Political Notes.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 108, 9 May 1896, Page 4 (Supplement)

Political Notes.

, JFBOM ODE SPECIAL COBKESPONDENT.)

London, March 21. The Infinitesimal Englandhr.

Thee* £3 a Btory going the rounds just now to tbe>effe®b thab the boy King of Spain had for his lesson' the other day the mottoes of the diffe?ent European countries. He gob as far as England, and promptly recited ■Dieu eb Mon Droit,' and then abruptly asked, • What' is the motto of America?.' Counb Zichy, 'who happened to bo 'in the room ab the time, answered ' Dieu 'eb Mon Boe.' In this connection, I may tell you thab the huge Blue Book on tho Venezuelan difficulty, beyond affording ths ' Chronicle' an opportunity of blaspbemingiU compilers, do©« not seem to have achieved much. The caae for Great Britian ie clear,/always has been, and only a • strong Foreign Secretary' like Lord Salisbury,, who exLibibs his prowess chiefly hi knuckling down ftb the firso symptom of unpleasantness, would ever bavo d reamb of ■übmitting ib to arbitration. I musb frankly confess I am beginning to dislike tho infinitesimal Englander even, more than the rampant Jingo. The smug sneerer of the Massingham type who sides againsbhis own country in every conceivable international complication, and revels in showing up weak epots, is a degree worse than the braggarb Saliaburian bully who collapses at tho firsb war-whoop of the enemy. With the extreme Radicals nowadays everything ia nostra culpa. The following lines, which appeared in the 'St. James's' under thab heading, are mosb apropos: — \

How cosmopolitan i£ is. How statesmanlike, how STana, (And furthermore. t what splendid biz) To flout one's na)ive land! T» scorn the seliisn Jingo role O£ those who would be sarong, To cry with altruistic soul. • We're always in the wrong!

The mild behariour of the° sheep We hold is Veil advised. For, 'umble affUriab Heep, We liked tqTbe despised; • j The wholesome influence of a, blow Which wedtdnot inflict, Is undeniable, and oh! The joy e/being kicked. •

When Ervger aska for mora than'B duo, Oh! praitice being meek; Should Wilhelm his attacks renew. We'll tarn the other cheek; Should Jonathan once naoro ba rude, And tsvist ths lion's tail, A self-»basinjr attitude, Willprobably prevail. /. ._ .

Meanwhile, the penco como pouring in, Thr pence, that is to say, Of piople who can raise a grin When Wilfrid Lawsons bray. So fct us chant with all our might This patriotic sonp;: • Ye will not fight for Enßland'3 right for England's always wrong." / Mb Ghambeblaik.

A dead sob baa commenced amongst the Tory ranks against Mr Chamberlain, the knowledge that they can't do withoub him naakfng it all the bitterer. Every nighfe he is confronted with some awkward question from the Tory benchee with regard to his management) of the Transvaal business, and bo answers testily and defiantly, and altogether in a way to provoke instead of assuaging temper. Says «Tay Pay' O'Connor in this conneciion ;—One of the things which must always bo remembered with regard to the present majority is that it contains a largo number of disappointed men—a larger number than any previous Government of our times, that these men are always on the warpath, ready to take advantage of every difficulty in which the Government is placed; and thab, accordingly, there is always a danger of a broak away such as we saw over the Belfast Bill. The very largeness of the majority encpuragoK irresponsibility and freedom, and bo we have more mutinous voices and a less m»naj£e»bj.o. l party than if the majority wera much smaller. ■ Abrogation of the Coreupt Practices Act. The Benc Election Petibion, which has dragged on for many weeks and the costg of which lnuib amount to a prodigious sum, terminated on Friday. Betting was 2 feo 1 on, Benn, but the judges found for Mr Harry Marke, of tha 'Financial Newa.' Marks geta the case and the seat, and the Corrupt Practices Acb ie practically abrogated. ' Up to the present,' says the • Westminster'in a satirical loader on the case, 'there have been ab lesisb two prevalent notiom with regard to the effect of the Corrupb Practices Acb of 18S3 :' (1) That the amount) of money which can be. spent as election expenses is strictly limited ; and

