The Hastings Standard Published Daily. TUESDAY, OCT. 27, 1896. POLITICAL GRUDGE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 156, 27 October 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

TUESDAY, OCT. 27, 1896. POLITICAL GRUDGE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the that we can do.

Tin- Hon R. -J. Skddon has earned ail enviable position in the political world, and consequently he is at the moment one of out- best-hated public men. The feeling exhibited towards him is not that malicious character associated with the word hatred, but it is certainly of the nature of a grudge. There are many who would be pleased to see Mr Seddon ostracised. Ilis chief fault lies in the fact that he has been successful. He has by sheer force of character, byindomitable pluck, and untiring industry worked himself into a commanding position in public life, and there are those who would not hesitate to use politicial dynamite to bring about his downfall. Those who have a political grudcre against Mr Seddon, and who would allow their bias unlimited scope, form but a small section of the community, but there are others who, when they hear of Mr Seddon or any characteristic expression of his, experience a sensation —an irritability which makes them inclined to swear, i It is a moral sensation and not uuj like the physical sensation produced by the scratching of a hard pencil on a slate; it makes the blood run cold for a moment and renders the man who feels it quite incapable of any political impartiality. Of course those who are in the opposite political party to Mr Seddon are the greatest sufferers by this irritability. " This feeling of excitable jealousy is ! as old as the hills, and in Ancient J Greece a safety-valve was provided by ■ ostracising the individuals who had

incurred the envy of the people. Aristotle tells us that " democratical states used to ostracise and remove from the city for a definite time those who appeared to be pre-eminent above their fellow - citizens by reason of their wealth, the number of their friends, or any other means of influence." Plutarch says it was a "a good-natured way of allaying envy " by throwing a cloud over the dignity which had excited a grudge. In these enlightened days such violent means of punishing a man for his popularity and success would not be tolerated, and the political grudge will continue modified or aggravated according to special circumstances. It is this feeling that makes it so impossible to accept at full value anything said or written for or against any of our leading politicians, and a perfectly independent estimate cannot be formed because we are all more or less under the influence of this bias. In New Zealand political articles form the staple production of the newspapers, and every other man is a politician. It was Piudyard Kipling, we think, who said that New Zealand was suffering from a plethora of statesmen. "With politics as the Alpha and Omega of our life, how can we escnpe entertaining political grudges ? Political ostracism is too expensive a price to pay for the purpose of allaying such grudges, and, even if a forced retirement dispersed the bitterness of feeling, it would disperse it at the cost of all political efficiency. Although we may become irritable at the mere mention of the names of our political leaders, we question whether there is any genuine wish with the majority to see the leaders kept outside of Parliament. For our part we hope Mr Beddon and our other leading politicians will again be firmly seated in the House of Kepresentatives.