Hawke's Bay Herald. SATURDAY,APRIL 16, 1887. FACING BOTH 'WAYS:

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7719, 16 April 1887, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1887. FACING BOTH 'WAYS:

Nearly all the political troubles of the colony are due to the fact that so many people want to . be politicians by inspira] tion, and will'no'fc c¥ad'eseend~ toprepara-," ■tory reading ami thinking before undertaking to settle most important questions. This not only, applies to politicians to whom is correctly affixed tlie term "pro-" fessiohal," because they niake a livelihood by professing'-'a' great deal which when examined, turns. out to be charlatanism and ' humbug,' but in a greater degree applies to those whose failings render it possible : for. imposters to flourish at the expense ■of the conimunity* 'R\e stock- ' in-trade of ■' thtt'e '■ gentry -is very easily • .-acquired.. . , Thoy_. have, only to muster a few glib- phrases 'such as the " down-trodden' iiiasses," "oppressors of the people;',' ",' the (death grip of the capitalist," and so forth, and to ring the "changes on" "these as texts for ungrammatical outpourings of twaddle, and their complete, .success ds /assured. If those i >who delight to . listen ,to that sort of thing would "only cultivate their memories a little it would not- be so badjliecause the harangue.' of ; yesterday .. eoiild be !contrastediwith that, of.' 16-day, and ;both .would beepmnafed ; with the action of the humbug >vlien~he gets lo t the. House and Votes.''' Tfie old' saying, that; every nation is' governed as wellas'.it deaofves.to be, is never more,, plainly illustrated than when some unscrupulous demagogue gets -up to utter a string of stale platitudes in direct contradiction to his practice, and is applauded as though he had furnished a .'c'ohtributioa to tlie progress of the world. As a rule, political . adventurers ate <juite slifewd "enough" to use truth wherever possible, and if they only, acted" up jto it ' there 1 would '[not^Ve/soy; much room for complaint,"' hut- the 'unfortunate/ thing 'is [that itny', correct 'statement made is solely ''designed to win .plaudits at public .-meetirieisr/. To'such; a : pitch ' of have these pereons 1 arrived; that they feel mo timidity in letting .their "talk contradict their practice,' as" they liave" proved by experience Mat attendants at public •meetings are] "quite .willing to ignore action... so. ..long, as they are tickled with- ' .speech;' : - Take, , . for. instance, a paragraph from 'Mr Smith's recent "speech "at.. Waipawa. Speaking on taxation , lie said,, '.J It ..was the large 'owners' of property who liked Customs duties,. because.they. did not pay so much under, them in proportion as thepoor did. Absentees'of course liked Customs 'duties, for they lived out of the colony drawing rents off their estates while the people living here'- 1 paid taxation through 1 the Customs;.",: -Now there Js not a word of .that which .is not true, and the couple of .sentences quoted- would do very well asa startihg' point 'for' political action 'which would really .^be/ in -the interests of the people generally. We are • entirely in raccdrd f vith],the sentiment .enunciated, as' is only ''natural, 'for 'wo' recognise in it an .approval ..of,_ what_.we . have .taught for l years. ri ., F .We, also, .see .in it what: Mr, OrmdUd- is' advocating,'- for which reason.among iotliers,.,we.look! upon' the member .for, Napier as .the' most, fitting person tc ■ hold thatpositipii. '; Yet, to'be consistent, while, 1 admitting ■.'• freely- • that""what| Mr Smith' s'aid'SVas labspiutely'irue' and in full- agreement with' our» own" yiewsi we .'.'must condemn him for.having jittered the 'words;'- 1 r Th6, reasonlfor^that is 'because : we have the best proof .that he uttered them only to guU his hearer's. .' > Actions ? as an old .proverb puts' it/speak louder than words,' 1 aniljis'Mr) Sn,ii|K,chooses,t6,'act 'oneiwayj and speak another we .prefer to believe iii! the reality of syhat he does. He no doubt knows'quite well that" it is safe for him to 'jet', speech' and^actipn'Jie ; in(direct, oppositiorij'having 1 found* in -the r past -'that such' conduct is not. resented 'by the unLhinkin'g,.. arid the manner and matter, "of his addresses prove that he. does not seek to win converts from the other class of 'voters): -But how funny 'to- that other class must the contradiction seem ! , Mr. Smith on. the ,'platform- can see that Customs duties aro'in favor of large property owners," .and are'liked by them,' because the incidence;, of taxation! is.,uufairly ; ap-. portioned, and the largest share falls upon ,'thb. shoulders', of the working,' man,; but when Mr Smith is in the House' it is , quite another. iiiatter; 1 .This is no snpposi-, tion, but a statement' -of -actual fa'cti for last, session!. the '.Ministry, supported by the-:;member ''for -MVaifiawa;^'proposed to, ..add ■• to .the", Customs duties, ! but he stuck'-' byj thein/'like 'the' faithful 'henchman . [that,. ho;i is. t He. 'knew that ' Ciistphis^tluties rbbb'ed^tlie'-'poori' for he said so on Wednesday' night, and.-iv so doing took a leaf out of Mr Ormond's book, yet he was quite able to reconcile' this knowledge with, an unfliiichingi ad-* herence to the Ministry.^ ' Now, if his con- 1 stituents are sensible why do they; not, resent this' double-dealing ?^ .The answer, to thatisthatthe.majority of hissupporters are in that.frame .of mind. which does; not stoop to criticisni; and 'it looks as if Mr Smith may talk : one' way and vote another Avithoufcl.mucli.fear.ofconsequences; (indeed the. matter.^is^even'-' worse than 1 wo , have ' jstated. : v Nbt ; ouly did the Ministry try. last to increase, the,, Customs duties, but they have- announced that a 1 much' larger increase is to be proposed in the ensuing session, and he will continue to support the Ministry. A more transparent exhibition of political humbug could; not be imagined. It- ■ ■ pays to. ' bewail the woes of -\y,orking people on the platform, and to mourn over the wickedness • . of, those • who oppress the poor through the Customhouse, but as Mr. Smith supports through thick and thin those who are endeavoring to add to such enormities, it must be concluded that this line of action is as profitable as the other. But profitable to whom ? Surely not to his constituents, for they are told, and truly told, that heavy Customs duties are opposed to their interests, and can only benefit large property owners and absentees ! Is it not plain that Mr Smith is simply fooling thoso who support him? If Customs duties are so bad, why did he not denounce tho Government last session when they tried to add to the burdens of the people? Why, again, does he not denounce 'the same Ministry for stating that they will propose much larger additions in tho coming session ? But we do not'blamc.'iim so much as, we do those 'who are gulled by him. While they are 'content to be represented by a man who talks one way and votes another, they are really helping to keep 'in' existence the bad state of things which they cheer Mr Smith for condemning. They listen delightedly while he tells them what vicious expropriations take place under tlie Customs, and while lie describes how they are designed to benefit the large , property owner and the wealthy absentee, but they do not ask him to', explain why. he supported the Ministry who last session tried to increase those duties. They do not even ask him how ho can make up his mind to support them in the future, although that future is to be one in which duties are to l>c made as scorpions compared with thoso which, while too heavy now, arc but as whips. No wonder that the people suffer from bad government, seeing that running with the hare and hunting with the hounds is so easy and profitable an occupation !