(2) That every compromising acb on tbo part'of the candidate, whenever committed, way invalidate his subsequent election. Both these ideas* are now demonstrated to be the meresb. delusion. If you only know the right wny to go to work, the question of expenses r.eed present no difficulty, and if ib comes to the worst, tbe judges will discriminate for you, and decide thab, whilst an almanac in 1892 is. a piece of eleckioneering for 1895, a lecture in 1893 ia merely educational, and its cost need nob be included in tie elaction returns. Equally delusive is tho idea that the candidate's conduct musb be free of all suspicion. If, when no election is ' reasonably imminent,' he chooses to treat the members of his political club to drinks ab the cost of £6, well, thab is to be counted to hie credi* as showing whab a goodhearted fellow he really is. Candidates in future will, in fact, have a thoroughly good time. The diemal warnings of those who formally bagged them to remember the disastrous results of paying this or doing thab, will no longer carry conviction. To the belated pedants who are aghast at this now policy of pleasure-politics and free food, the eiecticueerer will be able bo reply with unanswerable force thab ohe law allows it and the court condonoa it

There are, however, one or two pieces of advice which prospective candidates would do well'to bear in mind. In the fir*b placia never make the mistake of accepting the candidature until the election day actually arrives. This is & course of which the advantages are all on one side. Don't imagine that ib prevents your doing anything which a full-blown candidate ordinarily does. You may attend meetings and hear ycur candidature referred bo, yon may week by week read the local paper, and there find yourself described as the candidate, bub so long; »o you yourself have nob said ' yes,' you will almosb cerbainly escape any unpleasant consequences which mighb afterwards arise ovei your return of election expenses. So long a? you carefully make a reservation and have ib well in mind thab in some conceivable nob of circumstances, which are nob in the least likely bo happen, you 17111 not after oil consenb to stand, you are prebbv sure to pull through any financial difficulties mined by a subsequent election petition. But an even more important piece of advice is this : Have a kind hearb and give ib free play. When you hear of men being hungry give them food—those in your own constituency being preferred. Leb the means of getting the food be the presentation aba grocer's shop of your own visiting card. Ib isn'b so much thab ib ear-marks the benevolence as thab it prevents fraud. Ib is also well bo leb other ioeople have kind hearts for you too. Soever stifle any charitable impulse because you may be afraid your acfc will bo miaandersbood, for ifc must never be foreotten 'bhab your own bare a«perdon U always accepted by the judges a3 the besb evidence *f the nncorrupb nature of your motives. In the new electioneering, kind hearts are more than canvassers.

Eavelock Wilson's Ltbe& Suit.—He Gbis a Farthing Damages.

Mont people who hove an interest in our sailors will rejoice mosb heartily ac the re-

