The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1905. THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12646, 6 November 1905, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1905. THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY.

TitE hungry .army of "The Great Lil> ©ral Party " who have been eagerly awaiting a declaration ;of policy from their Ministeriail chiefs must be grievously disappointed, by,;the. scanty "bill of fare" outlined by the Right Hon. R J. Seddon, P.C., LL.D. <Oantab ot Edin), Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the Hon. Joseph Ward, K.CM.G , Minister of New Zealand Railways, at Wellington, on Friday evening last. Bobh speeches were altogether barren of new ideas, and 'both were significant for a timorous —and presumably predetermined —avoidance of at least one of the most important questions of tho day, Even the " New Zealand Times," the paper which supports the' Government in the city in which the speeches were delivered, felt compelled ,to - bewail the fact, that the two Ministers " w&re altogether silent upon the subject of land tenures, upon which the people had surely a right to expect same authoritative statement." Our Wellington contemporary is perfectly correct as far as it,,goes: the right of the people in this matter as beyond question. But "it must be remembered that under! the existing regime the right of the people is subordinate to tihe interests of the political " party "—that, in faot, the good old democratic principle of " the government of the people by the people for tihe people " has, under Mr Seddon, come to be interpreted as " the government of the people by the party for the party boss." We believe, however, -that the electors are getting tired of playing " second-addle" to a handful of political autocrats,-and TinleSs ,we misjudge the popular :.tompor it will cost the Government dearly'

if its leaders persist in the suicidal policy of impudently ignoring their duties and r&sponsibi'litdes in connection • with this important question. The silence of Mr Seddon and Sir Joseph Ward on Friday night speaks more eloquently to the constituencies than mere words could possibly 'have done. . It reveals fho utter bankruptcy of the, - Cabinet so far as a land policy is concerned. Statesmen would face the position, and proclaim themselves boldly as being eitiher for or against the freehold ; but the craven opportunist hides behind the costly wallVof a superfluous Royal Commission and shrinks into silence before the troublesome winds of conflicting public opinion. Yet not only did these two Ministers advertise their political bankruptcy, but, as became a brace of starving and desperate officeseekers," they unblushingly appropriated the property of Messrs Massey and Co., and paraded workers' dwellings and a national pension scheme before their audience with a bravado which could not have been improved upon had these ideas been honestly original. Here is an extract from Mr Seddon's speech:— He was now going to announce what was perhaps the boldest scheme ever put before the electors of New- Zealand. Sir Harry Atkinson had tried tc introduce ' a compulsory scheme of insurance. No ' such scheme was practicable or workable in a self-governing colony. What he did think was possible and what ha - and his colleagues intended devoting their best interests towards encouraging . was a national pension scheme, applic- j able to every soul in New Zealand. He j believed it ooukT be done. Such a scheme should be established with a view to encouraging thrift. Let the people take their money and pay it in when they could to a common fund, and as it was paid in year by year let the State subsidise it. In fbe first place the State would have the advantage of the use of the money thus placed at its command. Secondly, local bodies with charges upon them, for support of infirm people, could be saved tnose.charges. The State had already guaranteed the police fund, the railway men were .pro- "-.. vided for, now tihey 'had provided for the" ' teachers, and were preparing to'cxtend. . "." a superannuation scheme to the Civil , - .servants of the colony. All this went in >^j one direction, and it was a great'goal to • : have some provision made for every . thrifty soul in the colony, and keep them from want in their old age. Thus spoke .the Premier at Wellington - on Friday night. last. Now let us go back to" the beginning of the old age pensions, to the time when the original Bill was 'before the House, and what do we find? ■ We find the late Hon. Mr-' Rolleston moving, in accordance with ' the forms of the House,—

That the question bo amended by the, omissionof all the words after' fhe word ". That "and the insertion of the following ? words in lieu thereof:—" The Bill is not" really an Old Age Pension Bill, bat a form of poor law, subjecting poverty to degrading conditions, and failing to give real or substantial relief without inflicting "the stigma of poverty on its recipients; (2) that its provisions are not in accord with the terms of the preamble, \ here being no separation beWeen the deserving and. the tmderserving, or between the thriftless and improvident and the industrious, and ifcat no satisfactory guarantee is afforded that the recipients of pensions will be tiose who have contributed by their labour and skill to open up the resources of the colony, or who have made an honest endeavour to make some provision for old age; (3) that in the opinion of the House, it "is desirable to remodel t!he Bill, ''■■ establishing pensions on a contributory basis, arid making provisions for the supplementing by the 55bate of annuities and allowances earned in the Gfoyeroment Life. Insurance Deparfcmeiit of in any approved friendly society^ trades union, or other organizar tion.; i^:'/ ' ■•""'' ■ c Mr.Bassett, the local Opposition candidate,; speaking in the Opera House nearly a fortnight ago, strongly advocated the national application of the principle of^^sujperansnuiation and the merging of the present pension and Superannuation systems in one common State-aided national system. And now, recognising the wisdom of the Eolleston plan, Mr Seddon announces his intention to throw his own imperfect scheme into the waste paper basket and to substitute in its place " the 'boldest scheme ever put before the ©lectors of New Zealand "—a scheme 'based on the principles enunciated by Rodleston and consistently supported by Mr Massey and the Opposition party! Beyond the planks so shamelessly filched from the Opposition platforan, (Mr Seddon and Sir Joseph Ward have absolutely nothing new or progressive to offer to the electors. They have played their last trump, trumps sneaked from the Opposition pack, and Mr tMassey, showing a full hand of clean cards, wins the, confidence of vhe public.