RECALLING THE PAST

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 755, 30 August 1929, Page 7

RECALLING THE PAST

EDUCATION MINISTER ATTACKED THAT SHAKESPEARE ADDRESS (THE SVX’S Parliamentary Reporter) PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Thurs. “In places his speech was very uncharitable, and because of that, and the Minister’s action in delving back over 16 years, I will recall a few of the past incidents in Mr. Atmore's career,” said Mr. A. M. Samuel, member for Thames, in the House of Representatives, following the speech of the Hon. H. Atmore, Minister of Education. The Minister would, of course, remember, said Mr. Samuel, the poli- j tical castigation he suffered at tlie ! hands of the Labour member for Wellington Central, Mr. P. Fraser, in 1925. The Minister must now be pleased he was on a friendly footing with Mr. Fraser but. of course, lie still had the future to look forward to. (Laughter.) As recently as 1928 the Minister had received a castigation at the hands of the public Press, a section of which had referred to Mt. Atmore’s literary piracy, to put the charges in a mild form. One newspaper had even made a charge of literary theft. “What paper was that?” asked Mr. D. McDougall (Government —Mataura). “STOLEN THUNDER” Mr. Samuel: It was not published in Mataura. The Minister may sneer and say, “Ha, ha,” but I have the newspaper here. Look at this heading, “Stole Another Man’s Thunder.” Does the Minister wish me to proceed with it? Mr. Atmore: Most decidedly. Mr. Samuel said that when the Minister wrote his article he apparently knew what somebody else was talking about. This was an essay on Shakespeare by the Hon. Harry Atmore, or was it by Ingersoll? As the Minister had committed that literary atrocity and had been soundly ti-ounced for it, he should not be looked upon as an authority in education, a subject which the Minister had never mentioned in the course of his speech, which had been all too long. After his assumption of office the Minister had made a loud noise about his education policy and that noise had resounded throughout New Zealand. He had intimated his intention of altering the whole educational system and giving it a bias. On February 1 last the Minister had promised a definite statement in regard to his policy within a month. That had been the monthly position since. A THOUSAND YEARS Mr. Samuel said he thought he knew the explanation. Addressing the Auckland commercial travellers recently, the Minister said it would not matter if it took a thousand years, as his plans would be gone on with# Shakespeare had said, or was it Burns, “He who hesitates is lost.” If it were to take a thousand years to proclaim the policy the people of New Zealand had something to look forward to, particularly the agricultural bias. Mr. Samuel said that in a letter in a Nelson newspaper the Minister had informed a questioner, on the eve of the last election, that he believed Sir Joseph Ward could borrow at 4J per cent, and lend at 43 per cent. “We heard nothing about that tonight,” said Mr. Samuel. “The Minister also- said the one thing this country needed was a reduction in taxation. We heard nothing about that, either, tonight.” Mr. Atmore was reminded that in 1912 he had fiercely attacked the Ward Ministry as a spoils to the victors Government and in a letter to the Press in January, 1912, had said: “Let us have a government of the people by the people, instead of government of the people by the party for the party, such as we have had in recent j years.”

“However,” said Mr. Samuel, “I do not wish to make the Minister blush any more by reading further extracts from this letter.”