The Otago Daily Times. FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1884.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7002, 25 July 1884, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1884.

After-election proceedings are usually very tame affairs ;■ yet it is only then that candidates suffer themselves to appear with the mask off. That is to say, when they condescend to appear at al). Even in such case a pretty correct indication of the real man is 'afforded by the avidity with which they shun the presence of the electors whose favour they have been for weeks past assiduously courting. It may also be said that the electors themselves are usually prone to regard the political epilogue demanded on such pccasions with a considerable degree of disfavour, for they seldom care to attend. The play is played out, the lights are turned down, the orchestra is silent why Bhould the audience wait to hear the farewells of some of the actors, or listen to the gushing self-gratu-lations of others'? This being the ordinary bent of popular feeling, the large attendances at most of the polling-booths yesterday must be ac-' ceptedas indicating deeper interest in the elections just over than is customarily felt. Five hundred persons standing patiently in the street to hear the official declaration of the poll, as to the results of which there could not have been any manner of doubt, is a sight not often to be seen. Yet the reporters tell us that this large crowd assembled in Stafford street to witness the final scene in the election for Dunedin South. It ia to be feared, however, that this abnormally large gathering was not altogether due to political feeling. Rather it was that of a crowd congregated round a prize-ring. A vigorous set-to between the contestants was probably anticipated—dare we say gleefully 1 If so, we are very glad that they should have been disappointed. Mr Gore was, of course, duly and properly grateful to those who voted "for him, to his Committee, and to everybody concerned. He had not wilfully said anything offensive to anybody, he said, and if anyone wa3 offended he apologised and hoped to be forgiven. He did not carry his geniality quite so far as Mr Bbadshaw, who, on a previous occasion, gave all and sundry free permission to "call him Jim—to-morrow." But after his own fashion he was equally serene and. heavenly-minded, as a newly-returned member of Parliament ought to be. jßut it was chiefly on Mr Fish that all eyes were turned. And, to his .credit be it said, he did not afford the amusement anticipated by some at least of his audience. That he had suffered very sorely from a defeat such •as Jie could scarcely have apprehended was morally .certain j

but he showed that he possessed a judicious mastery over himself, for which perhaps his best friends had not previously given him credit. Whatever of impatience or of wounded self-appre-ciatioa he may have felt he wisely suppressed. In his own words, he appeared before them in the best spirit as a defeated candidate to acknowledge his defeat, and to bow to the will of the majority. Perhap3 Mr Fish never showed to better advantage than on this occasion, and we are confident that we are expressing the hope of the whole community that this event may prove a new starting-point in his public and political career. His offer to initiate his successful opponent into the arcana of Parliamentary minutice may have been regarded by that gentleman much as the Trojans regarded the gifts proffered by the Greeks ; but no doubt it originated in a sincere desire to show that the hatchet was in truth buried. And he had his reward too, for the crowd — touched, probably, by, the pathetic hand-shakings of the political rivals, which terminated- the scene-— gave him three vociferous cheer 3to testify their satisfaction. The whole incident i 3 greatly to Mr Fish's credit, and gives us hopes that he will yet do justice to his abilities. Rather otherwise was it at the West Dunedin polling-booth, where a somewhat unseemly discussion occurred between Mr Dick and Mr Stewart. Mr Dick does not seem able to take a beating well. Some allowance may be made for the mode of attack to which he had been subjected, but it would have been better- if he had smothered his feelings for the time at all events, since nothing was to be gained by a petulant exhibition of annoyance. Mr Stewart also might have refrained from noticing the angry words of a defeated rival, and the way in which he shuffled out of a direct answer to Mr Dick recalls only too painfully, the history of his former public career. Neither the one nor the other benefited his cause by the unusual course they thought fit to pursue, and it is well for the credit of our public men that the incident stands alone amongst the records of the

