The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1912. THE EGMONT ELECTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 102, 16 September 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1912. THE EGMONT ELECTION.

The Egmont election, which will be held to-morrow, is not exciting as much interest in the district as was anticipated when the Hon. T. Mackenzie resigned the seat a few weeks ago. It was loudly proclaimed at that time that if thp contest could be confined to two men, representing respectively the Reform Party [ and the Liberal Part}', it would provide an excellent index to the political temper of the country. But under existing conditions it will do nothing of tlis sort. The Reform- Party has completely forgotten its own past. It has come into office purged of all its sins, both of commission and omission and having jgraciously assumed all the virtues of the Liberal Party it now leaves the constituency practically in the same position as when it returned Mr. Mackenzie. There is no eaTthly reason why the good Liberals of the district should not vote for either Mr. Astbury or Mr. Wilkinson without violating thefr principles of having a rush of blood to the brain. ' This accounts for the comparative indifference that is being displayed by the electors, many of whom, ardent politicians though they are, do not care two bricks or a tin of trade which candidate prevails. The election, in fact, has de\*elope<| into a contest of individuality-,, Both the candidates are men and both have seen public service in minor *capaeities. Mr. Astbury has had the'more experience on local bodies, and he has to his credit a long period of most .valuable public services. Mr. Wilkinson, in this respect, has only been in the publiceye of later years, chiefly in his capacity as a member of the New Plymouth l Harbor Board, and it must not be forgotten that the community is under a debt of gratitude to him for the stoppage 1, of a serious financial leak in the Board'p administration, which meant the recovery of a considerable sum of money. r \s a local politician Mr Astbury has hail the greater public experience, and he: ha? served the public faithfully and well. He is a man of unusual parts and of wide knowledge, and has made a very good impression during bis political Campaign, His platform utterances have been attractive and convincing. ■ Ilis sunny disposition, too, is sure to enni him many votes. Mr. Wilkinson is a cool, caleula ting, analv tical man of business, who deals with all subjects from the commercial and practical standpoint. He is thorough in all tiling?, and has. a de(enninalion that amounts almost to rulhlessness. Added to this, he is essenlinlH conscientious and wcll-mcanin". So far as personality is concerned there is a most marked diU'ercncc between the two candidates. ,J •

MR. WILKINSON'S CANDIDATURE,

So far as they are politically concerned, there is really about as much difference between the views of the two candidates as there is between Tweedledum and Tweedledec, and the constituency has had to look more to their methods of expression, their modes and their manners, than to any divergence of creed. Mr. Wilkinson has devoted too much attention to criticising his opponent when he would have been better occupied in expounding his own politics and principles and leaving the public to judge whether the gray mare is the better horse or not. Where he has dwelt with polities, Mr. Wilkinson made use of many of the old gags that have grown grey in the service of Mr. Massey and his friends before they "found" political religion. He talks in light and airy fashion of the sins of the fathers, but Injudiciously omits to make any references to the many admirable measures that the Liberal Governments of the last twenty years have placed upon the Statute Books, measures which the present Government is now pleased to heartily approve. This olio of recrimination is further seasoned by a leaven of condemnation of the Dreadnought gift and a spicing of the Uine charges. It is not necessary to go over all this ground, but Mr. Wilkinson should know that the finding of the Hine Commission made not the slightest reflection upon the Ward Government, and whilst it disclosed errors on the part of individual members these lapses from political grace were not confined to members of the .liberal Party. Mr. Wilkinson blames the Government lor increasing the cost of administration. "A lie that is half a truth" is proverbially a hard matter to fight, and here again Mr. Wilkinson shows judgment in not examining in detail the figures to which he refers. Probably it is wisdom from a campaigning pdint of view to suppress a reasonable explanation, but it is not exactly, politically honest. The cost of government, it is asserted, has gone up from £6 5s 6d per head of population in 1895-06 to £9 3s lid in 1909-10. In the first period there were no old-age pensions. In 1909-10 they amounted to £302,195. This amount is calmly added to the cost of government. In 1805-90 hospitals and charitable aid cost £95,513; in 1909-10 £109,594. In the same period the cost of mental hospitals advanced from £49,703 to £.87,807, of education from £453,156 ■j;'o £936,875, of post and telegraphs from ,£3BB,Bs} .-.to .£855.802, and of railways from £744,200 to £2;168,189. All these . increases' are, with a delightful indifference to the ethics of finance, added to the cost of government, and the fact that both the Railways and the Post and Telegraph Departments more than pay interest on expenditure is ignored "with the utmost sang froid. The fact that the expenditure of a million earns an extra two millions is not a reproach that would generally call for actuarial rebuke: As a matter of fact, when the departments we have mentioned are removed from the list the increased ex-' penditure per head of the population during the period named is only l3s Id, and this takes no-account of the earnings of the Railways and the Post and Telegraph Departments, and the fact of the many new public services instituted by tbe_ Liberal Party, and this pretty little fiction vanishes into thin air. The present Government, of course, has no administrative past, but if we may judge, from the Estimates at present.under discussion, when it does reach its first birthday, it will be found to have committed 'exactly the same virtuous crime that it is urging.against its predecessors. The old story. of. the increase of the public debt is also trotted ova hy Mr. Wilkinson and-put through its perfunctory paces, but here again there is a deliberate conspiracy of silence on his part so far as- the fact that ai. immense proportion of the increased debt is revenueproducing, and if Mr. Wilkinson objects to the country earning money by extending'its business it is a trifle curious to ■ fiiid'hinr urging the Government to push on with the Stratford-Auckland line and the Opunake line. These can hardly be labors of love, and how the Government is to increase its expenditure while diminishing its debt is a problem of finance. If Mr. Wilkinson can solve it he will earn the undying gratitude of the country and win for himself a lasting heritage of aw.ed respect in the annals of the Dominion. Perhaps he could give Mr. .James .Allen a hint, for wc are sure that the Colonial Treasure would hasten to . sit at the feet of this Wizard of Finance if-he could be assured of a solution of the - problem. In the meantime, Mr. _ Allen, jn a policy speech recently, is ■ recorded to have said: "Borrowing must be continued for the railways. They had been told that it was necessary to borrow . £15,000,000 during the next ten or twelve years. Eor the railway's. If the Government could not prudently borrow . that sum, it might permit the people of a district to raise a loan of their own for the of the lines they needed, on the understanding that such railways should be sold to the State without.goodwill. In this way the policy of .State ownership would be conserved and the construction nf necessary lines expedited." Mr. Wilkinson, in this respect, can be safely left to find his own method of reconciling his own professions with those of the party he claims to support. Just how he will elect to "serve, both God and mammon" is a matter- for his own conscience.