The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1890.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 5978, 1 November 1890, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1890.

The working men of New Zealand havo recently had a very severo lesson, and they are now lamenting their thoughtlessness in placing their confidence in leaders who were not qualified to load. Big words, and many of them, go a long way towards giving a false impression of tho capacity of a man, and, no doubt, bounce and bluster did much towards placing the leaders of the strike into a position they should never havo held. Itoiu one end of the c iony to the other these men are now being censured by tho strikers for withholding the true state of affairs. They are being"censured for precipitating tho struggle that lias arisen between capital and labor, for frittering away tho mony, and for generally mismanaging the business which thov wore chosen to conduct. Tho Unions now hnd that they mnde a mistake in the selection of their leaders, and it behoves them to bo moro careful for the futnro But will they? IVom all accounts they are still inclined to bo the blind followers of the blind. Tho so-called labor candidates for tho representation of constituencies in Parliament are not a whit superior in mental capacity to the men who have so dismally failed h, respect of tho strike business. It does not-seem that they regard the government of the country in any more serious light than the conduct of a dispute between a ma. tor and his servant It does not appear to occur to these men that the administration of public affairs demands speoial qualifications, and n capacity of a high order, and that it. Snoring this tho country through its Parliament must suffer It is generally acknowledged that tho state of tho colony i,. i„ a critical com Uion, and at such a time only the best tried men ot experience aud probity should jo chosen as legislators. But what do we hnd : A score or so of pennile.s nobodies, of uncertain probity m \ of no experience have had the cr,nßun.m.._o impuuonco to oiler themselves for election, as though their public services, either in or out of Parliament, could ba of the slightest possible benefit. These are not the men to take charge of » country in a time of difficulty Whathavethoytoloseifthoyruinthocoionvi A bsolutely nothing. Some of thorn, indeed lost all they once possessed by bad management, extravagance, or inattention to business, bolero thoy discovered that their ri<*ht place was to steer the ship of State. Tiioro »s more truth than khulnJss in the assertion that when a man has failed to man'ago his own affairs ho becomes a commission'"agent to, manage the business of other people. And so it is with these adventurous politicians; they think thoy can rule a country because they havo not succeeded thorasolves. It should not bo lost si/ht of however, that they take particularly good care te, address them. . (yes in variably to tho working classes. Thoy don't want to have anything to say to people who can see through them, who can detect their sordid -uotives, and who despise the vanity of heir impudent pretensions. No; the people thoy think will support them are they who aro too of ton led away by a rolling flow of sentimental humbug. But we have too much faith in tho ....lid substratum 0 f

common sense and sound ju<_;,:...._i, underlying tho character of British woiimon to behove that, they will bo deceived by idle words. As well might w e suppose them capable of deposing the captain of a ship in

favor of the cook during a storm, as to I think the great majority of them cannot tell the difference between gold and the brummagem article. It is true that in the matter of the strike agitators they made a mistake, but the old adage will hold good, " Once bitten twice shy."