OPEN COLUMN.

Inangahua Times, Volume XV, Issue 20888, 3 December 1890, Page 4

OPEN COLUMN.

[The Editor Inangahua Times.] THE IN ANG AH (7 A SEAT. Sir : — As ono of t.ho early pioneers of the Coast, I rlcsiro to make a few observations 0:1 behalf of a class now only too rapidly passing away. We bore the brunt of the hardships of those days in the •sixties, when roads were unknown and when the pick of the men in the Colonies were alone able to cope with the difficulties in the task we set ourselves, viz : — to carve out a home in this wilderness. How we succeeded is now patent to another generation',' who, with the confi« dence and presumption which are the atA tributes of youth, are now endeavouring to the bes' of their abilitiei to teach us that the world has, since the creation, been carried on unrlerwrong notions, and it is for the new dispensation to so alter the social, political, and economic laws that Jack will not only be as good as his master, but, in many cases, a good deal better. One would have thought that the disastrous collapse of the recent strike would have henn attended with the natural re« suit of teaching the Labour leaders and Bpokesmoii to have moderated their tone, and to have climbed down a bit; butt notice that somo of their utterances are still of the samo mock-heroic description which characterised their tactics at tho height of their campaign against law and order, when the headings of the telegrams in 'tho 'Guardian" 011 matters concerning the agitatiou were of a very pronounced and revolutionary nature, prepared by the candidate,' who, for the time being, apes to be a leader of public opinion. It would be a cheerful outlook for this Colony if the Labour organisations held tho reins of Government for only one week. I have heard the arguments used by the- advocates of the Labour candidate, and they, in the main, are all pretty much alike : -"Drake is a "young man and wo don't know whut '' 11 he may have in him, but ho ought to " " have a show." I don't think even his strongest supporters will deny but that is the cl'iof reason for their support. It is almost idle to argue wiih people who can be found to support a candidate on such slender grounds but such is evidently the case This labour candidate has no knowledge whatevur of politics from his own experience. What he hass given forth as his opinion is a curious hotch potch of the utterances of the leaders of both parties and in the report of one of his meetings, the only gleam of originality which cropped up appeared to be the fact that he was determined that us a representative of Labour, his services rb a member of tht-. House would be worth double what had been paid to the late members of Parliament, for he announced that he would vote for increasing tho honorarium .to £300 per annum : and in the next breath, he told his audience that he would pledge himself to follow no leader for he expec ted to see the coming Premier elected from the ranks of the Labour party. Heading between the lines, I take this to moan that Mr Drake aspires to the Premiership of the C;>lony, with Millar (whose despotic ignorance has brought ruin and distress into thousands of homes) Minis ter for Public W..rks and E.iucation. It i* one Di 1 ..• ni»htH ot t.-very B> ifisti «i ject toa.H'Jii. i) ivjL>iy.--.ynt hj-i ftllown in, cither in P.iii iinoni, local bodies. 01 in coiuiiiiiaiions for anything it >. i). ogal. Such Muibition is Wiriii ol nil praise fr.mi right thinking, ,nT,::, but there is a certain line to bo drawn, where public opinion steps

in and saya : " Thus far shalt thou go ! and no further."' And in this instance, public opinion is incensed at the endeavours of the Labour parly to overthrow the existing order of things, to use ! an autocratic power to prevent those who do not go entirely with them in their ro . volutionary ideas to obtain employment, lo call every man who- will not join them ' in their crusade, such nnprobious epithets us " blacklegs " etc., and to endeavour to cr;xm the electors with the belief that they will be. able to frame measures, to alter laws and customs in such a manner thnt nn Constitutional Government ever could, or ever can attempt to legislate upon. No, Sir ! Mr Reeve 3is not to my mind perfection or anything approaching it. Neither is Gladstone, (nor. in the light of the past week or two's news) Parnell ; but he haa tliia to recommend him j he is trained to the forms 'and ceremonies of Parliament ; he can look back with pride to the servicos he has done this constit tuency, and the Colony in mauy ways ; lies can claim to be one of the pioneers ol the Coast, who Bhared with many of us the trials nnd successors of the -early days. He can claim as I can .vouch for, the good-will of his fellow members in the House, be they from mining centres, farming or squatting districts, or from the great commercial centres ; all. these people know Reeves, and would go far to help tofosterjthe District he hails from, — not for love of his district, but. as they say, ■ — " Reeves is such a good fellow and only asks for what is reasonable " — A new man going among these people will havo to prove himself competent to hold, his own there ) and if he fails,- he will be sat upon, and quietly snuffed out. It is difficult to understand why Reeves, whose career in Parliament has been essentially that of the working man's friend, should be opposed, whilst the monopolist O'Connor, in the adjoining district, has had a walk-over. I take it that the ballot box on Friday will show' that the Electors aro not so desirous of trying; new blood, as of having a representative with some backbone, and knowledge of what is going on in the world around us. - ; I am etc., A Sixty- Fivßit.