The Dominion. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1907. POLITICS AND MEN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 55, 28 November 1907, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1907. POLITICS AND MEN.

When ; the Attorney-General caused that little stir of excitement by proclaiming himself an. unabashed Socialist, he did a very interesting thing for that small and uninfluential section of the public that leaves the wrangling to others, and finds its entertainment in a quiet study of the psychology of politics. 1 To them it was a small matter that Dr. Findlay had .given a fillip to political controversy by a frank admission of policy: lie had committed the vastly more interesting siri of defying a political. convention of .vital importance. He had said;' in a natural and sincere fashion, exactly what ■ he personally thought: ' And that.'is exactly what seasoned politicians never do. However they may begin, with whatever firm resolve to fight for their principles they may enter public life, they quickly change under the pressure of the silent influences of politics. What seemed easy—the rigid fidelity to clear principles—has become, not merely impossible, but undesirable. The expectations of constituents; the condition of affairs in the .House, the distortion {hat the heat of a practical situation effects in the finished theory of, the cool study—these all combine to drive the politician through those gates of expediency and compromise which he had not expected to see. The bloom is rubbed off. If he is to achieve anything, lie must abandon an Ishinaelitisli attitude, aud work' through accommodations, equivocations and concealments. Men who are honest and genial by, nature, or both kindly and serious, do not find politics revolting when the revelation comes. They take comfort from feeling that they have not lost anything vital' through their acceptance, of the natural laws of-politi-cal life. It is doubtful whether many of our own.M.P.'s ever think of the psychological side of politics, but intellect is a fine flower in the political life of Great Britain. Statesmen there turn aside very often from the dry and sordid details of political controversy, and contribute generously to the intellectual discussions of the nation. Sir Edward Grey furnished one of the most interesting of such contributions the other day in> a speech in which he discussed the influence of politics upon the men who engaged in them. He thought that politicians should take stock of their character every few years, and should put to themselves such questions as: Has my courage decreased ? Am I going forward or back? Are my truthfulness and honesty unimpaired? What about my patriotism—has it given way to> selfinterest? The shrewdest newspaper comment, ,upon Sir Edward Grey's speech was the " Spectator's" use of it to justify the "party" system that your Socialist and street corner theorist, and even your average freshman M.P., finds so easy to condemn in rolling periods about the hollowness and insincerity of politics. It is not our purpose to discuss , the " Spectator's " excellent argument, although we must quote the convincing lucidity of the conclusion that the individual party man " sinks his differences with his party in order to achieve results which are greater than the differences." In Now Zealand, political fife produces upoii those who are concerned ill it exactly the effects which Sir Edward Grey has obviously been seeing and deploring in the politics of Great Britain. The past session disclosed an extraordinary readiness, amongst the rank and file of the Government following, to treat their politics as something quite outside the operation of personal conscience. They prefer to believe with Sheridan that conscience has no more to do with politics tlinn with gallantry, rather than to act according to Mr. Morley's dictum that v" taoso who WQuld troat politics and

morality apart will never understand the one or the otjier." The New Zealand public has had a long' course of nurture in the Sheridan theory, and the result is that Parliament consists rather of local delegates than of serious-minded legislators. The conditions thus unfavourable to the elevation of our politics have fostered the tendency of the Government to work through accommodation and concealment. The AttorneyGeneral has on several occasions demonstrated that he has not yet qome fully under the influences of political life. Nothing could have been more candid—nor, probably, more embarrassing to the Government—than his frank confession upon the subjects of Socialism, last year's Land Bill, aud the limits to the reality of the Legislative Council's function of revision. It would be pleasant if these examples were generally followed. Because society would be dislocated if everybody invariably spoke the exact truth, it does not follow that the efficiency of the parliamentary machine would suffer ;f the great mass of political makebelieve wore to disappear.' One can feel certain, however, that nothing of this kind is likely to happen. The first step towards its consummation is a general self-scrutiny by members during the recess, and we feel somehow that, self-scrutiny with a high moral purpose is the last thing of which most of our M.P.'s would be guilty.