elections. Mr Stout, having no. one to contend with, must have felt himself in peculiarly uncomfortable circumstances, even although he was the winning candidate. The presence of his opponent would have had the same stimulating effect on his system as the " challenge " of another horse has on a high-mettled racer. And here again the fun-loving multitude were deprived of much -expected amusement. Four hundred people were gathered together for the purpose of hearing " some last words" from the late rivals. But only one appeared. They called aloud for "Green," but Green responded not, and they were compelled to expend their superfluous energy by cheering the re-turning-officer. Mr Stout preached a highly moral lesson, bidding them to forget the past and settle down to their occupations; and he so far admitted those present to a peep at the future as to intimate his intention to assist in bringing about an agreement between the different sections of the Opposition —a labour which, we sadly fear, is likely to prove as successful as were the traditionary efforts of a certain dark personage to weave ropes of sand. But the intention is a good one, even if it only results in laying down another paving-stone in the residence of the abortive rope-weaver. At Dunedin Central, again, all was not quite rosewater. . Not that the constituents were wrathfully disposed; on the contrary, they behaved well, and Mr Bracken accepted his defeat with more resignation than was looked for from his peculiar sensitiveness of character. He should not have " worn his. heart u^jon his sleeve for daws to peck at." As in Mr Dick's case, something of natural anger he must have felt at the misrepresentations of which he complained; but it would have been better to keep silence on his wrongs, real or assumed. We regret that one of tha results of Mr Bracken's defeat should be his personal removal to Wellington. ,The absence, of his handsome and genial face and upright figure from the streets of Diinedin will create a void not to be easily filled, and we would fain it were otherwise. Mr Bradshaw, by-the-way, told the' audience that he was going to Wellington next week, and that probably his first act would be to vote against the Government. If this is correctly reported, we are driven to the supposition that he is going infer a heavy course of Bluebook studies, wherefrom to draw material for a damaging speech, since Parliament doss not meet till the week following. This. will be terrible news for poor Major Atkinson,, but it is as .well ho should have been forewarned. Now that he knows what is impending, he will^ of course, exercise the better part of valour by at once placing his resignation in the Governor's hands and so escaping the threatenf d philippic ; or would he avert the blow by kindly calling the angry member—Jim 1 This last resource is still open to him.

The all-important question of the day is whether the Ministers will resign before the House meets, and if bo, whom they will recommend the Governor to send for. We showed yesterday that it was open to them either to wait for Parliament to give expression to the popular will, or to resign and advise his Excellency to send for Sir Julius Tog el ; and pointed out that whilst no one could blame them for taking the former course, the latter would save time and trouble. Up till 1868, says Todd in his "Parliamentary Government in. the Colonies," " the general current of precedent was decidedly in favour of a Minister beaten at a general election accepting his defeat only at the hands of Parliament"; and ■chis custom was founded on the salutary doctrine that it i 3 only through Parliament that the nation can speak ! But in 1868 the Disraeli Administration, in 1874 the Gladstone Administration, and again in 1880 the Beaconspield Administration resigned office soon after the adversß result ot their appeal to the constituencies was apparent, In Victoria,• the M'Culioch Ministry followed the same precedent in 1877 ; and in Canada, in 1378, the Mackenzie Administration also resigned just before the House met. Commenting on the neV departure, Todd saya that "it was unquestionably productive of much public advantage and private convenience in the orderly conduct of State affairs," but goes on to quote Mr E. A. Freeman to the effect that, whilst this course will probably be usually followed for the future, it will be " subject, of course, to the discretion of Ministers, who must retain a liberty of choice in a matter of such grave importance, which involves serious consequences to themselves, to their party, and to the nation." We quote these authorities, but would point out that they simply confirm what common sense tells us. And now to apply both authorities and common sense to the Bituation here. If a majority of the new House had been returned as followers of Sir Julius Vogel we should coneider it the bounden duty of Ministers to resign at once tnd recommend the Governor to send for Sir Julius. But this is not the position. Major Atkinson may quite fairly argue that the country, although it has expressed a decided opinion against the Government, has expressed no decided opinion in favour of any one leader, and if on this ground he were to wait and allow his aucceasor to be chosen by the House, no

reasonable blame could be attached to him. On the other hand, neither Major Atkinson nor anyone eke cap. entertain any. reasonable doubt that Sir Julius Vogel ia the one man who can form a strong and capable Government, and it would be at once generous and loyal of him to recognise that fact, and save the time and troubJe of the country and tho House. Either course, wo maintain, is open to him, but the latter is the better.

