ON POLITICS—AND MR. FISHER.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 185, 22 July 1911, Page 7

ON POLITICS—AND MR. FISHER.

< By

Fred C. Hodgson.

Tw<> things, in addition to the mor, we have always with us—xilitios and religion. At least one rari i> common to both. It is [nest ionable where either begins or ends, and it is questionable pre-■i-viy because both are vehicles of i common insincerity. To be sincrc to-day is to enter upon a candidature for martyrdom, equally in jiolitics as in religion. The sincere •.ulitician is either a simpleton or a -mint and the ag<- of sainls has !<.ng passed away. But politics also differ from reli

lio:i. It is only periodically that p-ditiis persuade men and women into a perfervid belief in their own dm-erity. Men then say they are light, but know they are probably ,vroug. We think we may befools, 'eit we are certain we can never !><■ wholly wise men. Our sincerity i.eiefore is insincere enough to profess only what pride or prejudice inspires us t<> profess.

Now. the main charm of Mr. Fisher. as he appeared to me upon tht verr recent occasion of my first hearing him in Hastings, was just . hai he is better than his politics. He knows that politics are not sincere. ami he was fearless enough to make their insincerity apparent.

‘Was any man worth L'TnOO a yi ar 1 came a question. In open insincerity Mr. Fisher replied with an assured affirmative, exemplifying himself as worth fully L’l t.oiMd He knew well enough that the politics of parties are by no means the ideals which the parties profess. He has had sufficient ar qnaintance with the profession to perceive its duplicity : and he was honest enough not to attempt blind man’s bluff with his perception.

When a man takes to rhe politico] platform it is. at its highest, because he has something to say which he thinks important. At its lowest, it is because he has nothing to say. and others wish him to make that appear important. In either case he may believe in him self, or he may not. But in both cases he must believe in his public : namely, in its cupidity. Now. curiously enough, Mr. Fisher believes both in himself and in his public. Hr believes that he can make his opinions appear important ; ami lie believes that his public- thinks them important. More than that Deiiiostln nes or Burke never achieved. In another aspect Mr. Fisher awakens our esteem. .Such and such "was in the lap of the gods. lie said. “ Who are they ! Where are they he asked with declamatory wave of hand and Shavian hardening of brow. “Upon the platform 7 ’ came the unabashed reply. As the uproarious mirth subsided, with graceful inclination of his head to include Mr. Chairman, and with an ineffable sweetness of man-

ner. Mr. Fisher averred he had never before felt so divine 1 In this, as in every other instance. his repartee was of the manliest calibre. Despite the game in which in- was engaged, Mr. Fisher was always true to himself a man ami a .gentleman. Mr. Fisher knows, as all clearsighted men must know, that politics m the flesh possess little of the altruistic glory with which their exponents fatuously invest them. He knows, as we know, that party politics exist as the rational expression of human deception and man’s desire to be deceived. Of the two we are not so much guilty of being deceived as of deceiving ourselves : and Mr. Fisher’s excellence lay in the fact, that he kicked tlie beam on the other side. He did not attempt to deceive him self: and, more than. that, he was insincere enough as a politician to ask us not to deceive ourselves.

In the whole of his speech Mr. Fisher did not for one moment furget that he was addressing an audi-

ence representative of an arrogantly democratic slate; nor that the political soullessness ( >f such communities expresses it sell first and finally in t hi-vice of aeijuisit iv i-iiess. Thus it was that he pronounced some equivocal opinions ami theses upon land tenure. It is true that he hedger! : true that he juggled with the fetishes of “ leasehold ” and “ freehold.” But. it is also True that- he knew himself to be perfect ly insincere. But I dr> not know that he would have- captivated my affection so completely had he not persuaded me of his wholesome insincerity' to considerations of mere party. Jlc vvi-dn-d it to seem, ami made it seem important, that he belonged to the Opposition-, but he knew it to be only' important that lie did mu. He- was sim-ere enough to liirm-elf. and insincere enough to party, to beseech his audience to hear both sides. His final insineer ity was in wishing us to follow’ his own via media. With good Sir Roger, he saw the much that might he sa-id on both sides. If. a< is true. J saw him strongly limned on the background of a great- and glowing future, it was wholly on accemnt, of. ami in proportion to. any conviction of his insincerity to the politics of mere party.