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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 1, Issue 49, 28 August 1858, Page 3

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To the Editor of the Hawkers Bay Herald. Sir,"Shut, shut the door, good John ! fatigued, I said ; Tie up the knocker ; say, I'm sick, I'm dead." —

Thus "(if I recollect aright) our great English poet, Pope, commences one of his epistles : the occasion — his being tired with so many folks asking him to correct their verses. And surely I, wretched mortal ! (and the generality of your readers) must be equally tired at seeing my name so often thrust tost fetched and jerked before the public, on account of my political sins. I had hoped I had quite done with politics, (quite time, some may say,) but, "goodness me !" what can a poor fellow do — how upon earth can he be quiet, when he is so pitched into (that I say not pitchforked) every week in your paper. And now, "Act IV., scene 4," lo ! Mr. Robert Pharazyn, suddenly resuscitated, comes pop upon the stage! But, "Oh dear" (as Mr. Pepys in his diary might have written,) oh. dear ! the overweening vanity of some young men — who fancy themselves to be something when they are nothing. However, I should not complain ; seeing, that, in the House of Representatives, one of the members said, that he feared it would require military force to niake the colonial youth of Canterbury know their proper places — a colonial failing, Mr. Editor, a colonial failing. It is now 25 years since I left my father's house for this land, during which time I have in one sphere or another, been working hard for the good of my fellow-men (strange! if I should not have gathered a few fruits of experience in a quarter of a century !) — while here, in your, paper of the 21st inst., I have, unasked, an inexperienced colonial youth, who has scarcely numbered the same amount of years, thrusting himself publicly upon me as the corrector ofspy letter to you of the 19th ulto., and as my, very sage monitor! Surely there must be a deficiency with, that party to whom he professedly belongs (and who endeavoured to foist him upon us as their nominee at the late election !)-— or, the young man's "wish to see His name in print" (as Byron says,) must have been so strong that he, could not be held -in. ;. Be, it as it may, (astronomically speaking,) "a sad. error, in computation this" :---but,.an6n.— ?. :. . . ■-' O.f course ;l 9hall pass unnoticed all -my young•mentor's grave ocharges .of ,. "bungling sophisms" ; . andi"sop^Mstry'Vand < tfi^bwy'' and : sf false analogyj|'k ;and of --iny'beingf .: ?• less ; v,eidightened" j ::and> than himself? and; •pimy. i -."- : l ; 'nitwi"d.';.hdw i '

ever, in briefly noticing his own "fallacies" and "false analogies" to keep prominently before you, sir, his statement, that "Mr. Colenso ought to know that a false analogy proves nothing, except dislionesty or incapacity in the person who uses it."

First, then, Mi 1 . R. Pharazyn says, — "the sophistry I refer to consists in comparing the elected head of a government to an hereditary bead, and concluding that what would be tyrannical conduct in the one would, be the same in the other." In reply, I say (remarking, by the way, that I made no euch (foolish) comparison — the two tyrant 3of ancient Rome whom I had cited, IVlarius and Sylla, having been both elected by the people ;) — in reply, then, I say, that, as to tyrannical conduct there is no difference ; or, if any, the tyrannical conduct of an elected leader is every way worse than that of an hereditary one. I need not, sir, cite ancient or medseval history ; nor go back a few years of my own time to bring as a witness unhappy Poland. (*) Glance at the continent of Europe; see those two elected Heads, Louis Napoleon and the Pope of Rome ; do their chains forsooth lie more lightly on their people because they were elected ? rather, is not that very consideration the bitterest drop in the goblet which the patriots of France and Italy have to drink ? Did not the young eagle the more keenly feel the arrow which brought ln'-m to the ground, when in rolling he saw that it was a feather from his own wing which had feathered the shaft ? — Mr. E. Pharazyn, you, "ought to know that a false analogy proves nothing, except dislionesty or incapacity in the person who uses it."

Secondly : Mr. E. Pharazyn says — "There is just sufficient likeness between the Emperor of Austria and a Superintendent to make the analogy apparent ; both are heads of governments ; the assent of both is required to Acts before they become law." Here is another "false analogy" ; being an echo of Mr. Woodward's king-making sentence — that a "superintendent has sovereign powers." But the truth is (or ought to be), that there is no likeness whatever between the Emperor of Austria and a Superintendent. Both are not heads of governments, in the same, or like, sense ; for the Emperor of Austria has no man over him ; but ove"r a Superintendent there is, first, the Governor of New Zealand, and, secondly, there is the Queen (that I say not, also, a third, viz. the Provincial Council) : neither is the assent of both in the Baine, or like sense, required to Acts before they become law; the Emperor of Austria says, "I will," and who shall say nay ; the New Zealand Superintendent says, "I will," and lo ! Governor Browne says "nay" ; or the Governor assents to laws which the Superintendent wishes far enough olf yet must obey ; or a Judge of the Supreme Court with, a "presto I" brings iiim to order, makes him recant and eat humble pie. Let it never be forgotten, that a New Zealand Superintendent in assenting to laws does so as the locum tenens of a deputy. And while the Emperor of Austria posjsses all the mighty influence of appointing to places, a New Zealand Superintendent (speaking comparatively) has none, — he cannot appoint a icommon magistrate, or even a magistrate's clerk ! Oh! oh! Mr. liobert Piiarazyn you "ought to know that a false analogy proves nothing except dishonesty or incapacity in the person icho uses it."

Thirdly : Mr. it. Pharazyn says, — "Twenty two members of the Council have passed certain Bills, and the Superintendent has vetoed all those that he considered to be injurious to the best interests of the province * * * * So that, Dr. Featherston having been elected by a large majority of the provincial electors, is clearly right in opposing the representatives of a section of the province." Here is another "fallacy" or "false analogy" of Mr. E. Pharazyn. For, the members and Superintendent are ail alike men and freemen and elected servants of the public, and chosen for one work ; (had the members been merely animals, or slaves, — or had the Superintendent appointed them as his servants, or had he been a god, — there would indeed have been a difference ;) being then alike, as public men elected by the same body to one work, there is no difference ; why then should the voice of one prevail against those of the twen-ty-two ? only fancy the President of America vetoing repeatedly all Bills passed by £ths of the Senate ! why the very sea would be "flaring" from Cape Cod to Tampico ! ! Suppose last year Dr. Welch had been elected Superintentendent, and, wishing to carry a point against the run-holders, had vetoed the Bills of the Provincial Council — if not exactly in then* favour yet dealing fairly with them — "lauks !'' what an uproar there would have been ! an earthquake would have been as nothing to it. But we are further told, that "Dr. Featherston has been elected by a large majority of the provincial electors :" — wait a bit ; we shall Bee. Dr. Featherston was, last year, elected by 834. electors ; the 22 Representatives, about the same time last year, polled 4980 votes ; (f) Where now is Dr. Featherston's "large majority?" But, further, still, Mr. 31. Pharazyn states (meaning, I suppose, the election just concluded,) the number to be '81)0 electors' ; (£) but he knows very well that those Bills which were vetoed, were vetoed by the Superintendent who was elected by the 834 electors ; or if he insists on the present election, he must also know that Dr. Featherston had a less majority by 120 over Mr. St. Hill than he had hist year over Dr. "Welch ; and that he had been eleoted not by a "majority," but actually by a MINORITY of the electors ; the whole number on the Electoral Roll being 2400! Surely Mr. Robert Pharazyn "ought to know, that a false analogy proves nothing, except dishonesty or incapacity in the person who uses it"