POLITICAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 96, 13 October 1911, Page 3

POLITICAL.

[ CHARGES OF CORRUPTION, j / VIGOROUS REBUTTAL. l During his address at Stratford on Tuesday evening Mr. .1. McCluggage, Government candidate, dealt fully with the charges of corruption hurled by the Opposition against the Government, lie said: You all know that the Conservative Party has been telling you for years that the Government is corrupt. They insinuate all sorts of vague charges of bribery and corruption against the Government. Last year they made definite charges against the Administration and said that if they got. mi enquiry they could electrify the country. Well, the Government granted them the. enquiry asked for and made that enquiry as wide as the poles. They had the free use of all State documents and files, both confidential and otherwise, at their absolute disposal, and also power to subpoene any member of the Ministry or Parliament before the enquiry, and examine them on oath and cross question them as much as they liked. They could have all the heads of the different Government Departments, or any civil servant in New Zealand, or of any person who would do their canst' any good. After having a most exhaustive enquiry, which cost the taxpayers thousands and thousands of pounds, directly and indirectly, they had to admit that the Administration was clean and their charges when boiled down were only a few trivial matters brought • against two ex-members of Parliament. The only thing they had to condemn against sitting members was the. action of a Maori, who was not even a Government supporter, but an Independent Oppositionist, and his answer to the charge was a reasonable, one from a Maori's point of view. The Maori members could not understand Mr. Massey's supporters giving him a cash presentation of over £I(MK), and naturally thought that it was given to Mr. Massey by the landed aristocracy of this Dominion to get him to use his influence to prevent the Government from taking their large estates for cutting up for close, settlement. They naturally thought that if ' Mr. Henry liaihau were wrong in taking money from his supporters to present petitions, etc., Mr. Massey was equally wrong for taking a very much larger sum from his supporters for political ser- | vices. The opinion of two of New Zealand's best Democrats and keenest and uncompromising political critics may be interesting reading in connection with the charges of corruption and Tammanyism. The late Mr. T. E. Taylor, member for Christchitreh North, said: "The present Administration was the cleanest that ever sat on the Treasury benches in i New Zealand." and his word will be taken in this Dominion hv everyone in preference to that of the gentleman who orginated these vile, unsupported charges of Tanunanyism. Again, we have the i testimony of the Rev. u'M. lsitt. M,P. for Christchurch. who stated in the House the other night that, after listening to these innuendo* of the Opposi- ' tion, that he wished to tell the country that the Government was a clean Government, and that there was no corruption, no bribery, no maladministration; and no political graft. These opinions of men like these, fearless, independent members of the House, leaders in political speech and thought, will weigh, I venture to think, far more with the people of our Dominion than the foolish empty vaporing* of the originator of these famous, or infamous, charges. The Opposition are going round the country not giving the people politics, but imputing all sorts of impure motives to the Government and its supporters. . I am of opinion that where you get a j ltody of men. it does not matter whether it is in a county council, road hoard, school committee or the House of Representatives, that cannot see any good whatever in their opponent* it shows that they have got very narrow minds and are altogether deficient in generous impulses, and. therefore, are not capable of looking after the destinies of this enlightened and democratic country.

OPPOSITION' POLICY*. The Conservatives will tell you that if they are returned to power they will not repeal any of the beneficial enactments passed by the present Government. Hut taking their j>n-.t history into consideration, where they have condemned in the strongest terms, and opposed by all means in their power, the useful measures passed during the last twenty years, t.hey would, for a certainty, if returned, kill them in their administration. When we have a party in power which, it. must be admitted, lias done so much good work for the Dominion, it would be the sheerest fully to replace them with a party which is'non-progres-sive and which has no sympathy for the people of the country as a whole.

.MINISTRY LIKE A BOARD Of DIRECTORS.

Now, we can just liken the Ministry to a board of directors. The electors of the Dominion are the shareholders, the Ministry are the directors, and the Premier (Sir Joseph Ward) is the chairman for the time being. As with a company, the Cabinet's accounts have to be audited by responsible, qualified officers who, it shouhl be remembered, are respon-

sible to Parliament, alone. The Ministry have to come before the country every three years for election, and if they have not run the public affairs on sound lines the electors can turn them out just as they would the directors of a co-opera-tive company. Now, it is well known that the country is being run on good sound lines, and the electors have endorsed them time and again. The Opposition, much ugain*t the grain, has admitled that the country is prosperous. As reg»irds the future, the Prime Minister has given his forward and progressive policy, and' the leader of the Opposition has given his party'*) pnlirv also. N'ow compare the two. The policy of Mr. Mas*ey is a miserable attempt to get voles from lie- people by means of a phil form which uianv of his own parfv consider to be 100 socialistic. In the Words of an-Independent member of the llon-i-. they have "packed their political wallet with the most beggarly assortment of wares thai a party ever stumped the country with." Thev are not

advocating this policy from conviction. If they are the Liberals they profess to he. why don't they come down with a comprehensive, progressive nrogramme and stump the country with i'i ; ' Simply because they have no initiative, to do

PROSPERITY OF THE COUNTRY.' You are all aware how prosperous our country is; in faci. there is a wave of prosperity all over the British dominion--. It niav lie a coincidence, but the I'aei is l hill, there are Liberal Governments in power all over the Empire, with the exception of Tasmania, and that is the only Slaw- (hat is not pro-

lnit. hiii/iii-ihiii','. Tin! Conservatives in \e\v Zealand have been statins I hi- la-t Iweiily year-;, that Ihe fiiinili'y i- .L'niii.ir to llie Willi voui' kind p.Ti:;i-io.i I -.■!'! ]■;■'. :: \rr v,,i, , fry, i'aet- nml ii.0,,,,.- (~ prove, that sn-'i is iiul. tin- ease, hut (hat (he Dominion is pro-porous an.ll eon!entert. I'idih ISill nillil the present date ihe population has n-rown from (!2.V.">ns to l.n."i.!Ji). Duriii"! that |ii'i'iiiil Hip export ami import trade lias iik» iiii'vciiscd fvfim £1(1,070,24(1 to CW.2M0.725. The revenue has grown frum C-t.l-tn.230 to £in,2»7,023. ' The'

total wealth of New Zealand has grown from .ilOO.OWl.OtA) to .€O,")U,(SM).OIKI. DEBT-RIDDEN COUNTRY. The Opposition tells you the country is debt-ridden and over-taxed, and thai. capital is leaving the Dominion wholeVie. The answer to that is that b.nh the banks and large mercantile linn* have increased their staffs' salaries and bonuses this- year. The Loan and .Mercantile Co., which had to reconstruct or close down under the, old Conservative Party, -has nourished under the Liberal Government, and only this year increased the salaries of all their stall' and carried forward a very large amount to the reserve fund. The banks have all paid their stall's large bonuses, inchuung the Bank of New Zealand, which was practically bankrupt in the days of the old Conservative Party. This bank I is to-day, thanks to the Liberal Government's action in assisting the bank through its troubles brought on by its j Opposition friends, an illustration of the prosperity of the Dominion brought j aliout by the sound business policy of the j Liberal Government. j