THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1911. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S SPEECH.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10473, 9 November 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1911. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S SPEECH.

The. -speech dtalwetred iby Sir Jiaseip'h Ward #o Qiis eonstitueinits. at Wanton was joine. of tOne most dialing Jatitemipts at bewildering tflie pdbllic-', and ©nie of the mosit desperate leffbrts at cloaking tliie pjdltiitdciail isismes; that have over iheen made by /a ?d'ine Minister of tlhlis Dominion. By soemle strange diispeiiaatiiioih', it lis possible onily to obttaim a ifaiM. and complete report of the speech', with tine punctuations of nppi!ialus£, in. tlie calumns of tlile MinSiSteri/al journals, and the aoliiievemiietrit of (the Wefliliugtou .mouthpiece oif taie Ministry, wthiicth. .containis a verbatim laooouiu of all that transpired', togetibJeir wiith a eolumuni of "butter," ds> one of the most "a-e----inisiirkaifole" in the: annate of JS'iew Zealand journalisim. Whse speedh itiseflf is. cihiairaatetriisibio of a (poilitioiam wjio, feeHing hiimlselif disappearing in tlhe virartex of obsGUiiuty, clutches at the paiSislmg (straws in- tlie effort to avoid '"disaster. T(lie Prime Minister found lit nleoessary to introduce liis ispeeab with .a vicious lattack upon til tie Opipoißiition for (having dared to limiiniito ' 'Taminiianyii smi'' and corruption against tlhe Gioveuiivnuenit, and be called n,s 'wiitnessies to the purity of his adminisitratioTii the Hon. G. I'W-lds—who .recently isK« , a.mibli&d out of Itlhie Cabin et in as dignified a miana\er as .possibliey and wiho iva.tiui-a.llv would >not oonde.miii Ihsmiselif—-tlie late Mir T. E. Taylor (who took a- prominenft part in- the Seddon. voucher ihuisiness.), and Mir L. M. Isitt (wlhose (acquaintance with the- doings of the Mri,nn"i.story extendis over something Jike a fTraifciiigfht). But it must be inpimiemlbered, rthlat the imputations of • "Ta.mimn.ny" and "corruption." arc .'Jiaa-gely 10 '?i'«a^ oTl of * ne imwgiiiiation of the Prime Minister. The

Opposition has assented, and. has proved beyond shadow of doubt that tihe mietlhods of tn>e'Government have ail through- tire piece (bean in the direction of dcfuaiuMng and ooirrupting tihe comsibituiuaicaes, aaid no edden-cje produc-ct before a ißloyal, Ootmjmissdon cou'ijcl. wore strongly confirm 'the ais<ae<rtion, than tJho last' Budget issued by the Prime Minister himseflf, with the. ciojiten-.teoraji-eous effort of the Mtntisitea- for Public Wtoorks. llhe position taken up by the Prime Minister ig like (that of a man, charged' with a- summary offence, pfrctesiting finis inaLOoeiiice of the most heinous crinid im tlue criminal oode. That the head of a .responsible Govecrntoent should assume such an indiefenisabflje attitude is simply amazing. After vindicating (himself lagainst chargeis, wthdcJi had never been: made, Sir Jbseplh. Ward proceeded to deal wiitih .the inconsistency of the Opposition/ hi diaim.ing credit for some of the Jegjrsfllation they (Sto "de&pkiabl.y opposed.." It wiiliL .be news, to the public that the Opposition, over hi id claim to rthe ered'lit fkxr having originated the Land ifioor Settlements Bill, the Oild Age Bemsiiows Bill, and the Adivances to ; ©dttleirs B'iiffi ; .and yet Sir Joseph I Ward has the supreme assurance to suggest that they have done so. . He went so far on Tuesday wight as. ito quote division! Mats in which Mleissms Allien, Buchanan, Hardy, Mlassey, Harries., and other me.mber& of the Opposition, liiad voted against tlheise meaisaires. Does the-.Frame Miinii.sfteir | seriously suggest that every memiber of tlie House who votes, against the j otaUises.' of a Bail— be they ever so rilipEfliod—i£ necessarily opposed to tflwj principle underlying that Bill? If He does, then the fhirootions of tilieLeigislativiG Council are. ior ever gone, and Parliament becomes purely and- simply tain expensive exicrescenoe on the face of the body politic. Tihe oauntry is' put to euorimoais expense, as it is in.. amending every session one or more of the unworkable measures whicjb have been rushed oni to the Statute Book at the : comimand of an autocratic Ministry, a.nd .were it not for the keen critic-' ism of the Oppasitiio\ii the laws of tihe Dominion, would be in a state of absolute chaos. 