The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1928. POLITICAL PABULUM.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 October 1928, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1928. POLITICAL PABULUM.

Thk flood gates . of political oratory have opened wide, and for the next month there will be much discoursing on events political. The leaders are getting into their stride, and during this, week in particular, some of the “big guns” will bo going off. Sir Joseph Ward’s opening address at Auckland to-night has a special significance, in that the policy of the United Party, so long concealed, is to be disclosed. Another interesting factor, is the rejuvenated vigor of Sir Joseph who has surprised even his most intimatx friends with his wonderful “comeback” in the House, several of Ins speeches since his acceptance of the United leadership displaying not only grout vigour, but also a discerning acumen, with a vivid and fresh knowledge of past events allied to the legislation under review. I lien, to-mor-row evening the Prime ■Minister, with diplomatic judgment, is to come on the scene, and will have the oppoituniti

of following the other two leaders— IVlr Holland of the Labour Party having s]K)ken last week. Mr Coates will be ul do to review and revise what has been said, and so should find himself excellently placed to make the best impression possible on the public of New Zealand as to the aim and policy of the Government. IVlr Holland’s speech last week was not remarkable for anything startingly new, being in general a repetition of the substance of the many speeches Mr Holland delivered in the House—for he was not by any means neglectful of his opportunities to intervene on the various subjects coming before Parliament, Referring to Mr Holland’s JMasterton speech which was sent abroad as the policy speech of the Labour party, the Lyttelton Times referred to Mr Holland as leading off with a glibe attack on the Government——an easy subject, in all conscience—designed, no doubt, to capture the support of the small farmer. There was the old familiar story, the failure of the land policy, the piling up of mortgages, the increase in the rates of interest, the multitudinous transfers of properties, the lack of cheap money, the decrease in the number of people on the land, the aggregation of estates, and all the rest of it—all laid to the blame of the Coates Government, although the Coates Government came into office a short three years ago, when most of the damage had been done. The Government cannot escape censure for its failure to deal with the conditions, but that was not the nature of Mr Holland’s attack. And when Mr Holland came to reveal iris own solution of our economic problems it proved to bo nothing more than an accentuation of the very causes of all the difficulties. His new way to pay old debts, in fact, is simply that wo should get deeper into debt than ever. He would borrow money, at whatever cost, and let it out to farmers at a low rate of interest, leaving tne State to bear the loss. Apart from the .morality of giving to a section what belongs to the whole of the community, tire Labour Party’s proposal simply will not stand analysis. Tiie immedate effect of cheap money is to'enhance the I value of land and o encourage land speculation and land sales. The effect of Mr Holland’s cure, then, would be higher land values, artificially created and maintained, more and still more exchanges and transfers, more and still more mortgages, a crisis at the first slump in the values of produce, or the shortening of credit, failure to pay interest and the •ankmptcy of the small farmer whose finance happened to be insecure. Aggregation would follow, and we should have precisely the conditions that now exist. It is an inevitable cycle. At the moment the country is making a recovery, thanks to the readjustment of land values and the event of goo<t prices, but Mr Holland would throw nt back into the depths again. His solution of the problem of unemployment was similarly illogical. Ignoring the main cause of the trouble-—the economic difficulties and the necessary curtailment of loan expenditure—he proposed as a cure more borrowing, more extravagance, more piling up of the debt that is responsible for our heavy burden of taxation Frankly, if we have to choose between a Coates Administration and a Holland Administration we infinitely prefer the former, says the “Lyttelton Times.’ The paper concludes that at least Mr Ooates should have learned one lesson that Mr Holland has still to learn, that there' is no royal road or easy highway to sound economic conditions. It has been hard enough to persuade Mr Coates to leave the business of the country alone, and to let the people work out their own salvation, and we do not want Mr Holland and his followers binding us hand and foot am loading us with taxation.