The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1927. THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 114, 4 August 1927, Page 10

The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1927. THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE

IT is always springtime in the hearts of politicians, and the voice I of the Liberal turtle is heard in our land. It tells of revived vitality. As Dean Inge recently said of the promised revival of Liberalism in England “We are all glad that the Liberals should have a little much-needed encouragement.” Old and new Liberals at political headquarters in Wellington forecast a union of forces. They are weary of masquerading as N ationalists, and seek the friendly aegis of a familiar title, rich traditionally in name and fame. They show wisdom in having learnt from experience. After all, it is only the tethered goat that never roams along the mountain tops. Each of the leaders of the rival Liberal camps has issued an intriguing statement about the negotiations for and the prospects of a happy reunion, with all their differences and jealousies composed at last, and the urge to straying for ever subdued. With becoming modesty and characteristic caution, r - Gr. W. Forbes, Leader of the Nationalist Party, has been content merely to announce that several conferences between the parties have taken place and that negotiations are proceeding for a reunion of the forces. There is no sign of enthusiasm in his laconic message. Perhaps the prospective reunion means for him that the general must go back to the rank and file and again be a good soldier. A more aggressive note was sounded by Mr. W. A. Veitch, Leader of the new Liberal Party. His announcement rings with a chieftain’s confidence and pride. “Th« revived Liberal Party,” declares Mr. Veitch, “must now be considered a potent political force.” Good! The declaration is a frank confession that hitherto, for at least a full fifteen years, the Liberal Party, with its own or any other name, has been an impotent political force. Many of its old friends, indeed, had come to think more in sorrow than in anger that the party had become an impotent political farce. Let the miserable past recede in the soft light of the pink dawn of Liberalism’s future! What is to be the outcome of this great revival? Will the scattered army of supporters of the famous old Liberals desert the camps of Conservatism and Labour and l-ally to the new standard? As has been well said “there is nothing left of the old Liberal tradition except a generous sympathy with the under dog, a dislike of force, and an antipathy to bureaucratic Socialism.” Perhaps that is an overstatement of the truth. Hope is shill left—hope, more hope and still ever more hope. Sooner or later, of course, as proved time and again by political history, the pendulum of public opinion must swing against a Tory administration, however perfect it may be or claim to be. Electors become tired of the endless and futile fight, between the Conservatives (now known in England as the “Live-easys”) and the shaggy Socialists. Beyond a doubt the pendulum now swings from the Reform Administration in this country toward a better l’egime which still is a nebulous perfection in the imagination of a harassed, overtaxed, politically humbugged and disillusioned population. But who will give us the right colour between the Blue of Toryism and the Red of Socialism? Mr. Veitch? Mr. Forbes? Mr. Wilford? or Sir Joseph Ward? It will be some time yet before a decisive answer may be broadcast.