POLITICS FOR HOLIDAY CONSUMPTION. Mr. Massey on the Stump.

Free Lance, Volume V, Issue 235, 31 December 1904, Page 6

POLITICS FOR HOLIDAY CONSUMPTION. Mr. Massey on the Stump.

MR Massey might really have let their roast beef and Christmas plum pudding digest before he called on the public to sample his political hash Most of the good old trimmings are served up m it "The session was a ban-en one" ; "the Government had never been so keenly criticised as last year " The logical conclusion fiom these two statements is that the Opposition have been responsible for the fact that there has been nothing done Does Mr Massey mean that ' We look m vain for anything new The Leader of the Opposition declared that the Government policy was a policy of humbug. We knew that before, because Mr Massey said it last year, and the year previous, and has always said it. He also remarked that if he was wanted — if a special session was called to re-open tlae shops and offices question and the Licensing Bill — he would come to Wellington At present even the shopkeepers seem fairly well satisfied to> worry through without any special session of Parliament at all They are not squealing We have been wondering if Mr Massey had read the reported remarks of Sir William Russell, in Western Australia, to' the effect that "Mr Seddon is the strongest man we have ever had." It seems strange that Sir William should have forgotten Mr. Massey, and quite reasonable that the genial member for Franklin should feel aggrieved and talk about humbug and similar things Amongst other chestnuts, he likewise informed the electors of Auckland that the Government's policy was to keep itself m power.

If Mi* Massey knows of any Government which doesn't want to keep itself in power, we should very much like to have a photo of it to present to the Museum. ALso>, if he will tell us how it comes about that this wicked Government is able to< persuade the best part of a, million of people by continual humbug to keep it m power? Seeing that the High Commission ership is a "dead snip" for Mr Seddon, Sir Joseph Ward, Mr Reeves, and several other gentlemen, Mr Massey's remark that the billet was made and prepared for the Premier is worth as much as all the other rumours Every man is entitled to- guess as often as he hke.s under which thzmble lies the pea * ♦ * Mr Massey objects strongly to oui methods of finance. We fancy we have also heard that before The Seddonian system of finance, in spite of its demerits, seems to produce a, healthy surplus with unfailing regularity Mr Massey was warmly thanked for the work done bv the Opposition, although the remarks previously noted seem to imply that no work was done, and that the session was absolutely barren Ah well, when Premier Massey reads his first Budget there will be a different tale to tell. Every wrong will then be put right. Meanwhile, the colony continues to jog along very contentedly.