The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE MONDAY, MARCH 11, 1918. A GREAT POLITICAL REVOLUTION.

Taihape Daily Times, 11 March 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

MONDAY, MARCH 11, 1918. A GREAT POLITICAL REVOLUTION.

(With which is incorporated The Tai hape Post and Waitnarino News).

Sir Josepn Ward has been tempted to leave, if only temporarily, the mean atmosphere of national shopkecping; .tp.move out,of the environment of pettifogging JDpiitical. party polemics into .^e. ennpbjing orbit of real statesmanship. While under the latter' "influence ue has uttered words";' qf wisdom 1 that'

, »yill. cause more, earnest thought arid impel, men to action,, more than' anything said by any, ..New Zealarider versed in the art of government for a very long time past. The people of this country have too long been treated as children; too long and" too persistently hoodwinked about the future that is near at hand. The opinions of statesmen, titleu and . otherwise, have been cabled to this!Dbmin-, ion, but the people have refused to see and to recognise the nature of the writing oh the wall' they have unmistakably "pointed' out, and which' Sir Joseph Ward' has now incidentally interpreted;' "" An indecent campaign of profiteering is being carried into every part of this Dominion, into the homes of the poorest in the body politic, and now, from an authoritative source we are told the ultimate of the nefarious bloodsucker is fast approaching. At the Town Hall meeting prior to the Wellington North byelection, Sir Joseph Ward commenced to disillusion people about the future. He said, "After the war, I see as well as you do, there will be a great political revolution the whole world over, changes, I believe, all making for the betterment of humanity, buf in the meantime it is our duty, our sacred, imperative duty, to resist by every means within our power divisions that would weaken- in any way the assistance we are able to give the Empire in the hour of its sorest ~ need." Thoughtful people were stirred, they wanted to know more about the great world-wide political involution, and a Wellington pressman bearded Sir Joseph in the den of his National politics. It was then a brighter glimpse of the statesman was given; he said, "Whether the end of the war came soon or late, New Zealand, like every other part of the Empire, would be confronted with gigantic problems which would require all the courage and energy of a united people to solve. The financial burden, though not heavier than this country with its endles resources could bear, would be enormous, and production and trade and commerce would have to be doubled and redoubled to meet the needs and demands of the new position. Stagnation would be the last thing a young i virile nation in such circumstances would contemplate. The unrivalled natural resources of the country would ' develop apace, industries would be pushed ahead, commerce would be extended, capital woul be turned to its legitimate purposes and labour would be given its full reward; and so would be born the political revolution —the bloodless, peaceful readjustment of social conceptions, economic conditions and national ideals. It was obvious to anyone with eyes to see that many old social distinctions were disappearing and that all ola" political privileges would follow. A levelling

!up would be of linjmehse advantage to the country; burdens would be equitably distributed and all the narrow obstructive traditions that had dwarred the hearts and souls of individuals and party would be revised. An educated, earnest, self-discilpined democracy would be contending for right with a growing knowledge and gathering experience, and, with the ideals of equality of opportunity and equality of sacrifices in the true meaning of those much misused phrases as the basic principles of their political and national aspirations. Finance, land settlement, legislative reform, representation, industrial legislation, social i betterment, and national efficiency were great questions that would divide the people again into new parties after the war; but meanwhile, the biggest problem in the whole history of the Empire was up for solution and till that was satisfactorily solved men and women would have no time I for party quarrels and no thought for [ party advantages, their whole effort would be devoted to bringing about ! the one desired end." —winning the the war. Every word uttered by Sir . Joseph Ward is fraught with such prime, supreme moment to the people jof this Dominion that we make no apology for the length of the quotations made from the valuable, much appreciated contribution of our Wellington Correspondent, which appeared in our last issue. Sir Joseph Ward's words cannot be sufficiently impressed upon all classes of the people of this country; they ars worthy of iteration and reiteration until the thought of every sane person is brought to bear upon them, and until their real meaning and portent is thoroughly grasped. "I seo os well as. you do." said Sir Joseph Ward, "there will be a great political revolution the whole world over after the war." Much has been given for profitable discussion, but we can only find room to now say that the concern of every thoughtful man should be concentrated upon effecting the peaceful, bloodless revoluton. If the engineering of the revolution is, by indifference to personal and national interest and welfare, neglected, it is not impossible we may taste the bitterness of revolution of the Bolshevik brand. J