The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 1919. REFORM'S SWAN SONG.

Taihape Daily Times, 25 August 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 1919. REFORM'S SWAN SONG.

With which is incorporated ““"i‘he Taihape Post; and Waimarino News.”

E I The loss to ~Mr Massey of Sir Joseph Ward and his henchmen must be great indeed. The depth of Reform ’s sorrow I may be measured by the length of its wail, and the‘ frequency with which the wailing is returned to. Mr Massey l leaves no ‘doubt in the minds of friends and enemies that Sir Joseph Wa.rd’s M retirement-from the political co—pa.-iitner-ship is a very Heavy blow to him, and from the nature of his expressed sorrow Mr Massey seems to be obsessed with the idea that it is quite wicked of Sir Joseph to leave him t-o govern with nobody to help him. He tells Sir Joseph that he doesn't know how he is going to survive the blow as he has , but :3. few——a very few——+of the old Reform pack that are still true to the old Reform policy. But, a.s one must when | the devil drives, the wasting portfolios are being divided up between that few, in accordance with respective abnormal I presumptuousness of each. The Pro- - mier himself is. nartunally, goingbto take l Finance; he is, not letting the “bag” go back to the wasteful James. In addition, he assumes control of Justice. We can hardly imagine Mr Massey I filling the bill as Minister of_Fin«ance, : but ‘Justice must prove a terribly E awkward thing for him -to guide. As he [is such a. failure as Prime Minister, ,5 he may, however,‘ out of the multipli- § city of portfolios he now has to choose l 2 from, find one that he can carry with greater success and more dignity. If he ldid not realise during the " last five ,lyc.ars that he was riding to political , dost_ruction,. no one, ‘can- . vex-y' Weill l sympathise with his downfall. A poliltician that cannot get any closer to lthe people than Mr Massey has got lshould retire into private life and - gnow turnips. The distrib‘ution of other vacated portfolios, with one exception,‘§ constitutes a danger to ‘the , country, and it is to be hoped that no 3 time will be lost when Parliament meets, in ‘cabling a no-confidence mo- ’ tion. It is hardly believable that Mr , Herries and Mr Fraser have the nerve ‘ to take on additional Ministerial duties. Both have been little more ‘than figure-heads, the‘ country being i governed by Under-Secretaries and !Hcads of Departments; Ministers conjtenting themselves with the paltry ' thousand a year from the pockets of an over-burdened people. Reform Government is the rcductio ad absurdum; something to be deplored, and got rid iof at the earliest possible moment_ It I is doiibted in political circles whether ‘Mr Massey will trouble to appoint any new Ministers, preferring to carry on. with the only four -that h-ave remained J faithful to the exploitation of the poo. I plc and land aggregation. Yet he dis-{ plays a delightful innocence in accusing Sir Joseph Ward of precipitating a l I difiicult position; but, perhaps, the diffi- , culty -actually lies in getting other imembers to accept pilot duties on the ‘old broken-down Reform ship. It is, H obvious that Mr Massey is no longer; abllc to carry on the Government of] this country; had he been the %elf—l reliant, strong man his friends thought he was, he would have made no fussl ‘about the Liberals relinquishing thcirl r portfolios on much the same way that l l they accepted them in the early days‘ !o.f'thc war. Had Reform been the’ ‘ force adequate for carrying on the ad- . l ministration of public business there i would have been no Swan Song after! Sir Joseph Ward and his fellow Liberals filed out of the Cabinet r00m.,l With his Reform element dwindled, down to a hopeless minority, Mr Massey saw, in the Liberal march out, the , end of his Ministerial existence very near. He lacked the vertebrae to cope y with the situation, otherwise he would have acted like :a. strong man, and l have snapped his thumb, -and boldly: and confidently set To work to repair, the breach; but his confidence and hope I vanished with the backs of the Liberals, and he broke forth into painful lamen. tation. He rea.lised that the fates wereagainst him, and that the honour, glory, and emolument of Ministerial rank was passing beyond his grip and will, and he broke forth into a tirade of‘ blame ‘against the men who had Q; been the mainstay in keeping him in power rtill long after Peace was Signed. * He”w=as well aware of the approach of hisfcvil day, for he says that some : mciritlis ago the_Liberal Leader had 4 publicly announced his determination 1 l|9§‘iQUi‘f ./We Ipaartncrship, but rlisi.n- : g9F‘l:‘,_lo“SlY;"?‘l\fi‘_‘ Massey complains be- « Cagifi-l¥sirA«7JOs;eph. Ward did not give’ 1

! him a day and date, Is ‘it not obvious that he was hoping against hope? Did ‘any person in sane mind ever have the ;idea that the Liberal members of the [National Government would give any other notice to quit than that given some months ago? If there are such they must be very ‘‘young.’ The Reform Government is Worn napless, threadbare; if it ever had a use at all in -the public interest that use depart-z ed almost. as soon «as Ministerial chairs came into its possession. Reform has rigidly stood for ‘every antitliesis of the Liberal policy published by the Liberal Leader, and the more one reads, learns, and inwardly digests tllla.'t policy the greater becomes the surprise that t_he people of this country have sufierv ed Reform to reign as long as it has. The country ought to realise that the new regime has only come just: in time I to prevent incipient revolution from becoming general and rabid, and the sooner this new policy is put into operation the sooner will ‘the bugbear of doubt and fear for the fufture ‘be I removed from the minds of the people_