The telegram which we publish in another column from our special correspondent at Wellington throws a good deal of light upon the situation. " There is not the slightest probability," he tells us, "of Major Atkinson resiguing and recommending that his rival Bhould be sent for "! The reason by which the friends of the Government support this decision is a curious instance of how party bias c?,n prejudice the view of a situation. First they tell us that "the result of the elections is as favourable as could be expected," which shows that they were of a more humble and thankful disposition than we have ever known Major Atkinson to possess. Then comes the argument: " Major Atkinson has a slightly larger following of pledged supporters than Sir Julius Vogel'; and whilst the Ministerialists are unqualified in their adhesion, many of those who declared themselves in favour of Sir Julius Vogel did so with reservations, such as " Voqel with the brake on." Hence, it is generally believed in Wellington, "there will be a great struggle for supremacy between the rival leaders." We. havu pointed out that Sir Julius Vogel's partisans have no right to assume that it is the bouaden duty of Major Atkinson to resign and recommend that Sir Julius Voqel be sent for under the circumstancfis; but that tho Ministerialists should deceive themselves into the idea that by the help of Sir Georoe Grey they can hold office is very ludicrous, and, if the views of Ministers themselves are thus expressed, very ignoble. We cannot conceive it possible that, after so unmistakable s, verdict ha 3 been recorded by tho people agai-st them, Ministers should attempt to hold office an hour longer than isnecessaiy to determine upou their successors. Tho duty of a defeated Premier is to give the Governor such advice as may beet tend to carry on the government of the country. To try and keep office by coalitions and bribes is a course which no Minister with a spark of dignity or manliness would resort to. But even if Major Atkinson should attempt it, wo do not see how it can possibly succeed. The statement that the "Ministerialists are unqualified in their adhesion" by no means applies to those from the Middle Island. If we understood their utterances aright, Messrs Fulton, Fergus, and Hirst would be no parties to auy such attempt to set at naught the will of the people. Again, theYogelites who have put limitations to their following Sir Julius Vogel clearly mean that they will not follow Sir Julius as Premier if his policy is extravagant. Tho limitations in no way apply to tho question of putting him iv office now, but of supporting him there afterwards. Again, it is clear that at least nine out of ten of the Independent Oppositionists, who are chiefly ex Montgomeryitc-s, will support Sir Julius Vogel now that it is evident that he. is the only leader the Oppoeition can put into office. It i 3 evident that the friends of the Government are deluding themselves with vain hopes, and following the celebrated policy of the O3trich. As for the Ministers themselves, if they chco c.to make such an attempt to-ciing to their seats it is their own affair. The result must inevitably be the same in the end, but the course of affairs will be disturbed for a short space, and they will leave office not merely defeated, but disgraced. For the good reputation of New Zealand, as well as for that of the Government, we trust 'that no such discreditable episode will have to be chronicled. For Ministers to wait for the House to choose the new Premier ia their right, which no one can blame them for exacting; bub that they should attempt to retain office by corrupt alliances, on such flimsy pretences as are advanced in Wellington, would be a blot^pon their.-own fame and that of the Colony.

A report of the proceedings at the official declaration of the poll yesterday, and letters to the'editor, appear on oar fourth page. Our cablegrams this morning announce that General Gordon is more than holding his own at Khartoum. By means of armed steamers on the Nile he is keeping the rebels in a constant state of terror of his sallies. The deaths, from cholera are decreasing in both Marseilles and Toulon.

The Australian Cricketers have received a thorough beating from the All-England Eleven, who won the match by an innings and five runs.

The peculiar disease which has been the cause of dispute among medical men in Victoria is now pronounced to be undoubtedly smallpox.

A bank robbery to the extent of iJ2500 is reported from Tasmania. The manager of a branch of the Bank of Tasmania at Beacons field, near Launceston, was stuck up and robbed of the keys of the Bank, which was then entered by the thieves.

The proceedings at the official declaration of the poll for Dunedin South were more pacific than most [people expected. Not only were the large number of spectators very friendly to both candidates, but the candidates themselves "buried the hatchet" in speech and action. Mr Fish spoke with moderation and judgment, and, accepting a suggestion from a " free and independent," he wound up by cordially shaking hands with Mr Gore." Some amusement was caused a few minutes later when Mr H. J. Walter was observed to be rubbing shoulders in the crowd with Mr Fkh. A wag bawled out to the latter, " Shake hands with Walter," and the suggestion seemed to hit the fancy of most of those present.- Messrs Fish and Walter did not look at the matter in the same light.

There is one small matter which the Cor. poration authorities might see to with a good deal of. advantage to pedestrians — namely, compelling contractors for buildings who fence off the footpaths to lay down a temporary gangway to accommodate the foot traffic. An instance of this neglect is apparent in Dowling street, where passers-by have to make the best of their way through the muddy Btreet. A large number of females who work at Hallen. stein and Co.'s factory pass up and down this street daily, and it would be a decided improvement wore a wooden footpath laid down for