Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd, 1920.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 September 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY, S EPTEMBER 3rd, 1920.

THE LIBERAL PAR'JW, The Liberal Tarty is not having mud of tiie luck in the political game , A " the December elections the party for various reasons not necesarily inherent to its politics, suh'eppt} vei<y materially in representative strength, Include! j’ in the loss of seygraj seats, was the defeat of the leader of the party a loss which is felt rather acutely by more than the party to-day—for the country misses the useful and able sej ; . P vices of Sir Joseph Ward at tins juncture in the House of Parliament. The temporary defeat pf Sir .Joseph, called for a new leader, and the Hon. W, D. S. MacDonald was appointed to fhe position unanimously. Late on Tuesday fl/ght Mr MacDonald had a tragic death—tragi.c jp its suddenness. For some time he has not been well, but lie was back and about liiß jjarj/,amentary I .djities. When the House rose 0 n Tuesday night he retimed home, only to' suddenly eypjye at a moment’s notice, i The Hon MacDonald y/sited here on i two or three occasions, and yppressed all by his earnestness and sincerity. Hawns intensely loyal and bis utterances, here in the Town Hall and in the Supreme Hall when addressing representative gatherings, will be recalled by many, for they could not hut be h]}? ' pressed on his hearers, so emphatic and sincere were his addresses. Mr MacDonald came first to the forefront in the short-lived MacKenzie Ministry. * He was Minister .of Public Works in that Cabinet und impressed all by his i attention to the details of his work, In the Coalition Ministry he was oM of the strong jnen, and during the absence of Mr Massey and Sir Joseph /Ward in England on different occasions, Mr Mac Donald was one of the hardest worked I of the remaining Ministers, having several responsible departments under Ids control. Since the new Parliament was elected, Mr MacDonald became leader of the Liberal Party, and as such dis--1 charged the duties with bis usual zeal and consideration. His sudden demise again leaves the party leaderless. It is probable in the ordinary course that Mr Wilford, who recently whe AyfingLeader, while Mr MacDonald was a l Auckland on a health visit, will become the permanent leader. The Liberal party in any case can be little more than heard of in the present Parliament. Its reduced strength prevents its voting power being at all effective, but as critics the members of the party can fill a very useful purpose in the House. So far tlm criticism has been directed on sensible Ij.nes. Mr MacDonald promised there would be po unnecessary action by the party to hamper the business of the country, and he Was as good as his word. There was very little waste of time over the Ad-dress-in-Rcply, and less ovej; the Financial Statement. The criticism has been reserved for the policy measures and the administration generally as the business cropped up. The main policy •measure are still to come, and the Li- j herals still have the bulk of their work ahead of them. Mr MacDonald will be missed from bis post, for he had qualities which made him a force, to respect and even admire. lie was n sterling ] man and his death leaves a vacancy } which will bo felt for some time. ' j

Ax lust meeting of the Hokitika Bor. otigh Council the Naseby Council forwarded the copy of a resolution urging the Government to give the goldminers who have produced and sold gold during the war compensation for the loss of value they have suffered through the measure passed prohibiting the export of gold. The local Council has supported the proposal, which is worthy of general support and agitation to effect the purpose in mind. If the goldminers I were as influential in voting power a.s the pastoralists and dairymen in this j country, they would probably receive j some redress very quickly. In the case |of pastoral and natural products, the j Government were very ready to give ! financial help to ensure the best prices to the Ipcffl producers, and the gold •workers are no less worthy of assistance. Various schemes were devised to safeguard the producers from the land, Who, ns a result, have received great financial benefit from the consideration and forethought of the State. The gold miner is taking the right course to protect his interests, and the action emanating from Central Otago, might well be supported from the mining district off Westland. The local bodies of the district generally should support the agin tation begun in Otago by endorsing the Naseby resolution, and bringing it as • prominently as possible before the Government. The suggestion that Australia is likely to revert to the penny postage is signifieant bf the times. Increased postage was submitted to during the war period, as a means to find more money tc i help carry on the great war , to » sue ' eessful issue. That period of strain and necessity has passed, and the con m tries being back to normal conditions h might be thought the Governmen could well revert to the former rates o! postage. In New Zealand the ex traordinary step lias been taken of increasing even the war rate, so that tliii Dominion which once led in the matte of postal reforms and in the introduc tion of the penny postage, is now had to a rate which obtained long year a'go. When the penny postage caminto force the Postmaster-General toh us that the country did not lose h; its .enterprise; on the contrary the vol ume of business went. up thus showing an expansion in commcr cial business and industrial under tab iners If Australia, leads the way noi {/reducing postage to the pre-war rat New Zealand can hardly afford to b behind the Commonwealth in the enter prise. The new rate of two-pence mus be having its effect on postal returns Many business houses are using variou devices to reduce their postal lulls while domestic and private correspon dence generally will he affected mlater ially also. The higher rate will nc (rive an adequate return to justify it imposition The postal service is nc proving more efficient either as a resi.il fl f the increase. The complaint at th Progress League this week is a case i point. A defective service at a. mor costly rate is not going to popularis the department, and the Postmaster General will require to look to his laur els or he will find himself at the heat Of a department which has a wanm; popularity.