The Press. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1887.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 6853, 10 September 1887, Page 4

The Press. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1887.

The Cheviot seat, we are pleased to notice, is not to go uncontested. Mr. W. Macfahla"n_, the Opposition candidate, has addressed the electors in several localities daring the last few days, and his speeches, it is satisfactory to learn, give evidence of an acquaintance with politics and the political history of the colony highly creditable to so young a candidate. Mr. Macfarlane is another of the young New Zealanders who have during the pre-

sent contest been induced to come fo ward and offer their services to the electors in the present crisis. He belongs to tha class of men whom we are glad to see taking {a deep interest iv the future of the colony. He was born in it, has all his interests at stake here, and it is only right and proper that he should be willing to do his share of the work ,_f placing our finances upon a proper footing. His interests are those of the colony. If it prospers lie will share iv that prosperity. If, on the . other hand, the present bad system of Government is perpetuated, and th« welfare of the colony sacrificed, he along with others, must necessarily suffer. In seeking a scat in the Legislature, Mr. Mackarlane, as a young colonial with some stake in the colony, can confidently affirm that he has no interests to serve but those of the whole community. As might have been expected, Mr. Macfar-ax- comes forward as the advocate of prudence and economy in the public administration. He gave a number of excellent reasons why it was imperative that the cost of Government should be largely reduced. He directed attention to the fact that the present, when the price of all staple products had fallen iv value, to the extent in many instances of 33 per cent., was not the time to come down with proposals for fresh taxation, before at least making every effort to ' cut down our expenses to the lowest possible limits. It is no part of the duty of an Opposition candidate to frame a financial policy. His task is to criticise and expose the weakness of the Ministerial schemes. A new candidate especially cannot be called upon to state in what particular directions reductions should be made. While mentioning one or two matters which required attention, he very properly devoted his remarks to exposing the weakness and imperfection of the Government proposals. He gave some convincing reasons why the Progressive Property Tax, the Land Acquisition Bill, and the Customs Tariff Bill of the Government should be rejected. The Progressive Property Tax, he pointed out, would simply mean a tax on thrift and enterprise, which would have the effect of driving capital from the country, and preventing intending immigrants with capital from settling in the colon}*. The tax would raise the rate of interest, create distrust hi the colony, and act in such a manner as to cripple industry and lower the wages fund. He strongly condemned Mr. Ballance's Land Acquisition Bill as tending to create distrust, aud put a stop to enterprise. On the other hand he supported the system of selling the waste lands of the Crown in suitable blocks according to the quality and contour of the country, either for cash or on easy terms of payment. He quoted with effect John Stuakt Mux's saying, that " Give a man secure possession of a bleak rock and he will turn it into a garden; give him a nine years'' lease of a garden and he will convert it into a desert." He pointed out the safety of the State and the stability of the Government depended on a thoughtful, thorough, and selfreliant population of freeholders.

In Mr Macfarlane the electors of Cheviot have a candidate who, if returned, may be depended oa to support no fanciful and experimental taxation ; no rash and speculative finance. He will look with suspicion on any proposal emanatiug from men of the Ballance class. He cannot, of course, hope to make no mistakes, but should he err it will be on the side of caution and extreme safety. In the present circumstances of New Zealand such a course of action is not likely to be unsatisfactory to the colony, which needs just now in the Legislature above all things men who can be trusted to resist every scheme which tends in the slightest degree to create distrust in the futiu-e of the country. Mr. Lance, on the other hand, whatever his personal qualifications may be, has beeu a consistent and faithful follower of a Government which has enunciated the policy of the two D's— Distribution of Land and Distribution of Property by means of Legislation. Whatever his private views may be on thesequestionshemustasa Ministerialist be held responsible for what the Government propose as the main features of their policy. The Progressive Property Tax and the Land Acquisition Bill are two of the most important planks in the Ministerial platform. Ministers have urged them upon the country with all the eloquence they are capable of, and a Ministerial supporter must be held responsible for their policy if he gives his vote to keep •them in office. Mr. Lance probably dislikes these measures as much as the great majority of the Cheviot electors do, but if he by his vote enables Ministers to force their policy on the country, he cannot be acquitted of blame for the result. The consequences of the adoption of these two great Ministerial schemes would be simply disastrous, and it is the duty of those who feel that such would be the case to take the necessary steps to prevent it. The majority of the electors of Cheviot, we believe, are of opinion that the Ministerial policy is a dangerous one, and in Mr. Macfarlane they will have a representative who will not only oppose the measures if brought forward, but who will do what lies in his power to drive the authors from their position on the Treasury Benches.

