The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1915. THE BLIGHT OF PARTY POLITICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 218, 22 February 1915, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1915. THE BLIGHT OF PARTY POLITICS.

"In my opinion, party polities are becoming a on onr national life, and no question can be considered from the national standpoint, but what party polities, or political motives, are assigned to anyone taking a prominent part." 'l'll is strong condemnation of the present political condition of the Dominion was recently uttered by Mr. H. O. Hill, the general manager of the. Bristol and Dominions Producers' Association, and its truth is, we regret to say, incontrovertible. The citizens o? the British Empire (other than aliens) can hardly find words strong enough to expr"ss their loathing of the German t> rant, and they regard the. present war ,is the outcome of the Kaiser's lust for power and domination. We wonder if it has occurred to tile thinking portion Of the community of Xew Zealand that the politics of the. Dominion exhibit a l cseniblanee to the very motive which they so strongly condemn in Germany's War Lord? In reality tin 1 same madi" ss is at the root of both, and the reM'lts difhonly in degree. Much parade has been made of the spontaneous exhibition of the solidariy and unity of the Dominion with the Motherland in he! hour of need, hut it h:vs been on the pal t of tile people, who, on the whole, have nobly risen to the occasion, while the political leaders have never for an instant lost sight of the miserable and degrading j.arochialU::i of politics, plunging the country in tin; throes of a party election, and to a certain extent playing the game with loaded dice. It is humiliating to lind that at a supreme crisis ill tile history of the Empire, the party leader,: could practically ignore j the magnitude of the European

struggle, with its vital cDYct on the Dominions as well as 011 the Motherland, and enter into a struggle of intense fierceness. For what'; Mere party dominance. The right to rule and domi-nate--to dispense political favors-to exercise the privilege of patronage so us to reward their friends and inflict petty stings on their opponents—to be til,, top dog, and force compliance with their mandates. For those and other similar degrading purposes the country has for som o time past been kept in a fever of excitement; election petitions

have been filed, a fierce political battle lias waged in Dunedin, and it is only reasonable to assume thai the administration ol tbe country must suffer. That, however, is not the worst of tliia political madness. Ministers involved in this mean struggle for power cannot • sossibly face the national crisis with : bat concentration of mind and judgI mcnt which it demands, nor have they dono. so. From the time war was declared right down to the present 0112 important matter after another lias been nor could it be otherwise. The canteen scandal alone is sufficient evidence of the careless and callous way in which our volunteers-for service were treated. There is no excuse whatever for the unpardonable offence of allowing gifts to the Expeditionary Force finding their way into ships' canteens and sold, instead of given to the men. It required the voice of the Tress of the Dominion to arouse the Defence authorities to take the necessary steps for enrolling an expeditionary force such as should be worthy of the Dominion. Why? Parliamentarians were engaged in the game of political chess. The minds of Ministers were distracted owing to t''e all-important matter—to them—as to which party should rule. But what of the immediate future? Before long Parliament will be sitting, and the party fight will be keener than ever. How can Ministers, especially the Minister for Defence, concentrate his attention on Imperial affairs when his tenure of office hangs in the balance, depending on one vote? The position is altogether out of harmony with : the gigantic struggle that is to decide the fate of the Empire and of Europe. It has been Xew Zealand's boast that she has led the way in progressive legislation, but she can never boast that she has risen above parochialism in politics. How vastly different is the case with the politicians of the Homeland. All differences nut aside when the crisis j arose; 'n 0 political hatchet buried during the terrible war; the leaders of t!u> .main parties—even the Irish—joining hands, hearts, and intellectual powers in the one supreme object of triumphing over the common enemy. Xo party bickerings, no party divisions, no emban assing criticisms or manoeuvrlngs, but a solid, united Legislature, conscious of the gravity of the situation, of the righteousness of the cause which Britain had championed, and, above all, impressed with th e absolute necessity foi the 'Ministers to be. freed of all distraction that they might devote the whole of their energies to the extreme nrgriry of the duties of their office, and fatee? the Empire safely through the I perils of war on land and soil, Admit-1 ting that the leaders of political parties in New Zealand have not the responsibility of the Empire on their shoulders, they should at .least exhibit some decent appearance of concern in the grave crisis, in the issues of which the Do3i:nion !S as greatly concerned as the Motherland. Ho far they ha™ woefully fallen short of whiij; was expected of them, and i{ jg time that a new policy of uiiiiMl Jind co-operation was adopted, file degeneration of party politics is dragging the Dominion headlong downwards. It is at present a sordid and discreditable spectacle that New Zealand party polities present, and it will be an everlasting blot on the Dominion if the spirit of greed and petty parochialism is not exorcised speedily. This is not a time for shams, but for realities, and there is an insistent call for states-, manship to replace, the pernicious system of office-hunting.