CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2058, 3 August 1893, Page 17

CURRENT TOPICS.

(Otago Daily Times.)

"I always feel rather pleased when I hear of one of these very good people making a faux pas," remarked, rather maliciously, a mortal who did not himself profess to be above suspicion ; "it makes us common people look cleaner." We shall not be surprised if the Parliament of New South Wales, the French Chamber, and a few American assemblies, which have occasionally come into disrepute through members ".taking the floor " too freely, derived some -consolation from the disgraceful episode with which the debate in Committee on the Home Rule Bill closed. It lacks nothing but the gouging and the bowie knife in competiDg with Bon Gaultieb's celebrated scene of the "Death of Jabez Dollar"; indeed, we doubt whether the unloosed fury of the 27th of July 1893 was ever paralleled in America, though, with less venom, parliamentary drama may now and then have there taken a more active form. Fortunately, our own history is clear of this particular form of scandal ; but we will not boast, for who can say that this evil communication may not corrupt even our good manners 7 The great House of Commons has Buffered a distinct and mournful degradation which nothing can now repair. That degradation has come in the worst form. It is not the case of the uncultured neophytes losing their temper and resorting to violecca. If our telegrams are correct, the actual aggressors in the resort to physical measures were not the tag-rag : the two names mentioned are those of well-known Conservatives, and the free fight which ensued was between " Nationalists and Tories." It is difficult to realise, but possible to imagine, the intensity of feeling which has given rise to this unpareleled state of affairs. Mr Chambbblain. once a declared Republican, now standing allied with the Conservatives, has used his bitter tongue with a power rarely commanded by mortal man. He has met with retorts of a character rarely heard in any assembly, which nothing can justify but for which a good deal of excuse may be found. It is not, perhaps, greatly to be wondered at that with the discordant elements at work which are apparent in this debate, with haughty contempt on one side and heated resentment on the other, blows •should at last be struck. It is a, happy thirg for this country that though all the elements which exist in the House ot Commons exist in our Parliament, they are toned and mingled in such a way as not to be apparent.

There were, in the financial debate, a few speeches well worth listening to— notably Sir John Hall's and SirROBEBT Stout's— bub the average even of the better sort of speakers was not high, while^ the mediocrities (to give them no more unflattering title) could have had no other end in holding forth than to let their constituents know that they had not lost the use of their tongues. Or, to take the most charitable view, they perhaps thought they owed the country what wisdom was in them in return for the L2O a month from the date of their election. Their utterances are embalmed in Hansard, a possession for ever, for which posterity may " after all be a little grateful, as they will at least show what manner of men guided the destinies of New Zealand in the last decade of this glorious nineteenth century. But the debate, as a whole, has .thrown little light on the financial or any other condition of the colony. As we said a few days ago, most of tbe members talked about thiDgs in gecoral, the financial character of the debate being in great measure forgotten. Ifr is, however, beyond question that the best speaking was on the Opposition side. The speeches of Ministers and Ministerialists were indeed below their own not very high level, and we imagine the general opinion will be that they have lost ground. They are no longer the aggressive conquerors they were last year ; they are, in fact, now on the defensive, and find it rather difficult to maintain their position. It is the fata of all Governments to fall into the sere and jellow leaf, and if Mr Seddon is not blinded with the glory of the Premiership he must sometimes perceive that his power is on the decline.

The testiness .which the hon. gentleman shows is perhaps an effect of the visions ho

has of his departing greatness. He only made matters worse by asking on Thursday last that Mr Buckland's words should be taken down. A man secure of bis position would have laughed at the mild threat. It was not very dignified in the member for Manukau to say to the Premier, " I'll teach you to attack me, sir " ; but it was far more undignified in a big, burly fellow like Mr Seddon— the manliest of men,,, according to Sir Geobge Gbey — to cry out about intimidation, nay, intimidation of the very woret kind. His manliness had for the moment deserted him, and as a straw shows how the wind blows, this little incident may possibly show that all is not Berene in Mr Seddon's views of the future. s

