THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1908. MR M'NAB AND THE "SYDNEY TELEGRAPH."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3067, 11 December 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1908. MR M'NAB AND THE "SYDNEY TELEGRAPH."

We are at times inclined to be surprised at the ignorance which is found to exist in so.ne quarters of the Old Country concerning the political affairs and the conditions of life generally in New Zealand, but we are, indeed, , surprised to find that a usually well informed' newspaper, the "Sydney Telegraph," is hopelessly ignorant of the political struggle that has just been concluded in this country. Aged residents, of very limited understanding and education, residing in very rural parts of the Old Country may be honestly and affectionately torgiven for having a hazy idea as to whether Sir Joseph Ward or Mr Massey is Premier of the Britain of the South. New Zealanders, however, will be inclined to smile when they are told that the "Sydney Daily Telegraph," which received its information from the late Minister for Lands {Mr R. McNab),

gravely informs its readers that the i i decided increase and strength of I the Opposition Party was due to £ certain dairy regulations being re- i presented as obnoxious. Mr McNab, i no doubt, very cordially detests his defeat, but we should have a better opinion of him as a politician if he candidly admitted the real cause thereof. Mr McNab knows, and every politician knows, and the whole Dominion knows, that the one great cause that brought about his downfall—and. that brought it about permanently, so far as Ministerial position is concerned, m our opinion —was his famous Land Bill. In other words, the freeholders of this Dominion will not tolerate a Minister | for Lands whose .views do not coincide, to a large extent with their 3. We do not know why Mr McNab should, if we are to believe the correctness of the interview which appears in the "Sydney Daily Telegraph," have given that paper a plausible account of the real cause of his defeat, and of one of the several very strong causes that have considerably reduced the strength of the Government Party. Mr McNab practically says the dairy regulations were "at the bottom of the trouble," from his point of view, but we ask is it reasonable to suggest that dairy regulations affected the vote of the people either in Wellington North or in Wellington South. We merely mention these, two Oppositon victories by way of instances of various facts that completely disprove the accuracy of the late Minis-

ter for Land's contention. Bluntly, Mr McNab's tale to the "Sydney. Telegraph" is altogether too thin, and the thinness of it will become more transparent in the future politics of this country. It is possible, perhaps, to advance reasons why Mr McNab should have put the best face that he could on an awkward situation, but it is quite impossible to excuse the painful ignorance of the "Sydney Daily Telegraph" as to the trend of political affairs in this country. Speaking of the increase in the strength of the Opposition Party, it says:—"lt's reinfarcement at the recent polls is due, as Mr McNab explains it, to what was for it a lucky accident. Dairy regulations had baen prepared which were represented as obnoxious to the industry, and the Oppositon made the best use ,of the "interference" cry. It is only now and again, however, that such an opportunity as this accrues. Generally speaking, the constituency has pronounced emphatically enough in favour of the Ward Government, and the other side's position does not look noticeably better than it haa been during the long years of its sojourn in the wilderness. Its trouble is that conservatism,'as expressed in a reactionary policy, is not ,what the people want, while to make any advance* in radicalism is only to approximate by that much to the Government policy and emphasise the lack of reason for making a Ministerial change," Such, remarks do not cajl for special comment.