PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 151, 2 December 1914, Page 3

PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!

To the Editor. Sir,—Magic word that of party that seems to mesmerize all the independence out of the majority of those who aspire to political honors. Honors, dii I say? Degradation would more nearly fit the case. At any rate, that is the feeling that I had when I read your leading article a few days ago when you reviewed the attitude of the Taranaki members on the question of the Upper House reform. It is really fateful to sec men of intelligence coming before the electors one after the other and calmly admitting that they have done wrong. They feel that it is not in the interests of the country at large land especially of their particular constituencies, but just because the party whip cracked, they jumped into the wrong lobby on their own shewing. Some of them tell us that the Act will be in the interests of the rich man to / the exclusion of the financially weaker. Just so, and it is not the most of the legislation we are getting just now in the interests of the big man against the small. Did not most of the leaders of the present. Government do all in their power to block the advanced legislation of the country as brought forward by their predecessors, opposed by them for party reasons and now advocated by them for party reasons? If it was bad for the country when they were out of. office, why is it good for the country now that they are in office? It is not the country they are thinking about. It is party, and the same must be said of our members when they place themselves in the humiliating position of having to admit, that, though they knew.it was wrong, they were prepared to sell their constituents and the country generally for the sake of propping up that curse of JTew Zealand politics, party, I am not a party man, and never have been in the seSse of placing party before everything, and would do my little best to assist in smashing this curse of politics. Why should we not select the best man for the position, the man \vho is most fit, in our opinion, to represent us, men who have backbone to take their stand and oppose a measure' they think is wrong, instead of smoththering their individuality andi parting with all their manhood and independence for the sake of what, why, simply I am in and you are out of power, otherwise known as party, and to attain their object are willing to sacrifice the country and humiliate themselves, and then come to the electors and ask to be forgiven. I suppose for the sake of party, lots of electors are quite prepared to whitewash them, and send them into the world of politics as full-blown and advanced politicians whose hearts bleed foi their country and whose only aim is to do all the :good they can. So under the cloak of i party, the hoodwinking and humbug will go on until the country has sense enough to wipe party out of existence.—l am, etc, ELECTOR.