THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9792, 16 October 1917, Page 3

THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY

To the Editor "N.Z. Timas." Sir. —Probab’y no Government in this country has been charged with so ninny eins of omission and conJmiasion as thr one whose term, of office should in tho course of constitutional law shortly expire. The dissatisfaction of tho electors ns a bodv with tho Administration is not. for obvious reasons, Vo ho gauged by Parliamentary divisions. It is, of course, natural that members should ■suppose that they are the right men in the right place, and that no other set df men could quite satirfhctorily replace ■them. In the best interests of tho Dominion, therofore and in a purely altruistic spirit, it is in their opinion essential for them to support the Government in order that their benevolent services to the country should be unto rope red, And the electors have been content to bear with their representatives’ follies as well as their virtues until the triennium expired, whan public judgment could be pronounced. But when a body of politicians elected for a three years’ term threatens to take upon itself the proCongation of thrjt period, to disfranchise the electors for a longer or shorter term, and to continue a policy with which there is a vlnst amount of dissatisfaction, there is jiist cause for public indignation. To use the cry of "exigencies of war" is preposterous. Had that cry, which nr the oarly stages of the war wus sot up by politicians in Britain, not been promptly squelched by public opinion, it is possible that the British Empire to-day would have been an appanage or 'the German Empire. It v.tas found necassary to jettison time and again some of the greatest statesmen on earth because they proved to bo incngoble of meeting the difficult .prdbLonas that the great war Wad evolved. Why, therefore. should it bo supposed that there should bo no change nva.de in the coterie of lesser politioal lights in this Bominton?

To assume that the blending of parties for party masons constitutes a "Xatidnfal Government’' entirely obliterating party mßthode is fallacious. Those behind the scenes are quits awara that in many matters of national importance

tWo Coalition Cabinet i* “a bouse cuvuiod against itself/* and in the “popular chamber'’ there i* muck party iw:n". "Can the Ethiopian ohaugo his ftk'ii or the leopard his spotsr * Both may be disguised by a. whitewash brush, and tWit brush ha? b??n used by our N.fcbiona.l Government, unhappily with n. deluding cffecrt. upon the community; h\:\- the “nature o: tho baasif' remains the same. Only by an appoal I'd the •country i* there likely to bo a beneficial change. When the Government set up tho Efficiency Board its chief order of reference ought to have embraced an exhaustive inquiry into rehat ut the iprcient juncture should, cor 1 efii■oicncr in the administnation of the Dominions public affairs. "Whenever Mr Massey gets a poser in the shape of a knotty question, the printer's ink ho i?sas in hist reply i-s of the cuit’tlp-il :h order, and in the fa shion of that astute dibranchiato oephalapoch ous mollusc ho hides himself ffrom hi* 4 pursuers. Even when he answers a distasteful question orally lie conceals his manning in "words, words, vdordis.” Ono of the first demands of the people, shortly after the outbreak of the war. was that tho Government should lake fdripte to prevent vnuipir.'j-m 'ltv ‘-’pnt;:-.-otic’' profiteers in the sale of foodstuffs and other common necessaries of life. Mr Massey promised to do so. He would, he said,’ see that no such thing was allowed. Can anyone say that he has kept that promise in a single respect? Has there not been a succession of increases in prices for the oast three rears, and has there been a reduction in a single item in all that time? Rents have gone up in company with tho increased prices for articles of daily domestic consumption. Has tho National Government done anything to put an end to the exploitation of theEven its precious Board of Trade thinks a vendor of tea has a right to charge 33 1-5 per cent, commission to the consumer on the duty paid. Mr Massey throws tho onus of proving cases of profiteering upon tho victimised individuals. This is his idea of protecting tho people! There is great dissatisfaction about tho cancellation of the promised brief reprieve of our soldiers-who have undergone the exquisite torture of three years' service in tho fighting lines. The Round Table Conference confirmed Mr -Mien’s original attitude; probably it has also confirmed members in Mr Masses's view regarding the swapping of horses. Yon see it is so easy lor members to tell constituents that the secret information imparted at that confidential meeting compelled their acts as essurAinl in the? intar&Mte ttf the Dominion. Tho electors should loudly clamour for a. general. election at the close of the session, and clamour immediately, so that the session may not close without steps being taken in that direction. —I am, etc., JUNIUS.