The carrying into practice of sound theories and principles has many a time, through imprudent, careless, or dishonest management, resulted in the convictions of their supporters being falsified. If the Government do not take care such will be the fate of their co-operative public works scheme. We have from its inception supported this method, inaugurated by Mr Seddon, of carrying on certain suitable portions of the railway lines and roads yet remaining to be constructed, and we see no reason whatever why the system should fail if Ministers will leave the details of the work more completely in the hands of their engineers and inspectors than they have done in tbe past. It isiihe Ministerial interference where practised and practical men alone should attend to all the details of the work which has caused half of the adverse criticism to which the cooperative method has been subjected. And it ia to this interference, we believe, that the great discrepancies in the rates of pay earned by co-operative workmen, as shown by th 6 return yesterday laid on the table of the' House, can be traced. It cannot for a moment be gainsaid that it is utterly unfair to private employers of labour that such extremely high wages as some of those shown in the return should have been earned. With proper care in fixing schedule prices there ought to be no occasion for a repetition of this state of things; and we do not see the slightest reason for supposing that the colony need pay any more for its work than it did under the old system of tendering by contractors. Under that system, as is quite well known, public works frequently cost sums vastly in excess of what they ought to have done ; and, on the other hand, the-reverse of that has too often occurred, when contractors have been ruined and workmen have been unable to obtain payment of their hard-earned wages through utterly inadequate tenders being accepted. With a careful administration of the co-operative system both these evils can be avoided, and the Government will be criminally to' blame if they allow an essentially good system to be wrecked because of dishonest tactics and unwarrantable interference with those on whom they ought to rely for guidance.

It was generally believed that the fight for the Waihe'mo seat would be the fight at the general election— a kind of Homeric contest at which the whole oountry would look on with the deepest interest. Had it been that the tussle was to be decided as in the old days by " length and strength of arm," the honourable the Minister for Lands would doubtless have won. On the other band, had the weapons to be used been the tongues of the respective combatants, the victory would not less certainly have fallen to him of Mount Ida. The elder M'Kenzie is no match for the younger on the platform. He would, however, fight at a great advantage, as he could bring an army of mercenaries in the shape of co-operative navvies into the field, whereas Mount Ida could only command the services of volunteers. But even with this it is believed that the contest would be pretty equal, victory at any rate being a csrtainty for neither. In such a case it is only natural that both Bides should be anxious, and that there should be talk of negotiations to prevent the two redoubtables from crossing swords. The Government party regard the Minister for Lands as a tower of strength, and the Opposition could not well afford to lose their only orator. What then is to be done ? Which of the champions is to retire ? The Honourable John M'Kenzie is strong at one end of the constituency, and Mr Scobie Mackenzie is strong at the other end, and both have the temper of their rac?. They could thus scarcely be expected to arrange the matter themselves ; that must be done by their supporters — unless, indeed, the two heroes agreed to appeal to the lot. This, however, they are not likely to do, and though we once held that Mr Scobie Mackenzie should on no account give up the contest we are now rather of tbe opinion that he should allow his supporters to decide for him. If they fiad that tbe Government have stuffed the rolls to such an extent as to render the contest hopeless, they should decide against his candidature. We suspect there is no chance of the Minister for Lands retiring. He would march to the poll against all-comers with his "four-and-twenty p}pers"and Mr Seddon's host of new Liberal co-operatives, determined to win a glorious victory. High- j landman though Mr Scobie Mackenzie also is, he would probably not care to be defeated by pipers and gillies, and possibly the best thing would be to leave the other Mao in possession- of the field. But his supporters will no doubt take the case to avisandum before giving their decision. Meantime the electors of Waikouaiti, seeing (heir chance of possibly securing a strong candidate, are bastirring themselves and procuring signatures to requisitions in various parts of the electorate asking Mr Scobie Mackenzie to contest that seat.

We do not suppose there is any truth in the rumour mentioned in our Wellington correspondence that the Government are prepared to sacrifice the national system of education to secure another lease of power. They are not such fools. They know that they could not take a shorter cut to defeat. The fact that they are giving Mr Fyke their support is no proof of such an intention. The member for Danstan (for by this title he will be known in the history of New Zealand) is a Liberal like themselves, though of a somewhat oldfashioned type, and on that account deserves such favour as they oan show him in his oar>

didature. But this is not all. They owe him. reparation for not sending him to, " another place." Mr Fyke had earned his promotion to the Upper House, and all Otago felt that a wrong had been done at once to the " member for Dunstan " and to the country when he was most unaccountably passed over. The least, then, 'the Government, can do is to give him a kindly shove at the coming elections, and wink at the denominational tendencies which Nature, as Mr Whetteb would say, has "carved on his nerve matter." They are far too' knowing to dream of aiding him in his attempt to place .the Roman Catholic schools on the education fund, and we oan scarcely help wondering at the Wellington , Post getting into a panio over such a very silly rumour.

