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Hokitika Guardian, 9 November 1922, Page 2

r N the thought for the times to-day .here is a definite expression of opinion by a responsible member of the liberal Party which is worth porusiijg at this juncture when folk are making up their minds for polling day. Mr Forbes the gentleman quoted, is the senior Whip of the Party, and is speaking with authority as to the view held by the Liberals towards the extreme _src, tion pf Labor The policy and prin-. pf that « i 'r{l ri q of the TT r, P*<\

find no favor with the Liberals, who i egard the section for what it is • extreme. Mr Forbes bits the nail on the head when he says the extremists have no conception about the responsibilities of government. He regards their utterances as “wild” and it is impossible to look upon them scrioi sly It is well tc have this clear and d"finite statement for the opponents of the Liberals, from the Prune Minister downwards, hint time and again of t e possibility of an alliance between the Liberals and Extreme Labor. The Liberals are allied now as they we-e always since the Seddonian days, with sane* Labor, and to-day such lcpresentatives as Afr A’eitch (well and favourably known about here) are the type of men and clear thinkers whom the I Li lie nils welcome to their rail’s. It is well, therefore, to have this point cleared up once and for all. and the electors in AVostland should assimilate the position which leaves no doubt where the Liberal candidate locally (Mr Seddon) stands in relation to extreme Labor.

In his short adaress at the Opera House last night Mr Steer expressed himself us a partisan supporter of the Massey Government, which l’e tributes as' being the best government this country had had, and had placed it in the position it is to-day! Mr Steer praised the Massey party in season and out of season, and gave Mr Massey the sole credit for bringing the country through the war. Tf it had not been for the Literal Ministers in the War-time government. Mr Massey would have made the same mess of things during that period as he is doing in peace times. Sir Joseph Ward encountered the real financial difficulties of the war. and did so successfully, and if his savings had not been squandered on lrid land purchases neither the slump in the world’s markets, which everybody except the Reformers had foreseen, nor the obligations in respect of pensions and interest on war loans, need have run this misgoverned country into deficits and taxation on the scale imposed by Mr Massey. Only last week a prominent weekly financial journal said of the present Government: “We think that Mr Maslov's borrowing and spending policy will assuredly land the country in trouble.” But Mr Steer wisely for his own ease no doubt, avoided the financial issues of the day. yet they are the most important for the country, for on them hinge the well being of the Dominion. The same authority just quoted has said: “If the public lealised that it is the Government taxation which makes the cost of living excessive, which is directly responsible for unemployment and that conditions will not he better until less money is taken from the people they would not lie so ready to applaud the borrowing poiey.” When Mr Steer was not effusive of Mr Massey last night he was tamely critical. Mr Steer's condemnation of the iailway management was not out of place. It was on lings similar to criticism which lias been going on now for some time. But it most le remembered that Mr Massey was himself the Minister of Railways enti ely responsible to the country for the -late into which the Department has drifted. Mr Massey is not the paragon statesman Mr Steer would have us believe, judged either by his handling of the finance uf the country or the railways. Tn both instances there is muddle, lack of efficiency, and a condition of affairs bordering on the alarming side. Reform has tiad a very good innings and lias failed to make good. It has had its opportunity and missed it. Mr Steer seems to think Reform lias taken the Liberal policy—and according to Mr Steer's logic the Liberals have no policy now! Any part of the Literal policy Reform has attempted to administer it has made a mess of. It took over the surplus funds Sir Joseph Ward accumulated, and made ducks and drakes of them. It has allowed the financial departments to become practically inoperative because of the lack of funds owing to reckless administration. It has never attempted a land policy equal to the land policy of the Liberals which brought prosperity to New Zealand, and gave an equal opportunity to all to get oil tin* land and flourish by their own well directed effort. Mr Steer made the poorest of eases for Reform, which has not n strong champion in any ease for the Reform muddle will take some camouflaging these days.