The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 969, 28 May 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 1879.

Mr. fteorge M'Lean, the member of the House of Representatives for Waikoiraiti, is neither a brilliant sji«aker nor a politician noted for broadness ft vision or the capacity to originate any new tine »t policy. He is very mttch like "tur »f a Hock of sheep ; he follows his leader*, and jumps when they jump. He M ft the Opposition, but not a tender of the [arty. Still, he has been permitted to play the part of a Minister of the Crown. ami jus speech the other evening at Waikintatti is therefore entitled to some amount of notice, though we fear that very little wheat can be winnowed from the vast amount of chatt that made up his pr>stsyssionat address. For the most part his speech was composed of a free criticism, according to his own lights, of the policy anil actions of the present Ministry—th.>.-e I naughty men who drove him and hts 1 tolleayuea from ttteir comfortable seats on the Treasury I'enehes. Last session jMr. M'Leart distitigvtished himself ly tiie persistent antl doggpd i>pj»>atf.ion lie yave to the present Government. He never missed arv opportunity of letting' oil Fit's little pop-gun at Ministers. lie was. apparently, convinced that. no j;o.nl could po*dbly coiue out of Nazareth, and even though he now says that !:»»? session "he was a supporter of the Mink-try, or at all events called himself such." there was scarcely a member »>t t:v.» llousi* who showed greater readiness in abusing the »».>vernmenr. While his former chief, the defeated, and for the time at least conquered. Major Atkirt&oti. looked on helplessly or heedlessly. " tile weakest member of the "continuous Mini..try" gained notoriety, if not fame, bv the dogged manner in which he assailed everything the »fovernmeat said or ilid- It may bo welt. therefore, to mv v.-hat Mr. M" f.ean has to .ay agah'st the Callinet, and in extennati.-n of his ov.ti conduct He starts out by telling its that he lias travelled all over the Colony, in ord't- to see what is on. and to make hiiuseif acquainted witii the whole of New Zealand, and, as he says. " every representative who can afford it outfit to do so." Jt is to be hoped that the information ht) obtained may tent? to improve his mind and enlarge his powers of vision. If so his trip through the Colony may have the effect of making him better fitted for the position of a Minister, should he ever again occupy such a post. Hue it% as .Mr. M'Lean says—and we agree with him —every member should travel through the Colony tit order to become acquainted with its requirements as a whole, how mtte'tt greater is the necessity for Ministers to travel arid become possessed of this very iiseinl information} and wherein, then, lies the justice «.f the severe eeu.-nre he .-eeks t» fix upon members of the Ministry tor, as lie inelegantly styl.-s it, " Hying over the country?" He did not say a word about the manner in which the Ministry of which he waa so distinguished an ornament were " constantly ttying over the country, and that, too," without any apparent desire to acquire useful knowledge," Oh dear, no; there would have been no point in such a statement ; it would have told against himself and his precious jewels of colleagues. Neither did he allude to tho fact that Mr. Whitaker, a member of the .Atkinson Government, refused t» leave Ins own home and take up his resilience in Wellington, where he omhl consult with his colleagues, and that it w:w aetually found necessary to send the Mmulina specially to Auckland to bring down that august personage and his notorious Native Lands liilt jtut prior to the opening of Parliament. On thu subject the exMinister's memory failed fit::;. lint he did romcmhor that when the Jb»ti*e met last session the present Government were in great favor, and htid carried a majority of the elections during the recess, and he gave his hearers the l>cuetit of the repetition, of this bit of history ; but ngain he omitted to tell his audience how those who had used the promise of adherence to Sir George Grey's policy a3 a passport to the House acted in violation of their pledges when they reached the desired goal. That within Mr. G. M'Lean's breast there existed so much self-sacrifice and magnanimity as to l£ad him, on iteeount of the popularity of the Government, to oppoae every attempt to oust them, because he thought they should have an opportunity to show the electors what they could do, would surprise us were we not assured that he and those who worked with him knew that any such attempt eotttd end in nothing but failure. Seeing this, the membt-rs of her Majesty s Opposition adopted tactics* of a different nature. Instead ot boldly questioning tiie right of Ministers to the positions they occupied, Mr. M'l.ean and his friends adopted what i* known as the harassing policy. By every means in their power they sought t» frustrate the carrying of the Government measures, and so prevent the Ministry allowing what they cotdd do. The explanation given of howeven Sir George Grey's friends deserted him in his attempts to carry out his policy is pretty welt known. Everyone knows that almost every single member of the House entertained different views upon the great topics of the session. The onlyexceptions to the rule may have I men the members of the Opposition, whose sole aim wad the defeat of everything hut their own seltish ends. Some Government supporters did not think ttie reform* proposed by the Ministry went far enough, others thought they went too far, and many did not apparently know what thoy wanted. _ But whatever may have been the feeling of the House towards Sir George Grey and his Ministry, it would have none of those

that preceded them. Mr. M'Lean s defence of those with whom he was associated was one for which he could find no warrant. Ho scorns to think that lapse of time'has obliterated all the offences I with which they wore charged ; but those 'offences v.iii iicvlt be forgotten, ijor will the Colony ever occupy the position it i have done had his party never held office. They instituted a state of affairs that the woplc v.-ii! never be persuaded was '_'*>■ 'f'T the country. bv affording political partizati.s superior advantages for personal r.dvnr.coti'.'.nt in almost every "lir-N ri ri. V.'ith charmiug simplicity. Mr. ,M L< in t.>M l-h constituents that the • ■lectors in::sr hav.- .-<-eli how thoroughly the Lite ll' vrrnmi iit had been whitewashed. Here i.s an admission. We certainly did not expect Mr. M'Lean to acknowledge that the whitewashing of the iate 3linistry was necessary. Unfortunately. we are not told who applied the whirin:," brush, but t!:e fact that it was applied at at! is an admission that somebody did not like the original color. Of one thing we are tolerably convinced, however ; the operation w;'„i not thoroughly performed, for the members of the late (Tovernuiont still retain very limcli tlie same unclean appearance. The original color can be very clearly seen peeping out through the whiting, giving them a piebald aspect, moat appropriate, we must admit, .all' tilings being considered. Unquestionably the iatw (.'overmnent last session, in their "touched up garments, cut a comical figure. Mr. M'Lean's statement that rhey had been whitewashed was very apt, t'oi\ under a cheap, thin coating, each member attempted to disguise his own particular hobby, which he endeavored to carry out on his own account, instead of prior to the accession of the Grey Administration —in an organised mass. When it was seen that Sir George Grey's polity was popular, the Opposition pretended, under the cloak of as patriotic as the Premier, to be anxious that a liberal policy should be carried out, but they did so mockingly. Everybody must have been suspicious that their conversion, like that of the detected thief, was too sudden to be genuine, and was only practiced for the purpose of deception. They raised the ladder of Liberalism in order that they might again climb into power. Mr. M'Lean says that he has never been associated with a more honora!»le set men than the late Government. If this be so, we can only remark that it is. praiseworthy in that gentleman that he has so weli maintained his moral character. To sav, however, that his colleagues were incapable of doing anything that would not ledotmd to their credit, was a t.irv sweeping assertion. There were a few particularly black sheep amongst his associates." and it must have caused him some trouble, and greatly exercised his strong mind to withstand, the powerful temptations to wander from the paths of rectitude and travel in the broader roads so freely trodden by some at least of his colleagues.