In the fifth number of Hansard there is the report of a short and sharp little discussion on "mortgaged small farmers." 1 Mr T. Mackenzie asked if the Treasurer, would this session amend the Land and Income Assessment Act so that the mortgaged small farmer might enjoy the same exemptions and privileges as his unencumbered neighbour. The mortgaged farmer has really to'pay tax on his mortgage, though the law nominally taxes the mortgagee. He is thus taxed practically because be is less able to pay than his free neighbour, which the member for Olutha held to be unjust. ' The Treasurer replied very tartly that the move was simply meant to benefit the money-lenders, and went on to point out members of the House in whose interest, he alleged, Mr MA.qKENZifI was acting. But, however pleasing It might be to name the legislative money* lenders, this reply was, in addition to being in very bad taste, beside the point, as Mr Mackenzie and other speakers had made it clear that the said money-lenders could, and for the most part did, arrange that they and the borrowers should contract themselves out of the act, the borrowers agreeing to pay the tax on the money/bor* . rowed. Mr Duncan supported the reqriesb ' of the member for Olutha, whereupon Mr Rhodes remarked that it was refreshing to find supporters of thl Government approving of objections made to the bill by the Oppot sition when it was under discussion— the whirligig of time thus bringing r . in " his revenges. But there will not, to all' appearance, be any redress of the grievance complained of this session, the. plea being that the revenue, notwithstanding the boasted surplus, would not stand the Boaaty reduction required for the purpose. .(

It may now be assumed that the Horns Rule Bill has passed the Commons. The' debate on the third reading will be formal, as the majority which the Government, will /, command oan be counted to a man. It may be predicted almost with certainty that 40 votes, or two more or less, is a close ' approximation of the exact figure.'"' The final debate will only be spiced with necessary references to this memorable scene. Now a great constitutional question looms " up. Will the House of Lords reject the Bill t We venture to think that it will do bo. ' It rarely happens that the Lords reject a Bill, and it may be said to be .a well recognised unwritten constitutional rule that ihey never reject a Bill on which the country has set its .• heart. There are, however, many evidences of growing boldness on their part, and on the part of those more temperate spirits who wish to see them do so. without wishing them to come tq any harm by it. There is little or no precedent for passing so great a constitutional measure by so small a majority as 42. Public opinion in Bngland has not advanced very much, on the subject since 1886 ; public opinion in Ireland has rather letrograded, as the present House of Commons has fewer Home Rulers than that of 1886. Ireland ie, looking at the population basis, over-represented, and an' adjustment of representation on a^ population basis would manifestly reduce the number of Home Bale members. It is apparent that Mr Gladstone's personal iofluenoe has greatly increased the Home Bule. representation. " Get rid of that," say the Lords, " and the movement will collapse.", Finally, the Ulster question has now, for the first time in the history of ■ the movement, aoquired an acute and definite form. These are the excuses which the Lords will find for rejecting a^ Bill to which an enormous majority of them' are personally and conscientiously opposed. In their seoret hearts they will hope for a Conservative reaction at tbe general election which must ensue to protect them from utter condemnation. We have not yet seen evidence of that reaction, but we have but small means of judging of the actual state of opinion, and we may with some reason surmise that the recent phases of the Ulster question have made a deep impression on English and, perhaps, on Welsh and Scottish minds. This has been, as far as possible, kept clear of "its religious phase, but that phase can never .be absent from tbe minds of people who are liable to be influenced by religious considerations.

The Maori witchcraft, or rather an ti-witch-craft, case to which there have been Beveral references in the papers tbe last week or so, shows that the Natives are still deep in the mire of their old Pagan superstitions. How* ever these superstitions may havo arisen— whether they mark a stage in the upward progress of a race or a stage to which it has sunk— they keep a tenacious hold of their subjects. The most highly , civilised nations are still mere or less tainted with the old ethnic belief. It Ib little wonder then that witchcraft should still be rampant among a 'people like the Maoris, a large proportion of whom have never been in any real sense Christianised. But it is to be hoped that ouch a fiendish witch doctor as the tohunga who makutues his spiritual patients by scalding them, to death is a rarity. This monster or madman ha?, according to a telegram published yesterday, shifted his quarters, but Inspector Hickson should lose no time in getting hold o£ him in order that he may be dealt witb according to his mental or moral condition, and in either case in such a manner as to impress the Native mind with the folly or the wickedness of allowing such tohungas to practise their cruelties on their unfortunate/ victims. • , „ , '

Mr W. Carlile, of Woodville, will contest the Waipawa seat, Mr Haggen having given way for him on this occasion,.