WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1922, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

LIBERAL-LABOR LEADERSHIP. SIGNIFICANT SILENCE. (Special Correspondent) Wellington, March 3. A correspondent writing to the Dominion yesterday, perhaps with only a simulated for the personal and political welfare of the slighted politician, took Mr. T. M. Wilford and Mr. C. E. Statham to task for having referred in their speeches at Petone a little while ago to the big figures of the “old Liberal Party” without mentioning the name of Sir Joseph Ward. This he regarded as “a most tactless thing to do,” particularly in view of the fact that the offenders had received the Liberal mantle direct from the last of the party’s Prime Ministers. The sting of this reproach lies in the fact that many of the members of the new LiberalLabor Party are not taking Sir Joseph Ward into account in their speculations and aspirations for the future. This is partly due to a desire to dissociate the new party from some of the traditions of the old, partly to a distrust of Sir Joseph’s leadership and partly to a fear of a revival of the narrow personal issue which brought disaster upon the Liberal Party at the last general election. THE COUNTRY’S NEED. How far these factors, all or any of them, were responsible for Mr. Wilford’s and Mr. Statham’s omission to mention Sir Joseph Ward’s name at their Petone meeting it is only for the leaders of the new party themselves to say. But while there is a feeling abroad that Sir Joseph does not possess all the qualities required to reunite the progressive forces on a strong and enduring basis, there is a pretty general conviction that his services are sadly needed at the Treasury. Even the friends of the Government admit that in this department of administration he was much happier than his successor has been. Perhaps the comparison is scarcely fair, since Mr. Massey has been faced by an entirely new and extremely difficult situation, but “Ward’s luck” stuck persistently to Sir Joseph throughout all his excursions into strange and troublesome fields of finance and won for him a reputation which the public holds in appreciative remembrance. Whether or not the new Lib-eral-Labor combination can afford to dispense with this asset remains to be seen. At present it has no proved financier in its ranks, and a proved financier, above all things, is the saviour the country requires just now.

AN OPTIMISTIC VIEW. The Prime Minister’s optimism, which none of the difficulties of his position can dispel, is a personal charm and a national asset. Speaking at the official openjng of the Marton Show he had words of cheer for every class of producer and for every section of the community. If everything in the garden was not exactly lovely it was full of high hope and certain promise. The slump had not wholly disappeared, he said, wishing to be quite frank with his audience; but the prices of lamb, mutton, butter, cheese and wool had improved, and he pledged his reputation as a politician and as a man of affairs upon the advance in wool continuing. There would not be a big surplus at the close of the financial year at the end of the current month, but there would be a considerable one. Money was becoming more plentiful and cheaper and the finances of the country rested on a sure foundation. Mr. Massey struck the right note for the occasion and struck it so confidently his hearers can scarcely have missed tile inspiration of his words. MINISTER AND DEPARTMENT. The Hon. C. J. Parr’s unhappy knack of falling out with the officers of his departments must be proving a cause of embarrassment to his colleagues as well ns a source of discomfort to himself. Nothing is known here, apart from what has appeared in the newspapres, of his quarrel with Dr. McGibbon, the Auckland district health officer, who has been called upon to report himself to headquarters and to submit to such discipline as the head of the department and the Public Service Commissioner may think fit to apply; but the search for information has revealed quite a number of minor incidents of which the gossips delight to talk. No one doubts the Minister’s good intentions, nor his zeal for the public welfare, but he has “a way with him”, as one of the complainants put it to-day, which is unusual and often extremely annoying. This is not necessarily to his discredit, considering all (he defects and shortcomings of the public service that need repairing; but he would find his path much smoother and his efforts more effective had he more of the tact and candour of his chief.