THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1912. THE STRATFORD "TANGI."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10604, 10 April 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1912. THE STRATFORD "TANGI."

The "tangi" held'at Stratford on Monday nigiit over the political remains of the Government nominee for that electorate lias been given wider publicity than' the depressing character of the proceedings would geean to have deserved.' The Hon. T. Mackenzie, Prime Minister, accompanied by the Hons. G'. Laurenson and G. W. Russell, took advantage of the opportunity afforded .by the "tangi" to make more of less fanciful .speeches; but these were so terribly wishywashy till at they are hardly deserving of notice. One would have thought that the Prime Minister, if he were at all sure of his position, would have taken the country into his confidence and give.ll some indication of the policy he intends, pursuing during the few months wftjich are to elapse between now and a general election. But what do w« find? The Hon. T. Mackenzie confined himself almost entirely to .raving about the alleged .slanders which have been circulated by some unknown person or persons to the detriment of tha Cont'lmircs

Ministry. He... went so far as to indicate tliat the pigeon-holes in the Government Buildings were so carefully guarded by tlie heads of Departments (that they were inaccessible to Mi Misters of the Crown. A more monstrous suggestion could not have emanated from a responsible Minister of the Crown. Everybody knpws, or should, know, that the Ministers liave absolute control of their respective Departments, and that they can obtain any information from the" pigeon-holes that they may. desire. Apparently, however, it does iu>t suit i the book cf the Prime Minister or his qolleagues to lay bare -the transac- | tions of their predecessors. And this' | neglect of a public duty is sufficient I in itself to stamp the Hon. T. Mackenzie as an impossible head of the country's Administration. If there is one tiling more than another that the people require, it is an insight into the .financial and other transactions of the last twenty years. It is obvioUs, '(however, that until there is a [complete change of Administration | there can be no, hope of information ! being .made available 011 these important matters. Why, aft the very last ■session of Parliament, Sir ... Joseph Ward, at the point of the bayonet, as it were, laid on the table information .which had been asked for again and again. This hind of thing has been going 011 for years. The Liberal Ministry has been running the country exactly as it thinks 'fit-, never stepping to consult the House on important questions, and ever fearful .itihat flie representatives of itihe people should be acquainted with the true position of affairs. And there ds every that this autocratic I systeiipiv'ivSlS. be continued until the wumtry igives the final despatch to the who masquerade in the name of Liberalism. The Premier's reference to the action ,of the Reform iParty in. withholding a pair from 'Mr ] T. M. Wilfbrd is sheer nonsense. Mr | Mackenzie knows as well as anybody J can tell him that it was impossible, in the circumstances, to have granted a pair. But, assuming that Mr Massey were guilty of the discourtesy .\vhieli is being laid against him, how does that compare with ■ the trickery by? which members were induced to r election . pledges ? I referred to Mr tragedy of unfulfilment." - Presumably he meant that he,; was thei victim' of J the tragedy dt-:! ■ tending the unfullilment of election pledges by certain members of the I House. There i® something terribly tragic about .this business. Mr MacKenzic inay not realise it ; tout the, country realises it, and the authorsj of the tragedy. will yet have to ex'theirj. offence. -'Meanwhile, ihe« will* require to .offerJ {something more than arrogant critic-1 ism before lie shows himself -fit to occupy the position of even a stopgap leader. .Mr Mackenzie does not appear to . relish the term ''stop-gap" as; applied to himself. But what- did his colleague (the Ron. G. W. Rusliave to say at Stratford? That 'remarkable freak of political . circumstance said that the country "could not afford to let a man of such genius and high statesmanship (as 1 Sir ' Joseph "Ward) stand aside for long from, th© position iri f ',' ,tih© I land." ' Precisely! If there is a-siyj meaning to be placed upon words, 1 i Russell is of 4 opinion that Mr ■Mckenzie is quite, incapable of rfcJ taming the position of Premier, and that, the country will drift to perdi-j tion unless Sir Joseph Ward is again placed at the helm. ISO much for the •sitop-gap Premier! . As for the Hon. George Laurenson, tlhat gentlenia;> 'c contribution to the chorus cf lamentation at- the Stratford "tangi" was chieflly remarkable for its'humour. Mr Lauren son says that the Government lias been villified and slandered, and y'et the Taranahi population lias increased by 125 per cent, in the last , twenty years. Well",. well! Who would have thought it? By the £ame ■token, in ispite of Mr Bonar Law's! ,visit, to .•BeEfa.st, the Marchioness of •Linlithgow lias-been delivered of twin j sop.s! And so the world wags oh. The! stop^g^'(Ministry may, not get the poJ ilitical Thames'on fire. It.w.ill, how-j ever, contribute a whole ship-load of humlour to tlie arid plains of' political history.