"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT?"

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1262, 7 May 1896, Page 18

"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT?"

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l have heard this asked by all sorts and conditions of men; for myself I have always answered "Tho present .Ministry is most certainly the best New Zealand ever had." I paid but little attention to enquiries similar to the above, but the frequency with which tho questions, was put caused me on many a lonely ride to reflect on same, and tho conclusion arrived at was that the persistency with which the Opposition press throughout tho Colony had, and still continue to abuse tho Ministry both individually aud collective! v, had at last awoke the electors from slumber, and been the means of causing the electors to think for themselves; and this was a false move on the part of tho Opposition, for the Opposition are, without doubt, responsible for the wonderful feelin" of fellowship among the greater portion of (he press in regard to tho abuse which has been so widely circulated with such disastrous results to the Opposition so far.

Tho Premier, tog-ether with the strongest following any Ministry ever had in New Zealand, was elected by the people owing to a desire lor progress, and not, as has been assumed, by a wave of Socialism. Tho last 10 years ha., clearly shown men who have borne the heat and burden of the day that nothing good was to be expected from Conservatism, and that accounts for (he Opposition only numbering some 15 or ID members; and yet in face of tho oxpressed wish of the'peoplo throughout tho Colony, we find the entire press of tho Colony, with the honourable exception of some I I newspapers, calmly agree together to endeavour to lead public opinion in favour of the few who compose the present Opposition. ft is not the province of tho press to lead public opinion ; the press should do tho samo in New Zealand as is done by the proprietors of the great dailies in London, viz., first find out the true drift of public opinion, and then become the exponent ot same. In this instance a largo and influential portion of the press endeavoured to do in political matters what the peopfo of England refused tho clergy in spiritual affairs some two or more centuries ago. We all know of the attempt to discredit the' work- done in London by a member of the* present Ministry ; hut what is tho position in London this day ? Wo find powerful papers such as Money, tho Economist, the Statist advocating the in- | vestment of capital in the Colony, and the 1 feeling of Stock Exchange men. and finaa-

ciers is entirely favourable to Now Zealand as a field for investment. It is also pointed out to their readers that a country with a settled Government like Now Zealand, and where legislation is of a character to assist to a reasonable extent in developing its resources, is alwajs to he , preferred as a field for the safe investment ; of capital. The attempt of the Opposition through the medium of the press to discredit the present Ministry naturally suggests the following: r From what source does this desire spring f—Not from the fountain of light or truth for a certainty. 11. What is the object the members of the Opposition wish to attain ?—Not tho greatest good to tho greatest number. The Opposition, composed of, as they themselves imply, men who lead good, true and pure lives, want to perpetuate here in New Zealand that awful contrast j between tho enormous wealth of some and the frightful poverty of others that exists | in the °old Country this day. However, | many electors here know for a certainty that all is not quite for the best in the land of their birth, and fervently desire that their sons and daughters shall not be bound to the chariot wheels of capital, knowing from past experience that the place of capital in this year of grace should be that of an hand-maid to labour. There now simmers throughout tho length ahd breadth of New Zealand a stern determination among a very large number of the people to stand shoulder to shoulder for the purpose of again returning their elect, to wit, the present Premier and his supporters, and by so doing put oil' to some remote day the return to power of the Opposition, which some of them crave for as earnestly as some poor intemperate create ro craves for another glass. Did any member the Opposition ever stand in a cottage of one of tho unemployed at evening and see the eager look of enquiry in the eyes of the wife and mother on tho would-be breadwinner’s return; and when the crust of bread was put down for him to satisfy his hunger with, and the father gently puts it aside with the words, “ It will do for the little ones,” there were tears in the eyes and sobs in the heart of the wife and mother, she knowing only too well, by stern experience, what unsatisfied hunger is ; and yet because such women fill a lowly position in life they are termed by the loaders of tho Opposition “ Dead-heads,” “ Mrs Tommy Atkins.” The coming elections will show that the women, together with (lie New Zealandborn, and those who have waited in vain till the evening of their days, can and will relegate all those who sneer at their lowly position to the seclusion of their private estates, where they will have ample time to attend the trees they love better than their fellows; there to await till their broad acres are wanted for close settlement. Pi LG KIM. Gisborne, May 4th, hS!)(>.