Amid the din of political warfare it may be pleasant to turn aside for a moment to contests of another kind. On Lancaster Park this afternoon the animal battle for supremacy in the ancient and noble game of football is to be fought between the representatives of Canterbury and Otago. Especial interest,attaches to the game this year, as both the contending teams have" recently made a tour round the North Island, and met with the champions of the several provinces. Neither team has been very successful, one victory only out of four matches played having been obtained by each, whilst Otago has had to submit to one and Canterbury to two defeats. 11l fortune of several kinds, however, pursued the local men, and although all is not bright for them even yet, things are so far improved that a victory to at«ne for previous defeats is "being exj-ected. The crowds which doubtless will flock to the Park to-day, will certainly have the satisfaction of seeing a fine game, and possibly a triumph for the Canterbury team.

It is the custom in some quarters to decry the game of football, and to dilate upon horrors, more or less imaginary, connected with it. Some, indeed, go so far as to wish to legislate with a view to its abolition ; and certain employers take stringent measures to repro_s the desires of young men in their employ to play the game. We have no sympathy with such I views. Granted that there is a percentage of accidents which may at times appear alarming —it is doubtful whether in other sports the percentage is not often larger ; and even in connection with football the catalogue of casualties is not rarely a work of imagination. To the uninitiated there may seem to be too much of the rough-and-tumble element in the game;' but a proper acquaintance with it reveals the fact that science, pluck, readiness of resource, self-control, unselfish willingness to work for the general good rather than individual glory, are essentials to proficiency. It is something more than a game, it is an educational instrument: and a man will be all th© ' better citizen who has passed through a training on the football field. Such being the case, we cannot but be gratified at the wonderful spread of the game in the colony. How wonderful that spread has been is shown by the fact that whereas ten or twelve yearsago clubs were to be reckoned by units and players by scores, now clubs are to be reckoned by scores and players by thousands. Quite recently over 500 of the young men of Christchurch and .suburbs alone were engaged on one afternoon in the game, and we believe that Dunedin and Auckland can show even larger numbers. As several hundreds of spectators also watched the various matches, it is abundantly clear that a large section of the community is interested in this manly sport-. Indeed, the match between Canterbury and Auckland, three weeks ago, was watched by close on 10,000 people, aud it is quite on the cards that to- ! day's game may draw an attendance of five or six thousand.

These facts ought not to be ignored. Even if the game possessed objectionable features, its rapid spread, and the intense interest it excites in the rising (and many of the risen) generation, should call for the sympathising notice of people at large. The bringing to bear on players the influence of a kindly public opinion, whioh will set itself against abuses aud evils, and seek to promote manliness, fair play, and skill, is a course far wiser and more beneficial than attacks on the sport in which prejudice aud ignorance largely have part, and repressive measures either public or private. Wo wish well to the game and its followers, and look confidently to its being made a means of rendering the young men of our country stronger physically, mentally and morally-

We suppose Sir Julius Vogel's prediction at Papanui, that after all everything was going to end well, and that '* it was likely the Government would gain a great number of seats, whilst they would not lose any," was designed to take the sting out cf the unfortunate cable message, which stated that tho Premier had written to the Agent-General that he expected defeat. At any rate, it is pleasanter to fight with the best side before one, aud no one will grudge Sir Julius his happy optimism. If, however, the prediction that the Government will gain a great number of seats is not more reliable than the prediction that they will not lose any, we are afraid that Ministerial supporters will not get much comfort from the forecast. The loss of many seats to the Government is certain, and the gain of other seats where the Ministerial prospects are brightest is to say the least problematical. Mr. Joyce's shrewd offer to resign in the event of the Premier being defeated in Dunedin and he himself elected for Lyttelton, fits in singularly ill with Sir Juuus' " information received." Elections are always capable of affording surprises, but if there is a surprise in store on tha 26th we imagine it will be that the constituencies will have recorded their

votes in favour of a new departure from our former extravagant methods of government in a more sweeping manner than the election agents dream of. For electors who have no strong political preferences the question will be simply between the old regime, which has landed us in our present financial position, and a new regime of living within our means, and if they are for the latter their vote will be against the Government. It is, therefore, just possible that the defeat of the Government will be so signal as to maik not so much a party victory as a constitutional victory—a victory of the taxpayers over the Executive, and a new departure in our method of Govern-