A Political Weathercock.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 384, 30 November 1889, Page 3

A Political Weathercock.

Ito ths editor.] Bib, —In a letter which appeared in a Gisborne paper of Thursday evening, Mr File goes on to say that we, the working men of Gisborne, had no need of a champion, that we could solve the labor question by organisation. Well, just now it is the unanimous verdict of the working man of Glrborne that any organisation having for its object the settlement of a question nt this nature would not be a success it bad no stauncher supportera.than Mr File, whose opinion as a politician are considered to be too vague and unreliable. Mr File then goes on with a sangfroid peculiar to mental inferiority to criticise Mr Bees' book. These criticisms are out of place and do not take in tbe general tenor and seope of the book. Really from a mental Itandpo nt, Mr File occupies about the same relative position to Mr Bees that a rat would

under a lion's paw. And now, Mr Editor, with respect to Mr Arthur’s speech, it ia a flat denial of what it purports to uphold, for at the outset of that speech he tried to utter a panegyric on Sir Harry Atkinson, To say that he succeeded would be too fulsome to be true. If I understand Mr Arthurs speech aright, he purports to be a full supporter of the Premier. Every politician who has studied Sir Harry Atkinson’s policy well knows that be is a staunch Protectionist. Now, what says Mr Arthur in the continuance of his speech, anent protection ? He says “ I believe in a freetrade policy, and I think protection in a way a

mistake.” So that whilst primarily Mr Arthur professes to uphold a freetrade policy by supporting Major Atkiuson yet distinctly disagrees with him on a fundamental prin ciple. The fact is Mr Arthur's speech, analytically considered, betrays the weakness of a disjointed frame in which no one section fits the other. Most of the speech may be characterised as a shadowy something that has no distinctive feature in it, since one part stultifies tbejothor.—l am, etc., DIOOSSkS.