Forty Years a Liberal

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 649, 29 April 1929, Page 2

Forty Years a Liberal

LIFE STORY OF SIR JOSEPH WARD From Telegraph Messenger to Prime Minister

By

K. A. LOUGHNAN

( C opyright— Sun Feature Service)

ENTERING Parliament in ISB7, Sir Joseph Ward is a veteran among conteinporai-v statesmen and his career is traced and described in this serier of articles by H. A. Louglman for readers of The Sun. Xo. XXX.

Sir Joseph returning from the Imperial Conference of 1911 at the close of the session of that year, faced the General Election later in the year with prospects generally regarded as good. The result of that election was a surprise to everybody. After the Liberal career of election victories, of 19 years —l3 uuder the Seddon and six under the Ward Ministries —defeat was thought impossible. After the event many reasons were assigned by various critics, wise and otherwise, and discussed everywhere in fashions sweet and bitter. The most popular of these I causes was embodied in a not uncommon declaration that after a long tenure of office by any Ministry, the public longs for a change and declares for it when it gets the opportunity at the hustings—whether this was the sole cause of the reduction in the Liberal numbers in the House of Representatives or only one of many contributing causes, the setback was heavy, and must- have been painfully disappointing. Sir Joseph followed constitutional practice, by calling an early session. There he verified his majority of one by actual division. Not caring to go on with an unworkable majority, he resigned, and on March 12, 1912, the McKenzie Ministry took office from his Cabinet. It was hard after Sir Joseph’s fine work here and in London. But, to use the expression of the Maori chronicler of Hake’s war, ‘‘Such is the appearance of war,” but substitute “politics.” REFORM COMES INTO POWER In the following July the Mackenzie Government was defeated and Mr. Massey came to power on July 12, 1912. As Leader of the Opposition he had displayed endurance of misfortune and heroic courage against odds worthy of the best historic examples. Strip the legend of Bruce and the spider of the dramatic and tragic in its events, and the ability, resource, courage and cheerful endurance in the New Zealand story will stand level with the Scottish legend. In his work he displayed a firm possession of the qualities of Premiership and leadership of Parliament. Sir Joseph Ward led the Opposition with keen vigilance, and a power strong and moderate, doing nothing factious, maintaining the dignity of Parliamentary tradition. preparing, of course, for a revival of Liberalism which, though reduced in strength at the polls, held its principles high, and was loyal to its tradition of public service. The business of Parliament went on with a monotony broken by but one new thing—the passing of the Act placing the Civil Service under bureaucratic instead of Parliamentary Ministerial control. The measure was resisted as undemocratic, but numbers prevailed, and the passing of the measure entitled the Reform Party to claim that it had faithfully performed its chief election promise. Advances to settlers and other legislation of the Liberal regime which had been opposed, and in some instances very strongly denounced, remained unmolested on the Statute Book, success having proved their value, and the Second Ballot was amended out of the Statute Book. THE BLAST OF WAR Liberals were beginning to think of the possibility of a turn of the tide in their favour, the tide which was flowing so quietly under the gentle breeze of Reform, when a great blast of war swept the pith and marrow out of the political system, in the early days of August, 1914. The local interest in the General Election of that vear faded away. The Massey Government, whose handling of the war was rightly' found good by the. electorates, was sent back to power, and never Questioned again till 1919, a whole year after the Armistice. After the election of 1914 there was a general coming together of parlies, the party tomahaw k was honourably buried, anil all sections of Parliament faced the enemy on a united front. There were occasional roughings of the edge of this patriotic duty, such as protests against compulsory military service; while some coai-miners tried a short strike, before settling down to good war work for the King’s Navy and the merchant ships of the King's commerce and some pastoralists actually had the audacity to grumble against the tremendous boon of Government purchase of their staple produce at increased prices! But generallv’the edge of union continued bright' and keen, the nation of New- Zealand bearing the sorrows, joys and exactions of the war with good heart and strong silent courage, which will be a noble example in the country within our four seas for all time. Such was the strong tide of the patriotism which carried this domain through the war in loyal alliance with the mother of all the units of the British Empire. THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT Under such circumstances the political coalition of parties for the war was inevitable. On August 12, 1915 that Coalition was made. Sir Joseph Ward took the portfolios of Finance and Postmaster-General, with Mr. Massey as Prime Minister, with the portfolios of Lands (till*August 25), Labour and Industries. His colleagues of the Reform Cabinet going into the Coalition Cabinet with him were Sir James Allen (Defence), Mr. Herdman (Justice), Sir Wm. Herries (Railways and Native Affairs), Sir W. Fraser (Public Works), Sir Francis Dillon Bell (Attorney-General and Immigration), Mr Guthrie (Lands, from August 25. and Minister without portfolio) Mr. Maui Pomare (Cook Islands and Minister without portfolioj. ; The members of the Opposition joining Sir Joseph Ward in the Coali!tlon Cabinet were Mr. McNab ( Justice ; Marine, Stamps), Mr. G. W. Russell | (Internal Affairs and Health), Mr. A ! Myers (Customs, Munitions, and Sup- , plies), Mr. W. D. S. MacDonald (Agriculture and Mines), Mr. T. Wilford : (Marine, Justice after February 20 1 *9l<. Stamps after November 14 j 1917). | For joining the Coalition, some stalwarts of the Liberal Party declared

