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Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1904, Page 4

Evening Post MONDAY, JUNE 27, 1904

? THE PREMIER AT KEWTOWN. ■ ■» The Promior had a full house at tho Victoria Hall on Saturday night, notwithstanding tlie ohort notice which was given of tho meeting. Under 'ordinary conditions there arts few places where ho cannot command a good audience, and the snooml circumstances of the pruwmt timeadded tho motives of sympaluy and curiosity in no common di-gtce to tho ordinary inducements which he hits to o/bet. Never, indeed, wna his nma»itig energy move- conspicuous than now. Moat ineu whose constitutions were beginning to fed tho strain of such Herculean labour* as ho haw cudured for the last ten years and more would have been glad of any reasonable excuse, for a spell in which to re- 1 cruit; but, unless in moments of «heer l)liVNJcal prostration, Mr. Scddon appeal* to* have no faith in any medicine except additional work. And t>o, instead of deputing the task to a colleague, or allowing it to stand over altogether, no must needs devoto tho evening of the last Saturday before- the sej-siun to an outline of tho business that the Government intends to uring before Parliament. Under tho circumstances, the Premier might well havo limited himself to an hour, but he actually occupied neatly double Mm I time. Any other speaker would regard nit hour and lifty minutes as at least twenty minutes too much, oven under the bi«t conditions, but Air. Seddon in not an ordinary speaker. Much as we inu.st admiro tho energy and Mio will-power involved in such a display, tho Premier's opponents imi'l agree with his friends in wishing that, for tho pie.sent ut any late, he would be more sparing of hi.s Htreuglh. Tho Mtbjcci to which Mr. Peddon devoted most attention \wi« Ihe land question. There are few subjects on wliich oven he liua paid so much without haying anything definite, but- tliete were at'any rato .some drllnite points in hi.s speech oil Saturday. Though thoiv was not n worn to «ugg\*t that ho would throw in hi* lot with ilio piuty of land reform, ho will not immediately capitiilntv to the Faun era' Union, and he will hico i\ (ii.violutioii lather than accept kn aiMendnient which would giv»> to tho Crown tenants the option of securing tho froeht.ld "at the value <tt which they took up the land. 1 ' Such a proposal i,s of cout.so absolutely luon *>tr»iw, and wo cuu hardly imagiuo it«s Knding any m'ious support in the J louse of R<'prcaentutive«, but it will probably bo put in the less outrageous fom> of allowing owry lonant to purchaso tho freehold at itt present value, and Mr. Soddon ia silent uh to what he would do n. mieh a caso. Evon the more impudent tohbeiy ho woujil appi'ivnliy bo prcpaiod In coinlone if there wero "a nuuuhite from the people" in it.s favour. Yet for tho mosi p.irt hia argument* as apnrl from Wa ronchwions tto Iho full length winch

the ino>pt ardent o f l,,u<! i\f<irnm"i could di'Mre. lie iluliiu'd th.'t we mull ailhoio lo th^ k.whold pniifiplc, thai- tliu land is llu> piopeity of the people, and Miat Iho colony hail .ilieady li.kl e.xpiilenre eii.uv;h ot the tvils of Jai'j:<' irei-ho'd esLilis (oiuviitral il in ll'e, iuiuls of a few. Why, if tin- land is the piopcrty <>f the people, avjll li'- nut, pledge himself to llio MippuiL of an ainenduu'iit which will Pdfeguaid I lie- prop'ity uf Iho pe'u|>lo and absolutely piohibit its further dlienation ? All In* vll do is 10 uphold UlO jircsail My.slei;), <] noting approvingly t lie late ~Sh: hullu4o;i'.s words: ''Let tho («o sylenw tun LOiicuriently — -leasehold und f re -holt!." The fallacy of tkis attitude is that ever? alitnatiuti of (Tie freehold (liniinihhi.s tlie eilate thai remains to lie Ikivml. and ko the < niiciirrent sycli'in jiieana a jireferencc for tin- freehold and a Me'uly friilormg .-iw;>y of what the Pr^-ink-r nrlmit.s to lie the people*, piojurty. We regret, alto that tho mo.st wu. elosrf alienation" of all — Ihe 999 ytar&" lee. 1 c Awthout, revaluation- -.Mill cunt nines to rcceivo the approval of Mr V? limn. On the vexed quest inn of licensing the Picniier's declarations weie eminently 1111Kiti:»facloiy. The stißgestion that Iho ref»pon«ibiiiiy for remedying the position which has aiiscn in Xewtown and Bruce rests Awlh anybody but. the Government is ul lcily absurd. Mr. S-.'dclon himself properly recojuised tho responsibility last 3 cur, and the Regulation of Local Elections Bill which was then lrilioduced ai\is n mcasuro well calculated on the Avhole lo remedy the mischief in tho case of all future polls. Thnt the deliberate, veulict of the people Hiould l)e liable to be defeated by trivi'il tcchniualities Avhich would bo ignored in tho case of a P.uli.nucntary election is a scandal of the fnsi, magnitude, and no Government with a sense, of fair play or with any genuine lCganl for thrive rights of democracy of winch Ihe present Ministry prates so loudly A'.ould tolemte il for a momont. Butall that the Pieinier, hpe iking in a district wlieie if tho people's will prevailed prohibition would now he the order of the day, had to t--.\y on the. subject 011 Saturday lu^hb riniiji.ilcd of vaguo veibo.*ity \slneh commits the Government to absolutely nothing \Mjll he support/ a Bill for the validation of the voided polls in IJiucc and Newtown? Will ho pledge hiniselC to a mca«ure which will give effect for the futuro to the principles enunciated by him — viz , that the law as to tho invalidation of local option polls shall be brought into line Avith that reptihilinij Parliamentary election petitions? Hift only di finite pronouncement on the w hole subject was a piomiso to revive the clumsy hypocrisy ol clause 9. By so doing ho probably hopes to counter tho Prohibitionists, bill. Ihe moro probable oil'oct AVill bo to make the liquor question once more the |ucdomiuant issue in polities, lo strengthen the hands of the ex-Iremi-Us, and to postpone indclinitely Ihe piogramme of latioual lcform which is uri>ciilly needed for the romfoit of tho l>uh!ic: and in tho be«f. interests of tho "tiudo" itself. There aro many other points in the Premier's long and inlieslitig speech, of wiuru wo notice somo in anuthcr aiticle, aud hold over others for fulmo ticatment. Ho Kjiokc briefly but uncompromisingly on tho question of Chinese labour for the Transvaal, and we nro glad lhat ho proposes to givo Piuliamont the chance of exprei^ini^ its opinion on Ihe Hubjccl. Mr. Chainboilain in so fond of appealing to tho wentlments "of "the fieo nalioiifi of Iho Kmpiro" that it would be a pity for the representatives of the freo pconlo of this colony to miss the prewnt chance. Ono wholesome result of the hitler lornm which Mr. iSulclou has loamt durin<; tho tas! few months avo note with .vUit-fyc-tioii. Ha «till scoll's at tlio talk of '■legislulion by fshau.vtion," but ncver-theles-j lie now fnvmus shorter hours ami lew dcinou Using muthc.di. Tho health of tho Piomier and the work of Parliament vnl\ botli bo Rrentlj- lx-lielUetl if lie can be induced to ndhcio to the tardy Avisdom of his new resolution.