'So much, for tlitose precious division lists stressed by the Frimie Minister in his.desperation. Sir Joseph Ward told the people at Wlinton. that of tike £18,887,082 borrowed since lie had become Prime Minister, no less a sum than £l-5,429,114 had been expended upon works. Does, -this prove timt tine self-reJaant policy of John BaUance was wrong ? The- Prime •Minister could, if he and the moneylenders wiere so disposed, borrow £•50,000,000 next year for expenditure 'Upon reproductive works. The poM-cy in this counfry should be one of steady dewioptmeiiit on sound lines, and if huge (borrowing is indulged in, local bodies) as well as private individuals will beconxe extravagant, and posterity wall be left to ' Ijooit the bil!f. It to •.fe#n- from the Prim© Minister that during lids term of offiae the- area of land undiea" cultivation has increased; the exports of frosrero meat, and butter, and wool, have lincrmsed in value;; the oikput olr coal h/as growm; and the capital value of ~land and limjprovomejiis has increased by £63,940,000. Sir Jioseph aariously told Ms ihea<rers that "all this goes, to show the advancement of this country >inee I have been Prime IMinister.^' ■-. No wonder there w&s/ "ap.plauie" .at such a magnanimous statement. The 'sun has dfopoe; the grass lias grown; the wool-daps hlave been good; the market for butter and ob.eeselia.vo kept up: And-all since Sir,Joseph'Wai'd has. been Prime Miiiidstorl "Marve;lJous! His 'inyperial HigWss of Gwrnahy .is}r|ow,hiere in tlie race for selfwai>-' ipijaisemlent. But to ,revert to this 'Siupreme effiort of our first-'ai-istoorat to TOtain place ami power. Jle made .a. great attempt to empHjaisize theliumanitarianiism of luis legisiLation, and he quoted the National. Provtident Fund as a pa-oof of lias dlesire ' to ameliorate tlie condition' of the people. . He omitted, however, to sit-ate that this precious piece of legislation had fallen "flat, and tlibt," despite the fact tiliat Ms son- wiais the : first to avail himself of tlie provisions of the Fund, the public.was deJJiberateHy figlhting shy of it. Sir Joseph (bad a good deal to say on the land question, and he. averred tliat. tthe .settlement of the land was going on. more speedily under his own admimiistration tlian undter the previous administration!. He did not venture •to" asseit, however, that the settlement of the land was progreslang as . satislfia«to.viily as it should do, and he ofrered absolutely no soOaition of. tli'e Hand problem, • contenting himself with saiyiing that thie land policy of the (JoT'iern.ment is romhined in the mea*ur©s already on the- Sita.tu.te Book, yiery weal, the Dominion lias a to take Sir Joseph by his word, and judge him by the lneakiras. on th'e- Statute Book, none; of vinnioli,, by the way, he wias person(aMy reisponsjibfle for. Is- the country Satisfied that the- hind legislation- now upon the Statute Book is sufficient ? If it is, it wiill express its renewed 'coiifidence in a- Puime MHniater who can offer notliMig onloa-e. If it is> not, at will -send' the Frame Monaster about Ma business, and pilace tsie adminisiti'atioai of -the lands of tUite country in the luandls of someone who lias a nnore atta'aotive policy. With the remaining portions of Sir Joseph Wiard'is' rennarkaliile speech 1 we have not spiaoe ik> deal in this issue. . We can only add thlat his a-etferencie to tlie "mendacity," and" "hypocrisy," and "distortion of facts" of tlie Opposition are dignified wcaponis usually employed by .those wflio nre recktlless in -their despea-a.tion. Tlie Frime Minister could not do better than circulate his ■speech, . amongst tlue constitue-noies of the Dominion. It Wuildi them he quite unnecessary for ittemhers- of the Opposition Fa,rty to the country at their own ex- J Dense in tlie effort to educate the I public, concerning the manner of man I ni whose hands the destinies of the I I ,'«".: try mre nt present entrnsted.