THE The Inangahua Times. and Beefton Guardian PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. FRIDAY APRIL 22, 1898.

Inangahua Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1197, 22 April 1898, Page 2

THE The Inangahua Times. and Beefton Guardian PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. FRIDAY APRIL 22, 1898.

Abuse, and misrepresentation, are the penalties of greatness, and when ambition becomes the the premier on motive pow er of a the war man's life unpopupath. larity is one of the conditions which has to be accepted as inevitable. This is verified in the ca_e of New Zealand's Premier. Ambition instigated him to seize the reins of power. He seized, and holds them with a firm grasp — ergo he is a butt for the envious, and liab e to be arraigned at any moment befoie the bar of public criticism. His name in certain quarters is the synonym for all that is selfi h, and unscrupulous. Yet New Zealand, under the Seddon administration, continues to forge steadily ahead, and the national shipwreck social upheaval, financial and industrial ruin prognosticated as the natural results ofthe Liberal policy are, as the country con., tinues to progress, turning our. after all to be the veriest bug-bears iHvented forthe sole purpose of engendering public distrust, and undermining the confidence of the timid. Mr Seddon has just completed a tour ofthe North Island, and took advantage of his visit to the large centres of population to remove certain damaging impressions that seemed to be gaining ground, and to enter into minute explanations concerning various matters that had cropped up during 'the last session. The land policy of the Government, labour legislation, mining enactments, and one or two other burning questions — such as Mr Seddon's mnch assailed connection with the Anglo-Conti-nental Syndics' , and his extravagant outlay du ••«■ the Jubilee trip, were all touch >on with characteristic lucidit -1 boldness, the. effect produce y his straightforward and pr. ! .i cal explanations being favorable in the extreme. At Auckland particularly Mr Seddon met with a most cordial reception and spoke for over two hours at the Opera House to as large and enthusiastic an audience as had ever assembled to meet him. Alluding to the charge of over-expenditure during bis travels to Australia and the Old Country, he said that Sir Ju'ius Vogel, on his first visit to London, was voted with an allowance of £1250, and on his second visit £5640, with a special allowance of £isoo. Sir William Fitzherbert had £6134, with an ah lowance of £300. Messrs Bell and Fitzherbert had £5540, with a special allowance of £1777, and an allowance to Mr Bell of £1860 He added, "The allowance and expenses of Mrs Seddon and himself, when on a special visit to the Queen, were £1750. Tbe result to himself was that for a year's service to the Colony he was considerably out of pocket. " Then, with regard to the objections raised against his occupying the position of a member of the Board of Advice of rhe Anglo-Conti-nental Syndicate, he pointed out that Captain Russell, Mr Hislop, Mr Mitchelson, and Sir R. Stout all held seats on the boards of directors of companies as directty interested with the Colony as the Anglo-Con-tinental whilst they held Ministerial rank. He said there was nothing to conflict between lhe two positions he held— Premier and member ofthe Board of Advice -and he added : " If there were the slighest conflict, he was not going to throw away 26 years of service in the public interest simply because of this particular company. On the other hand, he would never allow his opponents to take away his freedom, or to cast a slur on the Liberal Party and say, ' We hounded Mr Seddon out of his position on the AngloContinental Com pa :iv.' " For stating his case thus clearly tothe pub'ic Mr Seddon is accused of " howling like a whipped dog before the people, pleading for mercy ? t the hands of his newspaper critics. " Was ever anything ~o unfair ? Every man has the right to defend hims-If, and that which a private individual can claim as his just prerogative should surely not be denied to one whose position as head of the Government exposes him to attacks too often instigated by envy, and malevolence.