WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 March 1922, Page 7

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE LIBERAL-LABOR OPPOSITION. THE PARTY LEADER. (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, March 10. Mr. T. M. Wilford, the leader of the Liberal-Labor Opposition, has returned to Wellington uncommonly well pleased with his visit to the Auckland district. He does not pretend to believe that the whole of the electors of the northern province are up in revolt against the Reform Government—he is too old a campaigner to indulge in any vain imaginings of that description—but he is satisfied that a great majority of them are much better informed on public questions to-day than they were three years ago. “Adversity has had its uses in this respect,” he said to-day, just before taking his ferry steamer for Picton en route for a hurried run through portions of the South Island. “In 1919 the Dominion was on a flowing tide of prosperity. With abundance of money and plenty of employment the electors accepted the good gifts the gods were sending them and gave thanks to the Government. But with the aftermath of the war came the real test of the Government’s initiative and statesmanship and both were found wanting. Then the electors began thinking.” That briefly is Mr. Wilford’s diagnosis of the position. THE MAN. From independent accounts of his visit to the “Queen City” it would appear the Opposition leader had very good reason to be gratified by his reception. Of course he addressed “no big gatherings of electors, met no more than a mere handful of the people, got to the heart of not a single constituency. But he saw and he was seen and the result was mutually satisfactory. Blessed with a good presence, endowed with a ready tongue and fortified with the confidence that comes with experience, Mr. Wilford is better equipped than are most men that enter public life in this country. He might have been a member of the ill-starred Mackenzie Ministry, had his inclination lain that way, and he was nominated by Sir Joseph Ward for a seat in the National Cabinet in 1915, but it was not till some two years later, in succession to the Hon. Robert McNab, that he assumed ministerial rank. During the comparatively brief period he remained in office he proved himself an excellent administrator and confirmed his reputation as a versatile and effective debater. HIS PARTY. Mr. Wilford’s party in the House is not numerically strong and his party in the country still has to be created. But during his occupancy of the position of official leader of the Opposition, which gives him a definite status in the House, he has displayed very considerable tact and resource. The readiness of most of the Liberal stalwarts to serve under him, the friendly attitude* of most of the Independents and the active support of the moderate Labor members are high tributes to his achievements in this direction. Hitherto he has suffered from the distractions of his profession, which has made large demands upon his time and energy, and perhaps - involved him in a suspicion of taking his politics only half seriously; but it may be assumed from his acceptance of the new responsibilities thrust upon him that he is prepared to bear the inevitable burden they imply. *rhis is a sacrifice the country always has demanded -from its political leaders and the man who aspires to reinstating the Liberal-Labor Party cannot expect to escape with less. ITS PROSPECTS. Just at the moment , few people here share Mr. Wilford’s rosy view of the prospects of his paTty. This is not so much a case of a prophet being without honor in his own country as it is one of public opinion being over-awed by the big battalions. The Reformers have a large, compact majority in the present Parliament, they have a very effective party organisation and they have a number of notable achievements to the credit of their organisation. Mr. Massey no longer can be described by his detractors as a tool of conservatism. If he ever deserved the title, he hasrepented, confessed his fault and received absolution. Except for his renunciation of electoral reform there are no handy bricks on this score his critics can cast at him from the hustings. But Mr. Wilford has the advantages of comparative youth, a clean slate on which he may write what he will, the constituencies’ chronic desire for change and the sins of omission and commission of a Government that has been at least as fallible as its predecessors. A virile opponent may make . much of these factors.