The Hokitika Guardian FRIDAY, NOV. 24th, 1922.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian FRIDAY, NOV. 24th, 1922.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST. Speaking in regard to his last and greatest general election, when the Liberals swept tho polls in 1805, the late R . J. Seddon, in a i pry notable

manifesto, went oil to say: — 1 I believe that the cardinal aim of GovernI meiit is to provide the conditions which I will reduce want, and permit the very , largest possible number of its jieople to he healthy, happy human beings. The life, the health, the intelligence, ; and the morals of a nation count far 1 mere riches, and I would rather have | this country free from want and squul- ! or and unemployed than the home of j multi-millionaires. The extremes of poverty and wealth crush the self-re-spect of the poor, and produce the arrogance of the idle rich. This engenders class bitterness. I have tried to provide such social and economic con- ( ditions in this colony as will prevent ( that helpless subjection of one class to another, so' widespread in the older ! lands. A spirit of self-respecting independence already marks our people,

and I would have the title '‘New Zcalandei” imply, the world over, a type of manhood, strenuous, independent, and humane. The practical reformer must often he content with small profits and slow returns; lie must proceed piecemeal, and by short and steady stages, removing obstructions to and providing facilities for a higher development of the people as a whole. I understand this to be modern humanitarian legislation, and I claim that this spirit pervades all the progressive laws and State experiments that my Administration has tried during the last fifteen years.” It is interesting to requote and recall the foregoing declaration of the past, for it sums up so absolutely the great aims of the Liberal party. The trend of the Liberal policy has been always for the benefit of the masses, and Mr Soddon’s ideals so appealed to the people seventeen years ago, that when the people gave their considered verdict at the polls, they accorded Mr Seddon his most remarkable majority. During the past decade Reform has been on the Treasury benches thero lias been a drifting back to “the want and the squalor and the unemployment,” which Mr Seddoil sot out to avoid. The extremes of poverty and

riches which have resulted, have resulted in class bitterness, and the country needs a reorganisation of its methods of administration so that an end will bo put to the domination of vested interests, and that the needs of the country ns a whole will have fair and constitutional consideration. Tile Liberal party is the only party which by sane promise and effective performance has yet attained distinctive success in the matter of sound economic administration, counting for fair and reasonable taxation, and open opportunity for all to benefit by the legislative conditions affecting land and settlement as well as employment and working conditions, which afforded a state of betterment in the life and outlook of the people. In the coining contest for Westland seat there is in Mr T. Seddon a candidate devoted to the cause of the LiTternl party, not only because of his inherent affinity to the great cause his great father made greater, hut because of self-convinced convictions that through safe constitutional channels alone, the Dominion can now attain that relief and rejuvenation it needs so sorely. So in quoting Hie words of Mr Seddon in the past, we reproduce to-day the ideals of Mr Seddon to-day, and there is the assiiranee bv past experience that they are entirely to the advantage of the country as a whole.