The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1073, 27 September 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1879.

Virt«>EU?» politics have an interest for us tartranscendingthst which we take in those nf any of the other Colonies of Australia. TTvere is no great dslfiuulcy in accounting for this, for" a large proportion of the present population graduated politically and commercially in Victoria, and stiii cherish their old sympathies and attachments. Hence it is that each move on the political chessboard is watched with such intense eagerness. To some she is the symbol of progressive ideas. To others, and probably the larger number, she is a "shocking example." Whether we go to her for instruction or warning she has become beyond all question a highly interesting political study. From whatever motives, it is well that we should i-irefrtllr watch the march of events in that Colony, and, if we do so without prejudice, and wee ti a sincere desire to be cither warned or instructed, our industry wilt be rewarded by most opportune and tttvaUuib-Ee lessons. are s'.eering, whether wisely or unwisely, in the same direction, and'we d<> welt t» at udy carefully r!tu chart of our adventurous neighbor. New Zealand and Vtct rta, moreover, possess much in common, and, in one important particular, both differ most materially from New South Wales, South Australia-, and Queensland- e have a community of political sympathies, and our more limited territorial possessions, it will be found, upon careful analysis, will account for such complete identity in our political struggles. The land question is at the bottom of the larger proportion of o»r try. In the Colonies we "nave referred t>>. wrh such ettonnor.s terrtt 'ty, tne earth-hungei more than assuaged, ami v.e have tl.ui S illustration ot a very rudimentary. I.i:: [nevertheless a very fundamental, principle in political economy, that any cmBiutltty, to have value, must possess the imnOitvof scarcity. Hence the eagerness '«eti trbtch the public estate, both here 'and in Victoria, is absorbed. It is not ' <>ur intention, however, in venturing to treat of Victorian politices, to discuss on this occasion that tputdio, the land question. We desire rather to deduce frMiwia of practical importance to our-

solves at this juncture of a much more general kind. On a former occasion we expressed our opinion upon Mr. Berry's mission to England, and, whatever of good or evil it may be credited with, one problem 'lie Embassy may fairlv claim to have solved. \\ e are taught this important lesson, that while <ireat Britain counsels us to \vi,; k out <>ur <»«n destiny, the Imperial Parliament may be appealed to in any great emergiuicv. That important doctrine, so confidently disclaimed. is n»w put beyond l:. I" i- a remedy v.liicii. we ft- .r. it wiser c d" not prevail, iiiv v.-: Ik; f-ieed up n she Victorian Mr. 1 Jerry returned from Ki. _-; :i i v.;::: r'v '.live blanch «.f peace ;;; l/i* :tn>i L: was that 'n i >::■ ij.i"i' l! and tii' 'crati 'ii. 'J iie settleii•- ti" '-I the '.'ciii~tit!i;i..n;il question I.- jvrY.l. The time came, and the man. Hut. with colonies and as with individuals,. there is a tide ici their affaire, which, 'f*-k'-ri r.t tli'- Hood, leads on to fortune. UiiiitV'l. r.'i tb«- voyage of their life I- t.oniiil in shallows and in miseries.

S.. f:tr as v.i: can jud'/e, Mr. Merry has failed t" avail himself of the Hood-tide th it would have carried his party on to fortune. Whether owing to pressure from without, or the headlong folly of his own colleagues, he appears to have drifted into a position altogether hopeless and desperate. and there is grave danger of constitutional reform being wrecked upon the shoals and quicksands amidst which he has been steering. His course is indeed bound in shallows and in miseries," a condition of things which, we very sincerely deplore. The despatch of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach was a most exhaustive statement of the case, and, in all respects, a .singularly important State paper. It was clearly a deliverance arrived at after the most careful deliberation. The line.s were well and wisely defined, and Mr. Berry, had he been "left to his own choice, perhaps, or had he refused to he goaded into extreme courses by the Press or his political associates, could have easily ;ettled the question long ere this. The despatch to which we have referred pointed out the way in clear and unmistakcable language, but the Berry r.dministration. most unfortunately—i while professing to have based their pro- ; jx.snls upon such fundamental principles, have, bv sioineht range and most marvellous infatuation, taken a precisely opposite course. The t-'-o prominent features of their Reform Bill are a plebiscite and a nominee Upper House. How, in all the w.-rld, they came to stumble upon two such utterly absurd proposals is beyond our comprehension. A plebiscite is as unEnglish as can well be conceived, and any such tribunal would be the very worst—as a final Court of Appeal—upon such questions as constitutional reform. Very wisely our boasted palladium of public liberty—trial by jury—(and a plebiscite is just an expansion of the principle) is surrounded with suflicient safeguards. They judge of facts, and tacts only. They are no-i" permitted, for the most obvious r.-::.-ons. to ju>'gs of matters of law, and yet the Legislature of Victoria arc urged to pass a measure which would constitute the whole people a jury—not of facts merely, but judges also of the most intricate matters of law. Wo avow our faith in the national instinct and the national conscience. The voice of the people is often, indeed, as the voice of God ; but. to relegate legislative functions tn a whole people—and a plebiscite ill effect does so—i 3 one of those eccentric proposals which, as Lord Dundreary says. no fellah can understand." A plebiscite comes before us, moreover, as an intensely f.ir.'ijn article, with no good reputation to rJcoinmeiid it. and we trust such a measure will never become acclimatised in this hemisphere. A Nominee Chamber i.; quite as foreign to modern ideas, and the proposal is so paipably retrogressive that we are fairly astounded. It is a rather singular coincidence that in New South Wales a Liberal Ministrv are attributing to a nominee Chamber all the difliculties which liberal I nK-aaures arc encountering i:i that Colony, and are c-'-ti-'-'ouerirly clamoring for an elective Chamber. We can comprehend such a movement a«> entirely consonant with advancement and progivssn'o ii.cus, and such a Chamber, rendered directly responsible to public opinion, and liable to a penal dissolution in common v. iih the more popular branch of the Legislature, would go a lung v.ay —if, indeed, not all the way— in effecting a hopeful and permanent settlement <>f the prolonged and I disastrous difficulties which Victoria has j been encountering. Absolute perfection ! i-t doubtless unattainable under any form I. f Government, and the things needi ful for them and for us are wisdom and | moderation ; a eone;ii;: r ory and patriotic i public opinion : for it is not after ail so i much organic changes or measures, however theoretically perfect, as '• righteousI tiess, which e.xalteth a nation."