THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1908. THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9048, 25 March 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1908. THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

Since Mr W. H. Field, M.P. for Otalci, and a prominent supporter of the Government, suggested that the Leader of the Opposition ought to receive a salary, various papers have discussed the subject from various standpoints. Some favour the suggestion. others oppose it, while others again take a middle course, and contend that the requirements of the position would be met if the State provided secretarial assistance for the head of "His Majesty's Opposition." The latest criticism upon the subject comes from a Southern paper, which argues: —"It is not the quantity of self-imposed work that entitles a public man to public thanks and reward, but the quality of it. Ministers are paid for their services to the country, not for services rendered against it." The inference and the implication here are obvious, but both could easily be made to apply to the Government as well as the Opposition. As a matter of fact the Opposition has come to be a recognised institution—an integral part —of constitutional Government, and a recognised salutary restraint upon the Ministry in the matters of finance, legislation and administration. It is in a very real sense part and parcel of the country's ruling power, and services rendered by it, even if against the Ministry of the day may be, and often are, services rendei'ed to the country. A strong Opposition is a decided check upon bad administration. Ministers claim that they are justified in travelling through the country to educate the people upon policy questions. This may or may not be a valid claim, according to circum-

stances; but if the people are to be effectively educated on policy measures they should be afforded an opportunity of hear-ng arguments on both sides. Then and then only can a just judgment be formed. Mow the position is this, that while Ministers are enabled to charge all expenses incurred in placing their side of a question before the constituencies, the Leader of the Opposition is hampered in his educational efforts by the fact that he has to pay his own expenses, save railway fares. He is placed at a further disadvantage -- and the country also —by the fact that while there are eight Ministers constantly on the move, aided by a host of private secretaries, all paid by the State, he has to battle "on his own." In view of all the circumstances it would appear but just that the Leader of the Opposition should receive some substantial consideration at the hands of the State. Canada recognises the importance and justice of the principle by paying the Leader of the Dominion Opposition the same salary as an ordinary Minister receives, viz., £1,400, and there is no reason why a similar course should not be adopted here. Whether the present Leader of the Opposition would accept payment may be open to doubt, but that his services to the country are and have been at least as great as those of the average Minister of the Crown must be admitted by all who have closely and impartially followed the political movements in and out of Parliament during the past few years. It is, however, not the man in this case, any more than in the case of the Ministry, that should be recognised, but the office.