salt of the libel suib which Mr J. Havelock Wilson, M.P., the • Sailors' Member,' has, after a lapse of many, many months, brougbb against Mr William Collis and Mr Frank Jlodgers as the responsible producers of the pamphleb 'J. Havelock Wilson : Daylight on His Career; Exposure and Challenge; Astounding Revelations.' This pamphleb I described ab the time of its issue—nearly two years ago it must be—as being ' full of libellous matter as an egg'a full "of meat;.' Bub the 'sweet little cherub' who sab in the • General Secretary's ' chair of the National Amalgamated Sailors' and Firemen's Union, and looked keenly after the subscriptions of poor Jack, did not ab once proceed to bring its authors to book. He shuffled around, talked of what he was going to do, and did nothing. Then • Fair Play' prodded him up week after weok, in the hope of bringing Wilson into a proper pugnacious frame of mind. The editor was fairly spoiling for a legal fighb with Wilson, and every week he (metaphorically) trailed his coat round the 'Sailors' Member,' and invited him to *trid on the tail.' At last), the 'Times' took a {••mall hand in the matter, and in a very able article on the break up of the N.A.S. and F.U., pointed oat to the diffidenb Wilson that he was hardly entitled to sib in Parliament with such charges as those contained in the pampblob and reiterated and enlarged npon by ' Fair Play,' banging over him. Wilson saw that his game of' Bilentcontempt' wouldn't go down with the public any longer, co he pleaded poverty as an excuse for not bringing a libel suit against his villifiers. The editor of ' Fair Play' ab onca came forward with an offer to deposit £600 with Mr John Burns, Mr Burt and one other labour M.P., to enable Mr Wilson to proceed against his detractors. The only conditions made by Mr Robinson we're thab Wilson should take action within reasonable time and go into the box himself. He replied thab when he took action he would do so in hia own time and in his own manner. In the suit brought, against) Messrs Collis and Rodgers, Mr Wilson's tactics were mosb disastrous. Ho threw the onus of proving tbo statements they had made upon the defendants. Hia counsel made a vituperative speech, but would net pub Mr Wilson in ths box. When hfl had finished he said "Tbab is my case,' whensupon Mr Cock, Q.C. (for the defence), rose swiftly, and with grim emphasis remarked ' and mine also.' He severely criticised Mr Wilson for having declined to submib himself to the test of cross-examination, bub left it for Mr Justice Hawkins to say whab was in the minds of mosb of those in Court. The Judge in summing up observed thab assertions had been made respecting the plaintiff which imputed to him the greatesb misconduct —assertions in respect of which he would be entitled to heavy damages if they were nob proved or justified. As to the truth or falsity of these statements tone man was . peculiarly well qualified to speak, and thab man was Mr Wilson. Yeb this gentleman whose evidence was *o essential, had declined to go into tbo box. The plaintiff, who hud occupied a position of great trust, had been charged with various things, with being deficient in his accounts, with putting forth falwe financial statements, with betraying bin clients, and he was invited by the defendants to prove thab these charges were unfounded. In reply, however, he instructed his counsel to make an elaborate defence, but made no attempb to prove the truth of hia statements. Therefore, continued bii lordship, bo should direcb the jury to pay no attention whatever to whab Mr McCall had said. His statements were not evidence. As for the defence, whab they said was thab their allegations were justified, and that if Mr Wilson wanted damages he muab disprove thorn by going into the box. And fcho question arose: did no*) Mr Wilson go into the box ? If his character was so dear to him, why did he not take this most natural step to vindicate it? 'Suppose, gentlemen,' said hia lordship, 'a man charged one of you with having made a false balance-sheet. Would you not take the first opportunity of denying ib on oath in the witness-box 1 I think you would," and his lordship went on to ask again if ib looked like tho conduct of a man ready and anxious bo vindicate his character who declined to take this course. This was an action brought to clear Mr Wilson's character. Had he taken the best means—the means which a reasonable man would take—bo obtain this result 1 If a man went into the witness box and spoke wibh an air of truth, and showed a manifest desire to give all the information be possessed, ib benefited him beyond measure. If he declined to do this ho musb oxpecb certain conclusions to be drawn, and it might be that a jury would consider in such a case thab the smallest coin of the realm was an adequate Bum to give in the way of damages. Ab the conclusion of his lordship's remarks the jury had some questions to ask, which they handed in on a piece of paper. From his lordship's replies, it appears that these were: (1) Whether they were bound to give a verdict for the plaintiff. (2) Whether, if so, they were bound to give even as much as a farthing damages ? (3) Whether they could commenb on the case ? His lordship said there musb be a verdict for the plaintiff in any event, and also there musb be some damages fixed, however small, to carry judgment. Counsel might object to their commenting on the case. The jury retired for some five minutes, and then found a verdicb for the plaintiff, assessing the damages at one farthing. The foreman expressed their regreb that the law was such that they bad to return even a nominal verdicb for the plainbift, in spite of protests from Mr Wilson's counsel. Mr Cock applied bo the judge nob only to deprive the plaintiff of his costs, but to order him bo pay the defendants', on account of the ' useless, insincere and vexatious' character of the action. Mr Thompson, who opposed, said the defendants had declared thab they had documentary evidence in support of this libel. They had been hounding this man down for years, and now they produced not a tittle of evidence. He urged thab the justice of the case would be met by each party paying their costs. His lordship granbed a certificate depriving the plaintiff of his coats. He reserved judgment on the poinb whether he should pay defendants', as ib was of a novel character. Pure Beer. 'Beer, beer, glorious beer,' ia the refrain of one of the mosb popular pealme of the music hall 9 just now. Every honesb British workman worships his pob of' four-arf,' and the more potent and fiery ibs character the more ardenbly he loves the baverage. This being so, the long continued ,eflbrbs of Mr Cuthbert Quilter, M.P. (erstwhile apostle of Arb—with a big A) in the interests of Pure Beer, do not, I fear, meeb with the grateful recognition they deserve. Mr Quiltor has for the lasb ten years regularly introduced a Bill into the House obliging brewers to use barley, malt and hope, in tho manufacture of aid. Yeb it has never gob beyond a first readiug. Why ? Surely,' s»yss the general public, ' every honourable member wants pure beer.' Theoretically, yes ; pracbically, no. The Tory party were floated into power by Bung, and offend him they dare not. Ib seems thab beers for the populace are often made of rice, maize, sugar, or anything else thab can be conveniently dropped inco the ' free mash tun.' Only firms of first magnitude and reputation euch as Bass, Foster and Guinnosa u?e barley, malt, aod hops, only. Mr Quilter does nob seek to veto the ' free manh tun 'altogether, to rob fcho poor man of his concocted 1 boczfl.' He eimply demands that these mischievous mixtures shall nob be called bter. When a man asks for ale or stout he wants him bo be absolutely sure of getting it. We never look for a glimmer of

