The press. TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1884.

Press, Volume XL, Issue 5859, 24 June 1884, Page 2

The press. TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1884.

Now that it lias been settled that the dissolution will take place at once, it becomes the duty of the electors of the colony to -rouee themselves to a sense of their responsibilities. The House which is to be returned at the approaching election ought to be in many respects different to the present one. Aβ a role, general elections are conducted on a distinct issue between two parties in the popular Chamber. In 1879 one of the most exciting elections that has ever taken place in New Zealand turned upon the merits and demerits of the Gbsy Government. That Administration had been defeated in the House on account of their neglect and mismanagement of the administrative business of the country. Numerous instances of their misconduct in this respect were successfully established against them. But the gravamen of the charge against them lay in this, that on sundry occasions Ministers had defied the representatives of the people and usurped the functions of Parliament. It was not, however, till the Hall Government had been some time in office that the full extent of the mischief done to the colony by the Geey Ministry became apparent. It was only then it was discovered that our finances were in a deplorable condition. Enormous liabilities had been incurred without any provision having been made for their discharge, and it required all the care and prudence which their successors could muster to avert a catastrophe. . Again in December, 1881, when a general election took place in the usual course, the question before the electors was that of the merits and-demerits of the Hall Government. That Government appealed to the electors with a splendid record in their favor. They stood before the country unconvicted of any serious act of maladministration. They were able to point to a whole list of measures which had been passed into law under their auspices, any one of which alone wonld have entitled them to the support and confidence of the people of New Zealand. They had by that time settled the Native difficulty. They had placed the finance on a sound and healthy footing. Their programme for the future included Parliamentary reform; retrenchment and judicious economy; judicial reform of an extensive charaoter; ft firm and consistent Native policy; and steady, honest practical government, designed to achieve peace, progress, and prosperity. The choice which the electors had to make was between a programme of that character, and one which included a struggle with the Mother Country about elective Governors; the restoration of Provincialism or something worse; the confiscation of property and the rnin of particular classes; the abolition of the Upper House; aud a Native policy aimed at the sacrifice of the European interests in the North Island. In a word, the Opposition policy at that time might fairly be described as one of agitation, violence, disorder, and an upset of everything in general. The electors did not approve of such a programme, preferring the plain straightforward, if less sensational, policy of the Hall Government.

Once more an appeal is about to be made to the electors, and it ie important, aa we have snid, that the contest should be condncted upon some clearly recognised principle. If we have correctly interpreted the desire of the country, the late defeat of the Atkinson Ministry was the result of no feeling in favour of any possible Ministry formed from the ranks of their opponents. Nevertheless the Opposition have, daring the last day or two, done their very utmost to make the question in dispute one regarding the respective merits of the Atkinson Government and a Government under the leadership of Sir Geoege Gbkt. Nothing, we may be sure, would delight Major Atkinson more than to have such an issue fought out in the country. If the Opposition tactics had only been successful tie electors would have been compelled to take a side between the two contending parties. Had Ministers been forced to resign they would have had no other alternative than to advise the sending for Sir Geobge Gbby. He had contrived to place himself so conspicuously in the front in the course of the late Opposition proceedings that he could not have been ignored. In the present House, the only possible successor to the Atkinson Government was a Gbet Administration. It is all very well to say that such a Ministry would have been merely temporary pending the decision of the country. But if Sir Geobgb Gbet had got into office he wonld have taken very good care that the battle was so fought as to keep himself prominently to the front. The electors would have bees bound to record their votes for or against Sir Geoegb Gbsy, and those opposed to him would have been forced to forget all other considerations for the sake of defeating him. It would have been felt that, with the patronage of the Government at his disposal, it would be impossible to tell what would happen. By the very force of circumstances the elections would have turned on the question of the merits of the present Government aa against the one constituted under the leadership of Sir Geobge Gbet. This b what must have happened had the tactics so skilfully suggested by the latter gentleman been persevered with. By their own deliberate aci the Opposition would have forced the country to accept once more the Atkinson Government in order to keep out of office an administration under the leadership of Sir Gboegh Geet.

Bnt as tilings have turned oat, it is possible, we think, to have the elections conducted on quite a different basis. The influence of Sir Ghobgb Gbbt, onfc of office, is not each as to render it necessary that candidates should he deliberately chosen on account of their opposition to lnn\ unA his principles. There is little or no probability of his following acquiring any very material addition to its strength in the new House. Under such circumstances the electors will he, to a large extent, free to exercise their judgment in the choice of representatives, without giving very much consideration to party politics. If we understand the position correctly, what the country anxiously desires at the present time is a new House composed of men of enlarged views, sound judgment, and possessed of a strong desire to promote the permanent welfare of the country. It is felt that the present House has to a large extent disappointed the hopes of those who returned it, and what is desired is a new departure. If this is the view of the country, as we believe it is, the electors will best eeenre their wishes if they give I more attention to the character and intellectual capacity of individual candidates than to their supposed political creed. Wβ have always been of opinion that there is far more truth in the saying 1 " Men, not measures," than in its converse. In this colony especially, and under existing circumstances, what the country stands in need of is a Honee filled with capable and patriotic members. When that is secured there need be no fear of the kind of legislation that will follow