life. In my opinion, if such ideas aro intended to be a guide to sensible men and women in this portion of the country, then I don’t wonder at the electors resenting it and returning men to Parliament opposed to such ill-considered and stupid advice. You ask mo what we will do if we haven’t got 41 Liberals ? What is Mr Massey going to do if he hasn’t 41 Reformers —which he hasn’t a ghost of a hope, he hasn’t got Buckley’s chance of getting. The situation is to be faced from the standpoint of commonsense men : It isn’t going to be settled by [deliberate misrepresentation in the leading columns of any journal in this country, and one that scarcely over succeeded in winning politicians to its side.”

Further pursuit of the subject was prevented by Sir. Joseph’s necessity to board a taxi in order to catch the ferry steamer train.