commonseniefrom the Temperance party, or we should have expected them to welcome an obviously beneficent measure of this description. Bub no, the teetoballers, like ths brewers and the British workmen, don'b desire pure beer. In this matter the drunkard and the teatotaller join bands. Neither longs for simple sobriety. The teetotaller cries out for total abstinence, the tippler howls, 'Give me the beer that goes furdest,' or, in others words, which j fuddles quickest; and the House of Commons dispassionately aids both tbeee extremists. By-bye Bimetallism. Whatever may be the trend of public opinion with regard to bi-metallism in the colonies, the debate in Parliament on TuaaI day makes ib clear thab neither the Governmenb nor the House of Commons have any definite leanings as yet towards thab ; alleged panacea for all financial evil. Mr Frewen and bis friends who lento on tho probable assistance of Mr Balfour and Mr Chaplin (cot to mention minor members of the Government) in their projects, relied on rotten reeda. They reckoned without the Premier and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, both, ib seems, stalwarts for the gold standard. Sir Michael Hicks - Beach emphatically pronounced that fehe Government ' were nob prepared to abandon the gold standard in the. United Kingdom.' The cheers which greeted this declaration did not come from one side of the House more than from the other. 'They expressed,' the 'Daily News' avers, 'the common sense of the nation, which will nob Buffer ducks and drakes to be made of our financial credit and our monetary system. Sir Michael ingenuously remarked thab the more he pondered on the subject the more difficult ib appeared. Then leb him ponder no more. He obviously understands quite enough for his purpose. He realises the impossibility of fixing a ratio between two articles like gold and silver, both used for other objects than coinage, and one capable of being produced in almoab unlimited quantities. Bub if this bo impossible, bimetallism is impossible too. For this ib tho foundation of bi-metallism, and without it bi-metallism is a vain thing.'