The Press. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 1887.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 6850, 7 September 1887, Page 4

The Press. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 1887.

One of the most satisfactory features of the present election campaign is the almost entire absence of local cries. Few candidates have ventured to base their claims to the support of the electors upon what they are prepared to promise for them in the shape of local works. The time was when a members address consisted mainly of a narrative of what he had done, and attempted to get done, for his particular locality. A candidate for Parliamentary honours considered it necessary to promise largely in order to secure the support of the constituency he was desiring to represent, and men were elected, with some honourable exceptions, mainly on account of their supposed ability to successfully logroll in the interests of their constituents. Now all this is changed. We hear, in the present contest, little or nothing on the subject of local works and local necessities. The matters now canvassed are such questions as economy in the general expenditure, the merits and demerits of freetrade aud protection, the necessity for stopping borrowing, and such kindred problems. We do not affirm that the altered tone of public discussion has brought forward only men of political experience and ability. On the contrary, we regret to say that there are to* many candidates befoi'e the public who have the most elementary acquaintance with politics, and many of them talk the most childish rubbish and nonsense. There are others whose only claim to the support of their districts is some supposed local service to the electors in some other capacity. But even these make no pretence of seeking election on the ground that they can do anything in Parliament for their particular locality at tho expense of the rest of the colony. Few of such candidates, it is to be hoped, will enjoy the privilege of taking their seats in Parliament. But poor specimens of legislators as many of the candidates before the country are, they are at least compelled to make some pretence of dealing with colonial questions, and this is a distinct and satisfactory gain. Whatever the result of the present election may be, the questions which will engage the attention of the Legislature during the next three years will be different from those which have so long occupied its attention. Parliament will no longer be a mere Board of Works, log-rolling our railways, roads, and bridges. It will be forced, by the necessities of the situation, to deal with problems affecting the whole community, instead of being engaged in buying and selling votes in the interests of the different constituencies.

When the party of economy and nonborrowiug raised that cry in earnest some eighteen months ago, there were few amongst them who were sanguine enough to hope that they should have public opinion so completely with them by this time. During the years of ISBS-6 there was a most determined effort made to rouse public opinion in favor of a fresh policy of public works aud extravagant expenditure. There was a large section in the House, and a large number of the electors, v/ho still clung to the idea that prosperity might be restored by a renewal of borrowing. The mind of the people was being constantlydirected to the state of things which prevailed prior to 1870, and to the change which came over the colony subsequent to the introduction of the Public Works Policy of that year. " Are you going to give the " colony another chance," by going iv for a policy of fresh railway construction was the cry, and there were many who were quite willing to make the experiment. Fortunately for New Zealand the proposal was vigorously and persistently resisted in the Press and in the Legislature, and public opinion rapidly came round to the conclusion that such a policy would be disastrous to the country. The electors are now all but unanimous on the point, and the advocates of recklessness and extravagance are now almost completely silenced.

We have said that candidates, as a rule, have fully recognised what the opinion of the public now is, and are shaping their speeches accordingly. Strange to say, the most notable exception to the rule was the Premier himself. Although professing the soundest possible views on the question of borrowing, and although he had himself originated the phrase that in New Zealand "every million bor- " rowed means £40,000 a year addi- " tional- taxation," he was the most conspicuous transgressor himself. It was Sir Robert Stoct who, in his speech 'to his constituents the other week, attempted to appeal to the old wretched selfish feeling in favour of local works. In order, as he thought, to make his election sure, he raised the question of the Otago Central railway, and made an appeal to the local feeling of the dstrict in favour of that line. He was

prepared to stop borrowings—after £2,000,000 had been raised" to complete, amongst other works, the Otago Central. Tho chorus of condemnation with which tho proposal was received speedily convinced the Government of the mistake the Premier had made, and every attempt is now hemjr made to obliterate tho il! effects os that proposal. It only required tho emphatic declaration of Mr. LsoxAHnHAnrEU —a warm supporter of the Government- —that it' the colony went on the London marketduring the next year or two with a a fresh loan it would receive "a slap in the face," to finally settle the question. All this, we say, is a satisfactory result to have achieved. And, if, as we feel sure will be the case, the approaching election will result in complete discomfiture of the party of progressive taxation and bursting up, we may look forward to a speedy ■restoration of confidence in the colony on the part of intending immigrants and intending investors.

Within the last few days evonts have been moving with great rapidity in the chapter of accidents known as tiie Irish (Question. On the 27th of August .Mr. Gladstones motion condemning the proclamation of the National League was rejected by 272 votes against 194. On the following day a mass meeting of working men was held iv Trafalgar square to protest against the action of the Government, on the ground that such a course was equivalent to a denial of that right of combination for lawful ends which belongs to every British subject. At a subsequent meeting of the Liberal party a resolution was carried to the effect that the efforts of the League tended to the extinction of crime, and that, therefore, the meeting offered the League moral and practical support. The original motion declared the actions of the League to be unim--1 peachable. Considering that Mr. Gos- ! cues and Sir R. E. Wkbsteu had showed in the House of Commons that eleven hundred agrarian crimes, ten I murders, and one hundred and twentysix cases of arson had occurred in nine months without any convictions being recorded, because the League secured the criminal authors of these outrages, it was not unnatural that the word was withdrawn. Subsequently Mr Dillon and other members of Parliament announced their intention of attending a .Nationalist meeting to be held in defiance of the Government near Knnis, in Count} - Clare, on Sunday last. Accordingly large bodies of troops were despatched on the preceding Saturday, and bloodshed was anticipated. The Nationalist leaders were feted upon their arrival, and the irregular streets of J the little town were illuminated in ! their honour. Apparently the pro- ■ moters of the meeting were able !to give the police the slip, and Mr. Dillon was able to give some drastic advice on the subject of j resisting those guardians of order before ho was interrupted by the advent of a body of Hussars. Subsequently the meeting, which was ten thousand strong, rallied iv the town itself, only to be again interrupted by the same unwelcome intruders, who finally dispersed the people, and no disturbance took place. We believe that most people, if not all, will hear with a feeling of relief that the Salisbury. Government have stood to their guns. The firm attitude which they have assumed will produce that respect for the law which the weakness of former Ministries had eradicated from the Irish mind, and which is a condition precedent to any scheme of Home Rule for Ireland. It !is satisfactory to know that they have i given the lie to Mr. Gladstone's declaration in his " Lessons of the Election" of a year ago, when he wrote—" It is evident, even amidst the " shouts of victory, that the Tory ad- " versaries of Ireland have had a " severe, perhaps an irreparable, loss; " they have lost the courage "of their opinions." Fortunately, the Tory party, strengthened by their Unionist allies, have done no such thing, and if Lord Salisbury succeeds in crushing the League England will then be able to deal directly with the people of Ireland, and not with an adventurous minority who, for reasons of personal aggrandisement, have forged and set in motion a system of savage terrorism. There is a silver lining, however, even in the black cloud of Irish mis-rule. Having once shown that they are capable of protecting the lives and property of their subjects the Government will have a clear field for the introduction of some legitimate proposals for local government, such as before long will be made necessary in other portions of the United Kingdom by the ever increasing burden of Imperial legislation. Thus tbe action of the Land League is likely to hasten the establishment of real local government throughout the United Kingdom.