NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVIX, Issue 3009, 22 December 1896, Page 2

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

In the debate on the Addross-in-Roply at the opening of last session, Sir Robert Stout took upon himself the rolo of critic of the grammatical construction of the Governor’s Speech, and, by the way, ho foil into more than one grievous error while so engaged. If wc mistake not, the bold, Roman hand of the same politician and pedagogue is noticeable in an article of Inst night, in which the deterioration, of words in the -English language ii dealt with—to the intense delight and satisfaction of the author of the stilted nonsense. Rut in his criticism of the Liberal Party in this ' Colony the writer is guilty of unfairness, of gross misrepresentation and the reiteration of charges which he has failed to prove. To brand the bulk of the people of New Zealand with dishonour because they failed to support the party of selfishness and monopoly, and insisted on retaining in office for a third term the men who have done so much for the Colony as a whole, is to be guilty of a line of conduct which verily will have its reward. Hundreds of tons of paper and an ocean of printers’ ink have been used up in the vain endeavour to warp the judgment of the electors. The elections were fought out by the Liberal Party on the issues of that party’s policy, and though the Opposition imported into the conflict in almost every constituency the grossest personalities and other questionable tactics, the people remained, in the majority of cases, true to their own interests, and rejected the Conservative candidates. For having accomplished this work in the face of tremendous odds in the shape of a heavy expenditure o! money and the dissemination of glaringly fal-e statomontsjsoj that they could not be fully mot before the polling day, the people of Now Zealand are branded as the upholders of corruption, and told that their conduct is worthy only of being considereddishouostand dishonourable.

Long boforo the elections—in fact, prior to the last session of Parliament—.sir Kobort Stmt was invited by a Dunedin Conservative journal to make good his charges against the SedJon Administration. He was told that having made specific charges be must furnish the proof of those to the House and the country, or stand 'discredited betor© the constituencies. Those charges were ward for word ch© same as appeared last night; bat not one atom of proof has yet been adduced The repetition of these baseless assertions is neither honest nor honourable on the part*” of the .Opposition and. in the fice of the failure oi Sir Robert cdout to substantiate a single charge, we say —and we do so in the words of our Dunedia contemporary —he stands discredited before t)i > people of No v Zealand. It is said that other than politicians have been known to repeat untrue statements till they, in the end, have come to believe them themselves. It must bo so in tho case of tho Opposition, and

we may add that the “ deterioration of words" is not the worst feature that has come into the political life of oar people.

As an example of “deterioration," let us note the meaning of the word “ Independent." Sir Robert Stout, and with him some of the members of the Opposition Party, now toll us that one of the best evidences of our political progress is to be found in the , increase in the number of men who decline to be classed as belonging to either the Conservative or Liberal aidaof the House; that, in fact, the existence of an “ Independent ” wing is one of the most hopeful of signs politically. On July 2nd, 1884 Sir Robert (then Mr) Stout gave to the people of Now Zealand a definition of the word “ Independent," applied politically. ** I Biy," said Mr (now Sir Robert) Stout, ** that if a man goes into any House of Parliemfent to vote al >no and stand alone and to be drifted about on every motion, first on this side and then on that aide, he can do no credit to himself and no credit to any constituency that electa him. I do not say that such a man may not have bis place in our political world ; but I say no man has ever gone into Parliament, however high his intellectual endowments and sincere his professions and ideas, and done any good, unless he has allied himself with some party, and led others on to do what he believes to be right I say It U the electors who are to blame for electing men who could not tell them to what part/ they belonged, but who said they were what was termed ‘ Independent.’ 1 say that one cause of the bad government of Now Zealand, one cause of our depression, one cause, of our jobs, one cause of our log-rolling, is this : that men have gone into the House and floated about without any defined party principles, and unable to unite with parties, and any person who flattered them for tho moment got their vote." Sir Robert now declares that tho “ Independent” Is a worthy representative and deserving the approval of the electors. Is there not something very like deterioration hore? But whether is it iff tho word itself or in the publidly expressed opinions of Sir Robert StdUt himself ?

The shocking fatality in Napier should serve to deter those of our young men who are in the habit of swimming long distances from shore in tho Wellington harbour* It is quite a common practice for numbers of our rowing mon to indulge Itt aWimnlin£ exercise at frequent intervals-, and td them we desire to address a Word Of Warning. It is not many days since & large shark was seen off the Pctotte beach, and the fishermen tell us that tho waters outside tho Hoads are often Alive with those monsters. They further state that during tho warm summer months sharks often make their way up the harbour, and are to bo seen in 'the Vicinity of the boating sheds and whvrvcs. A word to the wise is sufficient-.

The Gorman offtco'ra who fikvo consented to " teach the how to shoot" and perform other rAilitavy work I have discovered that the Chinaman is not so amenable to " discipline " as the soldiers of the Father* | land are compelled to be. A German officer who was drilling a regiment at Nankin, near tho Viceroy's yamen, having been struck from his horse with a spear, was then Bilrroundod by the B3ldiers and most brutally ill-tce&ted. Ho bad a narrow escape of his life. The Gorman instructors (-J0 in number) k havo all been withdrawn from Nhnkin, hna they are now quartered in ’forts hdar Shanghai. The officer who was injured has received as compensation, and his assailants have been severely punished. Experts declare that it is utterly impossible to make the Chinese army effective, us tho troops know nothing of discipline, and they furiously resent any attempt to enforce it.

After flopping abdut i’ii ove'fty direction the Post is floundering: dreadfully over the flotation locally of the cblbnlal Idah of half a million. Tbcj-6 Ik ho mystery; there never was-. Ofir Sfricnds ot the Opposition have booh shown that they have no more right to know who subscribed the loan than they have to demand the name? of depositors of trust funds or tho deeds of lenders of money to private individuals. Boildod down, the whole thing resolves itself into this; The Opposition had hoped tho loan would bo a failure ; it declared that it would bo so, The result has been failure on their part to foretell the facts. Hence these tears-.