Auckland Examiner. Wednesday, January 18, 1860. SOPHISTICAL WILLIAMSON—HIS EXECUTIVE, AND “SLIPSLOP.”

Auckland Examiner, Volume IV, Issue 230, 18 January 1860, Page 2

Auckland Examiner. Wednesday, January 18, 1860.

SOPHISTICAL WILLIAMSON—HIS EXECUTIVE, AND “SLIPSLOP.”

If 1 might give a short hint to an impartial writer it would be to tell him bis fate. If he is resolved to venture upon the dangeious precipice of telling unbiassed .truth, let him proclaim war with mankind’—neither to give nor to take quarter. If he tells the crimes of great men they tall upon him with the iron hands of t)ie law ;if he tells them of virtues, when they have any, then the mob attacks hiip with slander. But, it he regards truth, l.et him expect martyrdom on both sides, and then he may go on and this is the course 1 take myself,—Dk Foe,]

A political writer of great eminence gives his opinions on sophisms as follows—they contain a good lesson for our provincial rulers—

Avoid all arguments that you know to be sophistical. Think not by shutting your own eyes against the weakness of your statements, that you have thereby shut the eyes of your hearer. Your sophistry will but irritate, for sophistry is not only uncandid, but dishonest. It is an attempt to cheat, not the purse of another, but his senses and his judgment. His aversion to you will be awakened by your efforts'to shine at his expense; and his contempt will be roused for the folly that supposed it was able so to shine* In all argument be candid, for the sake of your, comrade and for your own sake. The triumph of an argument which is known and felt to be unfair and unfounded, is a wretched exhibition of perversity. If successful, it can serve no interests but those of-fraud ; if unsuccessful, it brings with it the consequences of blundering and detected dishonesty. Constituted as society is, with its errors and prejudices, its narrow interests, and interested passions, the pursuit of truth makes demands enough upon courageous virtue ; for he who goes one step beyond the line which the world’s poor conventions have drawn around moral and political questions, must expect to meet with the thundering anathema and obliquies of all who wish to stand well with the arbiters of opinion. Let no searcher after truth be led into the labyrinths of sophistry. He will have enough to do to make good his ground one step beyond that trodden by those who dogmatize about decorum, and propriety, and right and wrong.

Above cap fits Superintendent, Pollen and Merriman. Their conduct has been marked with sophistry from first to last. The sophistry that old “ Slipslop ” uses in reply to almost every charge against the government is, by pointing to some performance of the Provincial Government—such as some road made —or some bridge or wharf constructed, and seeks to silcnce all opposition to the Provincial Government by holding up these public works peiformed at the public expense as a cure for every wound —or as virtues to atone for the illegalities and violations of every principle of candour and honesty by the government. Is it absolutely necessary to examine every bit of road made—or every bridge or wharf constructed, and to prove that these works are unnecessary, ill-made, or improperly constructed, or done at a most extravagant price, or that the government either directly or indirectly have jobbed half the cost of them to their own in* terest, before we are able to bring a charge against the government? No, for the sake of argument we could allow all this to pass—we could admit that the works in question were all requisite, and that the money has been judiciously spent—that there had been no jobbing for self interest or to reward partizans ; and still be able to prefer grave charges against the government. Being everything that is desirable in one respect, is no justification for their being everything that is undesirable in another.

There is another specimen of sophistry to which old “ Slipslop ” resorts, namely —when any of the political opponents of the present government makes a charge of incapacity or extravagance against Williamson and his Exeecutive—old “ Slipslop goes back to the time of Brown or Campbell’s Superintendcney, and after enumerating the political sins of these gentlemen when they were Superintendent’s—starts off with a florish, and as it were in a triumphant air, exclaim,’ there now —what do you think of this ? Ought not the people of this Province to be thankful-for having got out of the hands of these political scoundrels ! The inference from this kind ef sophistry is this —- an admission that the present givernment is not without great faults, but then they are not so large, or so, injurious, as those- of which Brown, Campbell, or Red Cat Carleton were gui'ty. While the majority of the. electors declare that instead of having a change for thfe better, we have had a change for the “ worser’’’ —or in other words—we have-jumped, out of the- frying pan into the fire. Shew us any objectionable conduct followed by either Brown, Campbell, or Carleton—and we will give chapter and verse, facts and figures, dates and arguments) in proof of conduct pursued by Williamson and his Executive many degrees worse. Besides, the pretensions and promi.-os of Williamson and party when seeking for power, were to reform all abuses of their predecessors, and for their own part, to act upon the square in. all public transactions. As another illustration of the sophistry practised by the present government,, w.e refer our readers to the conduct of the Chief Clerk Pollen, in his place in Council. When any member of the opposition puts a notice on the paper asking for such returns as are likely to bring the government to book, and give the public an insight into the-dodging and scheming resorted to by the members of the government and their partizans. Dr. Pollen, as head of the Executive, rises—puts on his bland smile—takes a sip at a glass of water —and proceeds to assure the Council thus : —

