The Daily News WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21. MR. MALONE'S ADDRESS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 255, 21 October 1908, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21. MR. MALONE'S ADDRESS.

Interest iu election matters has livened tip considerably within the past fc-v days, and 110 further proof was needel than the large audience that assembled at the Theatre Koyal on Monday night lo hear the opening effort of Mr. "\Y. U. Malouc, who is standing as a supporter oi the present Administration. It will not detract at all from the merit of the tlattering attendance when we say that ,no small proportion were present in anticipation of "fun," it having been freely mooted that a lighting address was'upou the lapis, and that, metaphorically speaking. Mr. Malone was to -wipe the Hour" with his opponents. Those who attended iu the hope of being! entertained on those lines must have been somewhat disappointed, for -Mr. •Mabme made the tactical and egregious blunder of devoting at least half the duration of his two and a-half hours' address to personal explanations and attacks on Mr. IScllrmgcr and the ••inner circle" oi the local branch of the Liberal and Labor Federation, in this respect Mr. Maloue hardly did credit to himself. If any explanations were wanting, they could have been made in a few minuter

There is no need tor us to follow Mr, Alalone through Ihe alleged method nl

selecting previous Government ' eiimli- 'I dates, of alleged slight* by the party J on Mr. Jiellriiigcr. or the allege:! i.i-1 , trigtting liv i-( rtiiin. individual* m u<c I .■ .Mr. Dockr'ill for ulterior motives. The j public are not interested in « matter | that, alter all, has absolutely nothing , to do with the present contest, and ( which not even Mr. Alalone himself could, , use to tin; detriment of Air. Bcllringcr. This much we do kuow, despite anything that Air. Alalone may say to obscure the issue, that Mr. ilcllringer has been given (lie direct and moral support of the Government ill this campaign. This Air. Alalone, despite all his vcrbieultu-.", did not altempt to deny, nor did I'd choose to tell his audience that he had endeavored (and we do not question his right to do so), li.v every means in his power, to oliliiin the Government support for himself. Air. Jiellrittger was given the , s upport of the Government liy perfectly fair means, and because the Government believed he was the best man, from Ihose offering, including Arr. Alalone, to win the seat. In his criticism of the "cabal," Air. Alalone obviously floundered along a track of surmises which he could not definitely de-1 fine, and made a mountain out of a ' molehill. We can only hope that thl> magnifying of the personal factor which Air. Alalone unfortunately adopted will not be a recurring feature of this campaign, and that the other candidates, Air. Ilellringer and Air. Okey, will have, the good taste to absolutely refrain from indulgence in similar tactics.

i, When much lime was given to personalities, tJial for which the majority had attended, to hear a political address, was conspicuous by its comparative brevity. Mr. Malone is, we believe/ "possessed of a considerable amount ofi naitive force and resource, and is not destitute of ideas. On the contrary, his trouble is that he has a surplusage of tJhem. Theoretically his general principles sound well, but no man, would take the plaitform possessed of ideals less lofty. Here again, however, Mr. Malone devoted too much time to theoretical political principles and subsequently to the history of the advance of the liberalism of the present <iovernment, leaving too little time in which to deal as fully as lie might with the more practical subjects of national and local interest, lie. however, left io doubt in t'n-e in'nils of his hearer* that the government of the country by the present Administration has been on the whole in tlie interests of all classes, and so far as legislation could, has been responsible for Tiot a little of the progress and prosperity of the Dominion.

On the land question Mr. Malone was clear and emphatic in his declaration as a freeholder. His advocacy, al»o, of the sale of alt surplus native lands for European occupation, while not in conformity with the reports of the Native Lands Commission, will meet with a good deal of approval, as also his claim that roading should precede settlement, so far as possible. While that policy may not have been always adhered to in the past, the policy of the present Ward Administration tins been in that direction. There will not lie unanimous approval, however, of his contention that all Crown lands should have been settled before tlie. government embarked on the Lands for Settlement policy in buying up large and unimproved holdings for closer settlciirent, the most successful system of settlement In all our great land legislation. In this particular instance. Mr. Malone holds the views for long advocated by the Opposition, but. certainlv not endorsed by the country at large. We agree with him that the immigration of farm laborers and farmers should be encouraged.

On the question of education, "no expressed himself in favor of the present system, and we believe was further on right lines in appealing for more attention to the health of the future citizens of New Zealand in their childhood. We. believe wilili him that the true method of valuing land should be on the basis of productivity. Air. .Malonc is, without question, a linn believer in the future of Xcw Zealand aud particularly of Taraiiaki. in which all his interests, no inconsiderable ones, are. Naturally, therefore, his programme lor the development of this province is certainly not unambitious. We hope, liowe'rer, that he will .-online his attention lo pressing needs within the realms of practical politics. Let us push these lo fruition, let us finish one undertaking a* a time, and our progress and development will lose nothing in the waiting for that which obviously lies with the future. Ephemeral election schemes are of no practical value. In conclusion, we hope lo hear Air. Jlalone, before this campaign is closed, do himself greater justice—which ,wc are sure he can easily do—and recognise Mult tiiis campaign is not a battle between Liberal candidates, but between the two big parties.