The Daily News. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2. THAT DISGUSTING PAMPHLET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 200, 2 December 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2. THAT DISGUSTING PAMPHLET.

Sir Joseph, Ward, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, is 3iot u perfect man. He has some weaknesses, and his strength counterbalances them all. If he were the unspeakable person a. wretched pamphlet accuses him of being, New Zealand is no place for him. Stung by persistent distribution of this pamphlet, the chief ammunition for which is obtained from the liquidation of the "J. G. Ward* Farmers' Association," the Premier has at last replied in the House. In the very aggravating circumstances, Sir Joseph Ward lias been remarkably temperate, for in the history of New Zealand political animosity there has been no such virulent and unwarranted attack as is contained in this insane production. In connection with' the liquidation of the association referred to, the simple fact is that no person having dealings with it suffered financially in the. long run; Sir J. G. Ward was not personally responsible, but he accepted responsibility, and made every reparation that an honorable man should do. The Premier must be comforted dn knowing that this revival of distorted commercial history has no real effect on the bulk of the people. If the influence of a poisonous pamphlet had been as effective as the perpetrator desired, there must necessarily have been a decided antagonism politically, commercially and socially to the Prime Minister. On the contrary, continual pin-pricks and political blows "below the belt" have not seriously affected' the Premier's mana. Sir Joseph Ward, in at last retaliating by word of mouth to a ghastly attempt to foully discredit him, has insensibly strengthened his position. Mr. Massey's sense of fair play has been so touched that he has promised to resign if it can be proved that he is connected with, the malevolent publication. No sane person in New Zealand could associate Mr. Massey -with so obvious a fabrication. Mr. James Allan, whose armoury bristles with every iM of weapon which might be useful in stabbing a hated Government, although he acknowledges following his loved routine of getting in his blow, mentions that when 'he handed a copy of this vicious publication to a Ward supporter he was unaware of its vilest contents. It does not matter, in considering a question of decent conduct or common fair play, whether the man attacked by so villainous a method was Sir Joseph Ward or the most obscure parish politician in New Zealand. The fact that the method employed was execrable, untruthful and unjust, is one that the public has long, since understood and appreciated. Every newspaper in New_ Zealand' which is not incurably biassed has wondered why the, Premier has so long suffered in silence. Sir Joseph Ward had proved his integrity before he was goaded to speech on the subject. The accusations against the head of the Government are accusations against the Government. Thk accusations against the Government are accusations against the Parliament dt controls, and the accusations against the Parliament are charges against the people of New Zealand who permit the members of Parliament to represent them. If the calumnies contained in this atrocious document were capable of substantiation, there is no Minister of the Crown fit to hold his position, and, as it has been proved time after time that they are the outcome of a diseased mind, the obvious thing to do is to make it impossible for such poisonous literature to be circulated. Ordinarily, Sir Joseph Ward is of a happy, equable temperament, but we are glad that for once he has permitted himself to become. Irish enough to resent a process carefully designed for his hurt. His just retaliation may have the effect of spiking the guns of miserable fighters who, by the meanest, most underhand methods, are ranged on the side of anarchial methods. We are of opinion that the distortions contained in the pamphlet carry its condemnation, that if the atrocity were put into the hands of any right-minded person in New Zealand, it could not possibly bias him, and that the mind that conceived so monstrous a travesty on fair play and decent conduct is greatly in need of expert control. Meanwhile the individuals concerned ought to be drummed out of every place in which they attempt to sell their putrid literature.