THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1908. THE DUNEDIN CENTRAL ELECTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14357, 29 October 1908, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1908. THE DUNEDIN CENTRAL ELECTION.

We appreciate" Hip difficulty which Mr John M'Donald ingenuously confuses lit' experienced in arriving at a decision upon the perplexing; question of how he .should classify himself a.s an aspirant for a seat in Parliament. A candidate who, with «• pious expression of "gcod luck to it," declares in one breath that I ho Government is a Socialistic Government and in the next breath, in an outburst or candour, admits that lie knows nothing about Socialism—who at once commends the Arbitration Act for having " dono a lot of gcod " and disparages it for having "caused a lot- of trouble to the country "—is really entitled to a generous measure of public sympathy. Hut. Mr M'Donald has atanyrate contrived to define his exact p.vilion in tlio political sphere. He will support the Ward Government to the extent of about Do per cent, of its proposals. We are .somewhat interested in this effort to express in mathematical terms the measure of a candidate's belief in the Government and of his readiness to support it in the enactment- of a policy which lies in' the womb of (he future. We have had independent candidates in the past: we liave bad Independent Liberals and New Liberals; and there arc a few Independent- Oppositionists in the field at the present time. Hut a candidate wlui is !)u per cent, a Ministerialist is a dislinet novelty, and is to be welcomed as introducing a desirable variation iii a system of clarification which ha-, at the hivsf, always- been more or le-s imperfect. We gather, however, thai Mr M'Donald has been somewhat troubled about-- the prccisc measure of

support wln'eh the (Woniment should obtain from liini. For wo Imvo his nyswanco that personally ho is a Pro-gi-fv.si\ i* Liberal, wlioroa?, ho safely obverves, tho (lovonmicnt cannot continue to hp progressive- if there is to l)o tho rest from lcgislnticn which Sir Joseph Ward ha.? promised. This must, imleed, have involved Mr M'Donald in a dilemma ) especially .since lie believes, lie says, in lotting the people know which ;-ido lie favours. An American humourist has recorded the convict-ion tiial in politics a dilemma is a. more unmanageable tiling to hold hy Iho horns than a wolf by the ears." Hut in tho I nited States, as has long been suspected and as the Presidential campaign is abundantly suggesting at the ptesent time, political life is honeycombed with corruption and the politicians arc a self-seeking, unprincipled sc-t. In 1 ho. case of Mr M'Donald, on the other hand, we must conclude that all the ends he aims at are bis country's, for he has stated that if he should-' bo placed in Parliament his first thought will be of the people lie represents, his second for tho whole of Otsigo, his third for the Dominion, and his fourth will be. absolutely patriotic and will he for the honour of his King and country. At anyrate, ho has escaped from bis dilemma in a manner tbati will be satisfactory, wo are sure, to himself and also, we hope, to bis friends. By according about 95 per cent, of his support to the Government, which does not propose to progress, be will still have a remnant of about, r, per c?nt. of support loft, for progress. t It is a small remnant, but iu these days we havo sometimes to he grateful for slender mercies. And thore is some cause for thankfulness in the advocacy by Mr M'Donald, for reasons which will appeal strongly to the public of Dunedin, of the continued prosecution of the Otago Central railway—a lino which the Government is evidently inclined to treat as a- third-rate or fourth-rate undertaking. Mr M'Donald also promises his opposition to any proposal on the part of the Government to close Rat-tray street or to ceize any mere of _ the foreshore. A united public opinion, would; certainly bo nroused in iesistanco to n further attempt on the part of tlifr authorities to injure tho position and destroy tho prospects of Dunedin by depriving the Harbour Board of any of the endowments which remain to it and 1 by robbing tho city of the main avenue of access to tho wharvoi', and we scarcely anticipate that the Government- would dare to attempt tho perpetration of such an outrage. Mr M'Donald's reference- to this subject furnishes, however, a serviceable reminder that the Harbour Board's claim for compensation in respect of the endowments that have already been stripped off it has lain too long in abeyance. The agitation regarding the matter was suspended two years ago upon the Government offering its assurance that Mr Hall-Jones would, as Minister of Railways, personally inspcct the locus in quo on his next visit to Dunediu with a- view to a settlement of the Board's claims. Mr Hall-Jones has, however, not been in .Dunedin from that day to this, and as he is now preparing to relinquish his departmental duties, his departure for England being fixed for a date a few weeks hence, it is evident that the subject is one with which the successor to the portfolio of Railways will have to deal. Evei# if Mr M'Donald should not succeed in hh candidature for a seat in Parliamentwo trust that, as Mayor of the city, he will exert his influence in the direction of securing justice for the Harbour Board and for Otago in this matter. And it is difficult to believe that any hopes for his ,success in his present enterprise, can be founded by Mr M'Donald's friends upon his speech of Tuesday night. For it. indicated nothing so forcibly as this: that Mr M'Donald's acquaintance with politics, except in so far as tlicy touch local. affaire, is of a shadowy description. Wo gather that he supports the enactment, of a minimum wage, though lie offers not tho faintest suggestion respecting the manner in which a statutory provision of the kind could equitably be made operative, and on none of the other questions to which he adverted did be commit himself to any opinion, that suggested a familiarity with the subject. Now that- Mr M'Donald has spoken, the electors of Dunedin Central who feel that Mr Arnold does not merit re-election have the greater cause to regret (hat Mr Downie Stewart has docidtd to defer his candidature until the election of 1911.