A LESSON AND A WARNING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 59, 31 October 1931, Page 2

A LESSON AND A WARNING

The verdict of the electors in Great Britain is the most decisive they have returned for a quarter of a century and in its effeets will probably prove to be the most far-reaching. The : steady rise to power of the Labour Party, which eommenced in 1922 during the first post-war wave" of eeonomic depression and culminated in 1929, when the Socialists were retnrned as the stforigesf party in Parliament had momentous results. The resnlts of the present election, however, almost certainly will completely eclipse in importance anything in British political history for more , than a generation back. Whereas the Socialist success has been distructive in its effeets there are good reasons for expecting that the results of the overwhelming swing to the National Government will be delinitely construetive, and will lead Great Britain, and with her her pairtners in the Empire, back toward prosperity , and the recovery of that unquestioned place in the world which for over a century has been and will cbntinUe to be one of the greatest factors in the progress and stability of the great west,ern civiliSation. The revelations which followed the split in , the Lafcour ranks between those whd like Mr. MaeDonald, Mr. ; Snowden and Mr. Thomas, have remained loyal Britons, despite the subversive influences which have surrounded them, and the majority of their follov/ers, who have succumbed to ihfe blandisliments of the tempter with his specious promises of something for ndthing at the other fellow's expense, have shown the very real danger which has threatened the Old Country, and . with Ker the Dominions. One instance may be quoted as typical. : Hard pressed. for funds with which to feed its voracious and : octopus-like dole,- the late Labour Government on two occasions within th6 past year raided the savings of the people held by the Post Office Savings Bank. This action in no way differed in principle from that of New South Wales's own Jack Lang, and the only r'eason its results were not the same, was that England's credit had( not at ihe time been totally destroyed as had that of New South Wales. Apart from its dangers, such action in stfch circumstances 6n the pari of a Government is most shockingly dishonest, and is a .startling example of the lengths to which s'eniimentalism can lead politicians astray. Events at Home provide other,- and perhaps more important Iessons for the electors of the Dominion as they approach their own opportunity to pass judgment upon their Parliamentary representaiives: It is perhaps not altogether safe to draw conclusions from, and form judgments upon, some aspects of events in Great Britain, when these must be based upon the necessarily condensed cabled rep'Orts. Three things, however, stand out with unmistakeable clarity. The statesmen who compose the National Cabinet have been notably frank and honest in their appeal to ilife pfebple ; they have loyally and unhesitatingly subordinated party interests to th# national need and they have displayed courage and visioh in the handling of their difficult task. Political events in Great Britain have unquestionably influenced the D'omihiou's Government to a considerable extent. Up to a point, but not wholly, the posiiion has been simllar. Here, how- , ever; ihe' Government had, perhaps, not so much made the mess as permitted the tountry to dr'ift into it despite repeated warnings. Lafcking feffective leadership, courage, vision an'd most of the other essential qualities of statemanship, the United Cabinet apparenfly thought that its whole duty was done when it had at intervals proclaimed from the housetops that things were bad aird would get' worse. ,Since the formation of the Coalition the country has waited with a good deal of patierice for the announcement of a policy designed to correct the mistakes of the past and overcome the difficulties and dangers of the present and future. So f ar it has waited in vain. Apparently the United and , Reform parties are together as weak and^.purposeless and selfishly shortsigh'ted as either of them co.uld possibly be alone, which, oh the analogy of the chain, should perhaps not be altogether. surprising. The term "Coalition" used to describe the present Government is a misnomer, the two, parties having by , no means eoalesced, theiu relationship being far more aptly de1 scfihed by the' phrase "Iiriked together." Hereih lies the Government's s'tratefic wfeakness atnd with the, example of what can ' Kappe'n to sC p'drty ahd sl Governihent adjudged guilty of political i misdeeds slniilar in nature to those with which it is at present 1 cMrg&d hf. sk.l&tM sectioh of the electors,- it will be well adI vised to set- its house in o'r der b'ef ore making its appeal, lest ' Wo'rse* b'ef all the country it so loudly claims tp be anxious to ' serve. And Ihe first thiiig it should dp is to remove all possible ; ; gfo'hhds for the present suspicion that, forced to go to the country against its will by the pressure of public opihiori,- its ; chief preoc'cupation is the preservation of its own and its supporters' hold upon the comfortable benches in Parliament House,