The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1919. A MODERN ZEUS.

Taihape Daily Times, 4 October 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1919. A MODERN ZEUS.

With-which is incorporated “The Taihape Post and Waimarino News-.”

_‘ ;'lt cannot "truthful_ly he said that is the debate on the Financial Statement. is not developing with excellent ‘regsults. V” __Whatever’lllay have been the value of previous similar debates’, and iwhateverinformation may __have been drawn from previous Ministers of ‘Finance, and Ministers controlling the Jvarious Departments coming under criticism, in no year has the harvest been so great and of so far-reaching a character as ‘the sheaves of Ministerial ‘promises reaped on the present occasion. Withoutdoubt there is a good deal of talking to the constituencies, but when it is lififlerstood that this year provides the first real opportunity for members to let dis-tricts know what is being done for them, there can be no-. valid objection offered. The amazing feature of the debate is the veritable disclosure of a Pandora's Bcx lfrom which winged blessings, or their .slladows, seem to be flying in all divantions. “Curiosity killed the monkey," and curiosity prompted Pandora to ‘fully open her box and so let all the conserved stock of human blessmgs fly out at once, blessings of every kind were let loose-upon mankind except “Hope,’,:’ and it seems that the‘ majority of mankind has been with-1 out hope ever since. ‘The masses of ; humanity work and suffer while I‘ ray‘ of hope can, in fancy, be distinguished in political promises We have to-day our Zeus who promises another PanIdoraxbut if we are to judge this modern Zeus by his past performances there will be everything in the hex,

lwith which he equips his Pandora, ex- 5 lcept “Hope.” It is certain that if half I !what Ministers are now promising leventuates there must be a veritable! transformation for the better. We lcok, however, and scrutinise these «promises, and they indeerf':lppea~: to be very airy. Blessings to come are just about as substantial as those from Pandora, they are minus hope. There ,is to be no curtailment of the curses! gfrom which the people are 21: present‘ lsuffering in that they are the result of the greed of others. The money [required for fulfilment of all these! [promises is dependent upon the people . iallowing themselves to be further taxPed to provide it; there is no provision 'for any of the Pandora promises jmaterialising by any scheme or pro-I

ject for limiting th.e greed of the parasite class of profiteers and land- - ‘sharks No, we think the Pandora‘ made out of earth by our modern Zeus, has, from lack of stability of character, thrown open the box and airy Blessings are flying out, but there is not a shadow of hope that anyone of them will over fall upon the people of‘ the present day. Zeus is promising! soldier settlement, excellent roads, and I‘ even a. supply of motor lorries to feed ‘ settlement, but was not Epimcthius cautioned against accepting anything, any promise, or any statement from ‘ Zeus to place dependence upon it, ‘ knowing they were devoid of hope? Is there not ample evidence that the New 1 Zealand public (Epimethius) took . Zeus’ Pandora a few years ago when 3 similar promises to thoseebeing made : at thistime, were given, and that they ~ wereithen left without a spark of ii hope of everhaving anyhof ‘t-hosell

fpromises fulfilled? There was to he l“settlemont and stillvlmore settlement” that was -to increase‘ production and tlcose blessings upon the people, but the people have been ousted from their tllimds and 1181‘ded together in cities to tenable their destruction to be rendered ‘tcoinplete by the greed of profiteering Vultures. 111 Dlace of “settlement and lstill more settlement?’ we have experioncod “aggregation and still more aggregation.” The Minister of Lands ‘tells Parliament there is to be more settlement, soldier settlement, good treads, and the Zeus Government is even going to -supply motor lorries. But. (coming down to facts as they are we -find that same Minister Writing to a ‘large body of. soldiers Who ‘T.-ve2'el‘ farmers before they went to fight for the freedom of the land, that there is I tne land in this huge district available ‘for settlement, that if they want to get back to the land their only hope ‘is. in exile from the lcrtilo ‘lands of their own district to the Tarawera Dust Country in the thermal and volcanic rogions_ This is how Zeus’ promises are materialising in the Taihape territory, of which we can speak with experience. While ‘aggregation ofland is going on to an appalling degree soldiers ,can get no land. While good roads ale promised we have aggregators boldly proclaiming that, with their aggregated votes, they will block .lc-gitimateflsettlers from having roads made that would render greater production possible. This is the class ofaggregator our modern Zeusmhas nurtured to the legitimate ‘se‘r,tler’s destructipn. ,Men go on to land that they can work effectually then Zells turnsone of his land-sharks amongst them, who with an aecunllation,.,r of votes threatens to block the desirable, legitimate class of settlers from,» having roads unless they propitiatc ?him by reticulating his miles .01": property with niacarlamised highways. These “L-ords of Driveoveri’ these aggregating’ blocks to settlement, rare um’ satisfied with metalled roads to get their produce out, they also want carriage drives to their residences in another part of their estate, miles away: they have grown too big ; too high and mighty to .accept_What4 the ordinary farmer can have; ,_by.,their accumulation -of votes they are taking: the’power of compelling "small settlers to -give them all the 1:or.-dszltliey Want or thefv‘ will not allow settlers to ' have any roads at all.‘ ’ This is just how Zeus"promises have been fulfilled in the past, would not: farmers, we mean ‘ legitimate settlers, be thrusting their heads into a halter in listening and‘ he-eding the loosely‘-given promises if] the same old Zeus. ’7’He Said, ‘in Parliament, soldiers shall have land, go-.,~d roads made, and motor lorries provided for getting -their supplies in and their produce out. Is there 3 man,

with any- experience of aggregation fiand the want of roads, postal and other coiiveniences, -that l settlers of ltwenty years‘ and moi-‘e are (311titl£,'(l to. but which they 'a're:clepi-ived of. that will have the_ slightest «hope of those promises materialising? By withholding the rights of settlers Zeus has forced them to sell out to the aggregator, and nobody knows better than ‘those same aggregators how to put up the prices of land while a fool government is in the purchasing field. Zeus has sent his earth-made Pandora to us with her box of "human blessings; she is dangling them ‘before rthe electors of this district; but in the course of a few months the 'box will be opened, and everything will fly out except "‘}!fope.” Zeus goeg on promising anything and everything asked for; he lwill make it legal for the Worliel‘s’ [Loan DBDt‘Ll'tlllellt to lend workers a llittlc fortune, but is there a worker 'who has the simplicity to hope that he ‘will ever get what is promised. The people’s confidence might be tickled if they saw "that any attempt was being‘ made to remove the social and tracl-I ing excrescences from which they are now suffering. If Zeus has repented of his old ways and has reformed his habits and methods he must Show it now by acts, real acts, not proin{s(:s_ He must demonstrate that ‘his Pandora’s Box is fully , replete with “Hope,” as well as with mere visionary blessings, for until then he will find! but little favour. i