WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 March 1922, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

LIBERAL-LABOUR LEADERSHIP. SIGNIFICANT SILENCE. SPECIAL TO GUARDIAN. WELLINGTON, March 3. A correspondent writing to the “Do- j minion” yesterday, perhaps with only a simulated concern for the personal I and political welfare of the slighted politican, took Mr T. M. Wilford and Mr C. E. Statham to task for having referred in their speeches at Petone a little while ago to the big 'figures of the “old Liberal Party” without mentioning the name of Sir Joseph Ward. This he regarded as “a. most tactless thing to do,” particularly in view of the fact that the offenders had received the Liberal mantle direct from the last of th e Party’s Prime Ministers. The sting of this reproalch lies in the fact that many of thq members of the new Liberal-La-bour Party are not taking Sir Joseph Ward into account in their speculations and aspirations for the future. This is partly due to a desire to dissociate the new party from some of the traditions of the old, partly to a distrust of Sir Joseph’s leadership and partly to a fear of a revival of the narrow personal issue which brought disaster upon the Liberal Party ati the last general election. THE COUNTRY’S NEED.

How far these factors, all or any of them, were responsible for Mr Wilford’s a,nd Mr Staham’s omission to mention Sir Joseph Ward’s name at their Petone meeting it is only for the leaders of the new party themselves to say. But while there is a feeling abroad that Sir Joseph does not poSssess all the qualities required to reunite the progressive forces on a strong and enduring basis, there .is a pretty general conviction that his services are sadly needed at the Treasury. Even the friends of the Government admit that in this department of administration he was much happier than his successor has been. Perhaps the comparison is scarcely fair, since Mr Massey has been faced by an entirely new and extremely difficult situation, but “Ward’s luck” stuck persistently to Sir Joseph throughout all his excursions into strange and troublesome fields of finance and won for him a reputation which the public holds in appreciative remembrance. Whether or not the new Liberal-Labour combination can afford to dispense with this asset remains to be seen. At present it has no proved financier in its ranks, ana ft .proved financier, above all things, is the saviour the country requires just now’.

AN OPTIMISTIC VIEW. The Primd Minister’s optimism, which horie of the difficulties of his position can dispel, is a personal charm and.a national asset. Speaking at the official opening of the Marfon Show he had words of cheer for every class of producer and for every section of the community. If everything in the garden was not exactly lovely it was full of high hope -attd certain promise. The slump had not wholly disappeared, he said, wishing to lie quite Frank with Ins audience!; but the prices of lamb, mutton, butter, cheese and wool had improved, and he pledged his reputation as a. politician and as a man of affairs upon the advance in wool continuing. There would not be a/ big surplus at the dose of the financial year at the end of the present month, but there would be a considerable one. Money was becoming more plentiful wand cheaper and the finances of the country rested on a sure foundation. Mr Massey struck the right note for the occasion and struck it so confidently his hearers can scarcely have missed the inspiration #f his

words. „ MINISTER AND DEPARTMENT

The Hon. C. J. Parr’s unhappy knack of falling out with the officers of his departments must he proving a cause of embarrassment to his colleagues as well as a source of discomfort to himself. Nothing is known here, apart from what has appeared in the newspapers,, of his quarrel with Dr McGibbon, the Auckland District health officer, who has been, called upon to report himself to head-quarers and to submit to such discipline as the head of the Department and the Public Service! Commissioner may think fit to, a.pply, but the search for information has revealed quite a number of minor incidents of which the gossips delight to talk. No one doubts the Minister’s good intentions, nor his zeal for the public welfare, but he has “a way with lum,” as one of tlie complainants put it to-day, which is unusual and often extremely annoying. This is not necessarily to liis discredit, considering all the defects and shortcomings of the public service that need repairing; hut he would find his path much smoother and his efforts more effective' had he more of the tact and candour of his chief.