WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 25 May 1931, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE PRIME MINISTER.

BLUNT FACTS. (Special Correspondent). * WELLINGTON, May. 22. i: ' The Prime Minister, on his return rom the north this evening. was hott ilsposed to discuss at any length the Prospects, of the Hauraki by-election, de had gone to the scene of the approaching contest, ho said, not .so iftuch to sway the votes of the electors jf the district as to let them know exactly how the finances of the country and its prospects, stood. He has magnified nothing nor belittled)‘ nothing, and if he had been dull and uninspiring, as some of his critics had implied, ° it was because his subjects were neither flippant, nor exhilarating. He had told the members of his 'auclience the truth and left them to weigh its significance for themselves. Ho gathered from the newspaper reports, that his friend, the member for Clutha. who had been brought up from Otago to assist the Reform, candidate in Hauraki had laid all sorts of charges against the United Party, but he was not dealing with such material himself. THE NATIONAL SPIRIT. Ml- Forbes, while regretting the disinclination of the official Rdforin, Party to join in the fusion movement, still thinks' a large proportion of the Reform electors, would welcome such an arrangement. He had no wish to lMiig' about dissension in the ranks of the party, but he thinks if the proposal had been submitted to a wider constituency it would have met with more serious consideration than it received from a -majority of the Reform members of the House of Representatives and from some, the “die liards” in the other branch of the Legislature. He is not, however, seeking 'to further promote the movement at the present time. He and his colleagues had been quite . ready leave the Hauraki vacant seat uncpntested ■ so far as they were concerned, had fusion been in view, but the Reform leaders saw differently and now face the possibility of a Labour minority) assisted by a defective system of voting, securing the vacant seat. APPRECIATION.

■The “Evening Post,” which hasbeen quicker than some of its contemporaries • have been’<in ' discerning the resources of the Prime Minister sums

up his frank statement to the, electors, of Hauraki Vety hflppiiyi : “Thefe 18 ho suggestion of hopelessness, nO tJisJTihl jeremiadr” It cmiphaamoit,. .i. '.'Mr Forbes (bos not sny that, the country will sink beneath the burden of 3/e----pre&siou,..because he does not believe it will. The adverse circumstances which wo now face appear to him, not as a cause for despair, but aB a challenge to action. As he said in Christchurch, this is a testing time, and'

ive must brace ourselves for the test

But if he,.,,does not. faint before the fight, does he attempt to mini,.misa,Me difficulties which-jnust he encountered. ■: He gi vesta, plain account of the” position, and prescribes V a simple; remedy,’?, ;is an appropriate tribute to a -fighter who nev.er hits.'below,the-belt.,

STILL HOPE.

i In paying the Prune 'Minister a further compliment the .‘‘Post.” allows itself some latitude.. VJ& is gratifying,”it says, alluding to the extravagance fjo*' of another speaker,“that Mr Forbes % in his Hauraki speech'has not retaliated in the, same tone.'' He- might have recalled the differences whim have been pointed out between Reform policy before and after > the general election. In refraining from such* retaliation lies has given. prqof *of -his own recognition that the 'issues before , H the country far transcend. 1 any pott/ I?|j'arty "differences'; ••. Moreover, he . hap’ | ipft the way. opbn for 1 the tocohsiaer-r \ Ition which he 'hopes may yet be given ftp his proposal. If Reform will fol-> \ low v his example and display equa; ?e----ißtraint thd-’-harm done',by of the .National Party proposal ■ may be minimised; and.... the . gap • '.which , Mi. Forbes sought to bridge may at least not be widened.?? . This is .at once a tribute to the restraint of a haref fighter and a f recognition of the soundness of his cause.