that Sir Joseph had ruined his prospects as a possible Liberal Prime Minister and. indeed, his whole career as a Liberal. They were in perfect good faith and in much sorrow. That they were wrong we only have to point to the Parliamentary Buildings where Sir Joseph sits to-day—as Prime Minister. And it is right to say that until these stalwarts made their adverse prediction, the depth to which the party canker had bitten into some portion of the Liberal mind had not been measured. They ignored “salus populi suprema lex. . . Could there be worse mischief in honest minds? A GOOD COALITION This Coalition Ministry held office through the war and till August 21, 1919, four years, when it was broken up by the withdrawal of Sir Joseph and his colleagues of the Liberal Party. As a whole, the Coalition had done very excellent work throughout, keeping the Dominion well up to its duties and promises through many serious difficulties, the greatest faced up to that time by any Dominion Ministry. As has been said on a previous page, Mr. Massey made an excellent war Prime Minister, and as the conditions were novel and without precedent, the fact was most creditable to his ability, his sense of dignity, and his leadership. The two members of his Cabinet who also performed outstanding services in Wellington were Sir James Allen, who directed the War Department. and Sir Joseph Ward, who was responsible for the public financeeach carrying an enormous and unprecedented responsibility. The other members did their work with ability and success, and the co-operation of all under the war Prime Minister was what was expected from any Government ruling the Dominion under such circumstances. Nevertheless, no man can say that the Cabinet was a really happy family. Their co-opera-tion is therefore very creditable to their sense of patriotic. Imperial duty. Most men who know their war wort can say without hesitation that if ever the Dominion gets into similar troubles, “may it have as good a Government to do its war work.” Sir James Allen’s work as War Minister (for that is what it can well be called) belongs to another story. Sir Joseph’s, as War Financier, is for the pages of his biography. BURDEN OF FINANCE To begin with, there was increased current expenditure to provide for, in addition to the capital expenditure for all things of the war. Prices of all things were soaring. War pensions presented certainty of big figures, growing with the years of the war. And there was looming an unpleasant certainty that millions of the capital war expenditure, the expenditure for unremunerative blood and smoke, would have to be provided in New Zealand itself, the huge operations of the London financial centre bidding fair to shut out New Zealand loan issues, even in face of the splendid credit of the Dominion. A vast weight was about to descend on our shoulders, the carrying of which seemed impossible in the eyes of the ordinary citizen. On the other side of the account there was the great purchase of most of our output by the British Government, a thing unprecedented in war or other but benefi cial beyond ordinary computation—a great advantage of sea power. Witt that, however, loomed ever larger ttat obligation of making decent payment toward the upkeep of this so prot£c tive sea power. Sir Joseph had in thf conference of 1911 sketched out s scheme for meeting this liability. It had been turned down, but here was a great war finding urgent reason for t> return to the subject. It was not at immediate prospect of the war. but i; was a certainty sure to come with the aftermath, and distinctly disquieting to the Dominion financier cleaning u| the financial debris of the war. GETTING THE MONEY It would be useless to go into thf detail of the ways and means adoptee in this formidable, unprecedentec situation by the Finance Minister. It his methods there was some debate able matter, which is now a thing o! the past, as much beyond useful dis cussion as the possibilities of Burop< had Waterloo been a British disaster But one thing is not debateable —th< obligation to make ends meet. Tha is the answer Lloyd George made t< the critics of his expenditure detail; when, as Minister of Munitions, b< mobilised the industries of Britain He had to get the munitions; he go them, and he saved his country. S' Sir Joseph, as Finance Minister, go his money, and saved the honour e New Zealand as a dependable unit 4 the Empire. Fortune favoured bin for the revenues mounted above a estimates, and these were very libera But he guided the expenditure wit solid, careful prudence, and every yea he produced a surplus running int millions. These millions accumula ing, he invested them in gilt-edged it terest-bearing securities in London, s strengthening his finance to the levf |of all possible requirement. Wh* i he laid down the sceptre of Financt half derisively in some quarter termed the “wizard’s wand,” he in that retreat fifteen millions. the arrangements of the year in t# middle of which he left the Treasuf were preparing handsome addition f* that large accumulation. That w* a tremendous success of native initio tive unguided by precedent of kind, inspired by complex difficult^ ; to fruitful exertion. Many big thin? were done by New Zealanders in t> war, and this financial feat was or of them, for it was performed wit out default of a single one of tlf j heavy obligations incumbent. (To be continued daily.) • Copies of prexnous editions of i SUN containing '‘The Life £ terry of * •Joseph ’Ward” may he obtained on plication to the Publisher, THE SP j P.O. Boa: 630, AucJcland.