The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1908. THE HAWKES BAY SEAT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 342, 31 October 1908, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1908. THE HAWKES BAY SEAT.

.The re-appearance of Sir William Russell as a candidate for the Hawke's Bay seat is quite a noteworthy event. Even those people who deny that a man can bo honourable or anything but a self-seeker unless he becomes a joint in the Government tail will hardly venture to suggest that Sir AVilliam is inspired by any worse motive than a desire to bring his mental gifts to the servico of a country sorely in need of high-principled servants. Even those who may disagree with his politics will hardly venture to question his past public services, his integrity and thp value of hia aspuriouco

and judgment in the conduct of the affairs of Parliament. That' men of his position should be willing to give up their leisure, and the comfort of their private life, in order to take up the burden of Parliamentary work, is a sign that the degeneration of our political life is not quite' so hopeless as it sometimes appears to be. His candidature will put in better heart those people, and they are not a few, who have been inclined to take a gloomy view of a public opinion which lias made possible the election of a Parliament composed largely of men who lave no capacity for thought and no regard for principle. It was to be expected that his opening speech would be a good one. It is certainly one of the best that has been delivered in any electorate since the campaign began—the clear, forcible, and convincing speech of a passionless student of political issues. We may call attention hero to his delightful examples of the unwavering readiness of the Ministerialists to applaud everything the Government does and every effect of the Government's administration, even though their approval on one day is in conflict with their approval on the next. Sie 'William hit off the Government's policy very happily: "The nearest description he could give of tho Government's policy was to liken it to the action of a flash young man who, entering an hotel, calls out to all and sundry, 'Have what you want!' and then departs, leaving the next man who goes in to foot ths bill," Posterity will appreciate, that analogy.