THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 152, 23 November 1914, Page 4

THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

A correspondent asks us for an opinion I of the action of the leader of tlie Opposition in promising on the eve of an election £IOO cheque a to the Invercargill and Bluff British and Belgium Relief Funds, and also promising mothers five pound'notes by way of a tonus for babies. In regard to the former, we' must confess that we do not like ostentatious

Joseph to buy. the support of his cont stituents, for they have always loyally I stood by him. In turn, he has shown his I appreciation of their steadfastness.! Two instances will suffice. In connection I with the Invercargill tramways, he surrendered his rights to the borough without regard to the financial loss it involved, whilst later he floated in London a big loan for the town without fee or rc"ward. Even in his most Sraablous times Awarua has stood loyally by him, and the donations to the relief funds are just what could be expected from such a generous man, but, all the same, they would have been more appreciated, and been more in accord with the fitness of things had they been made under the rose and not in the political limelight. As for the baby bonus, wo have already expressed the opinion that a Government could "use its.tiinc more advantageously than in trying to stimulate the birthrate by offering a bonus, more or less nebulous. It should devote its tion to improving the condition and enlarging the opportunities of the people as a whole, when the birth-rate problem might solve itself. Certainly, arti- : ficial means like offering a bonus will not solve the problem, as witness the failure of the Australian experiment.