That so far as be himself was concerned, he had no desire on his part (a sip and a smile) to keep b ipk any information culled for by honorable members of the council; (another sip accompanied by an effort 11 look serious) but honorable members he was sure did not calculate the amount of expense in the shape of extra assistance that would be required to make up these returns. Honorable members were pot aware that there were no clerks specially anpointed for that purpose—that all the clerks under the government bad their hands full already—many of them in consequence of being called from their regular duties had been compelled to allow their oivn work tq b e lefi > n arrears. Members should consider the amount of expense they were incurring to the Province before they’ asked for such returns.—(another sip—-members laughing-) If the Council considered that it tyas right to incur this, what appeared to him unnecessary labour and expense, he should be most happy in complying with their wishes.—(another sip—whispers from members —more sophistry.) Again said he, (putting on an air of indignation) he could not tell what the honorable member’s motive might be, in asking for these voluminous returns —whe Jher itjwas to delay the public business or to gratify his own crotchety whims, or a move under pretence of the public good ; but he could assure (another sip) the honorable members of that Council that all the information asked for in the honorable member’s motion was already 0:1 the table of the Council in variqus documents that haye been sent down from time to time, and any u ember (another sip) of ordinary capacity equid collect all the information he required, and put it tqgether himself in the spare of a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes.—(hear hear from government tools—another sip.) There it was on the table for every member if lie wished to take advantage of it, without calling on the government to furnish a second time the same returns.—(another sip.) He trusted th - members of the Cquncil were not desirous of expending the public money for no good purpose, and that they would negative the honorable member's motim—(another sip.) He felt himself bound to vote against it, and trusted it would be negatived.

This was quite enough, Government support rs took the hint, fhe motion was negatived. The evil day of the government was put off a “leetle” longer by this kind of sophistry. Qur readers would scarcely believe it. It is quite true. When he saw his professions of a desire to save the funds of the Province did not take. He would change bitone, and tell the Council that the members had nil the returns asked for, before them.

That they could put them to S m a few minutes. lveB Nothing could be more false, evasive . u dishonorable, than this-For two reason, d Ist. The Dr. knew that the informal sent down to the'Council was made up in™?? a manner as to puzzle and confuse manv the members, and therefore it was in r Zi:£ no information at all to them. All the Bl™ Book accounts of the revenue and expend? ture sinee those furnished by Mr Porte, a Treasurer, under Wynyard and’ Brown’ a « perfect dead letter to many members of Cou

2nd. Should any member be able to disco, yer the “pea,” and give his own deduction, from an examination of the accounts, and make use of them against the government-the Dr or Merriman would immediately exclai ni _..: t ‘ the honorable members own authority, an d not the authority of the government.” If an „ member of Council could add the accounts to gether in a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes ? What becomes of the Doctor's sophistry about extra labor and expense? Surely clerk under the government could do it equally as quick as a member. Extra clerks and extra pay for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes could not be much ! An officer under the government prior to the time when the notorious Balance Sheet was furnished had been' heard to :ay “that the government had never furnished the Council with a Ba-lance-Sheet.” He added “that members in the Council were completely in the dark about the expenditure of the public funds, it would not d,o, said he, to let them know too much ” 1 This is truth. It is true that one-of the government officers told this to one of our respectable citizens. It is also true that members of. Council, many of them rre as ignorant on this question, of money matters, as if they had never heard a word about them. It is again true, the present government, only once, furnished the Council with a Balance Sheet’ Member Boylan told the Executive that there were not three members in Council that un- . derstood the estimates of session nine, even when they had passed through, the Council! The enlarged Council ought to insist at once on a general reckoning from the time William- ' son came into power to the present..