The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1598.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2310, 9 June 1898, Page 29

The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1598.) THE WEEK.

1 " Kunquam aliurt nitura, aiiud sapientia dixit." — Juvenal. "Good nature and good sense must ever join." — Popx.

The result of the federal vote in Australia can hardly be considered a The Federal surprise over here. Moat New Toto. Zealanders who have intel-

ligently watched the progress of the movement towards federation had in < some instinctive way oome to the conclusion I that the bill would be lost in Now South i^ Wales and carried in the other colonies. As j a matter of fact, it was carried in New South j Wales so far as majority-voting went, but as the high minimum number of votes — 80,000 — was riot attained, the proceeding is rendered . nugatory. As New Zealand had long ago decided to stand out of the federal movement, local criticism of the result of Friday's vote can hardly be considered of much value, but the prevailing feeling is probably one of mild disappointment that the movement in Australia did not meet with more success. Every one feels that federation will be the ultimate destiny of Australia, and that if the consummation is to be attained at all the sooner it is attained the better. Now all that can be said i 6 that it is a considerable step nearer. For the effect of the campaign, mild as it was, and of the actual process of voting on the question must be to create warmer partisans for the cause, whose numbers are likely to increase rather than diminish. We do not suppose the other colonies wiU federate with New South Wales and Queensland both standing out. Were they to do so, New South Wales, the mother colony, and always actuated by some feelings of jealousy of Victoria, might get accustomed to her isolation, and in time might even get to glory in it. It would be better to revise the .financial clauses of the bill and see if some of the objections— which eeem to be not without solid basis— , cpnid be removed. 1 ihe voting generally sbcwi tfant to pa

! colony was any very special interest taken in ; the question. Tbis has always been the 1 stuinblirjg-block. It is the personal element that creates the interest in an ordinary election. The British race dearly love a fight, but it must be a concrete fight in which opposing ideas are personified in the combatants. Thera is no ring of combat in the clash of abstract ideas. If Mr Reid, of New South Wales, could bave represented one side of the oause and Sir George Turner another the two colonies might have been 'agitated to their depths over "the voting. Federation transcends in importance any 50 elections that have taken place in either colony, but because the combatants were not visible and tangible the great bulk of the voters would not take the trouble to record their votes. The lesson is obvious, and we bave pointed it out in this same matter on many an o'ecasion before. The Australian people must be stirred into enthusiasm for federation by the voice of some commanding personality, or else they must be frigfitened into it by the sense ofreal danger — a foreign squadron, for instance, ctuising in their immediate neighbourhood. It ia to be hoped this latter will never supply the impetus, and the commanding figure is apparently not in Australia. Perhaps the slow process of education may in time achieve the desired I result.

The recent - speech of the Hon. John

M'Kenzie at Palmerston Mr M'Kpnzie was a characteristic speech, at and ' that is about as cotn-

Falnierston. prehensive a terra, as one

could apply to it. There was, of course, the usual tirade against the press of the colony. Tbe newßpapsrs are all apparently banded against this most innocent and beneficent of all Governments. Even the Press Agency, which is abont as colourless a body as it is possible to conceive, concerning itself with nothing but mere statements of fact, raises tha gorge of the Minister to such an extent that one can almost see his ayes glaring and his mouth foaming at his invisible foe. And yet we have often suspected that there is a good deal of cool calculation about these tirades of the Minister. He shrewdly calculates that by repeated attacks he may drive the Press Agency to meekly show its impartiality by, giving more space »nd attention to the Government than to its opponents. It is characteristic aleo to note that when Mr M'Kenzie stops ia his splatteiiaga against the press to make a specific accusation, that accusation is blown to the winds almost as soon ss uttered. The Minister for Lands seems to have been much chagrined !>y Mr Scobie Mackenzie's success in Auckland, and appears to bave thought it necessary to go to Stratford to reply to hita. The Press Association sent .the usual short and colourless account of the speech, when Mr M'Ksnzie takes tbe first opportunity of accusicg the Daily Times of cutting out portions referring to Mr Soobte Mackenzie. When it is . proved beyond a ' doubt that the Otago Daily Times did nothing .of the sort, and that its version of the Minister's speech was exactly the same as that which appeared in all the other papers on both sides of politics, Mr M'Kenzie apparently does not think it in the least degree necessary either to apologise or explain. He, appears to have confused tbe Press Association report with the chatter of' the ordinary press correspondent,

Specific statements on more general matters fall, on inquiry, to the ground in much the same way. Here is the Minister's charge against Mr Rolleston, referring to that gentletnsvn's remarks on Bushy Park : — " Mr Rolleston made a deliberate political lie on the platform by saying the M'Kenzie boys bad not been called upon to pay a sixpence before they were allowed to enter isito possession of Bashy Park. As a simple matter of tact, his sons paid between £2100 and £2500 bsfore they were allowed possession ; and yst Mr Rolleston said they were not asked

for a iingle sixpence. 1

Now, let ua turn to what Mr Rolleston actually said on the subject in his Rice ar ton speech : — " He did not say that Bushy Park should not have been sold to Mr M'Ketzie's sons at the full price. One would, however, at least presume that the price was to be paid, but as a matter of fact not a sixpence had been" paid up."

Now, is it not patent to everyone that Mr Rolleßton was h«re alluding to the land 1 And as a matter of fact not a sixpence was paid down for the land. We do not ourselves lay any stress on the fact, but it is a fact. When Mr M'Kenzie talked of £2400 having been' paid, he knew that was paid for the stock. Now, which of the two men was misleading the public ?

A mere cursory glance will do at the rest of Mr M'Keczie's speech, for Unconscious small value can be attached Humour. to it except in so far as the

delirerance may possibly serve gome party purpose. When Mr M'Kenzie accuses his opponents of " slande v and misrepresentation " there is some natural doubt whether he meant it as a joke, bo grimly strong is the irony of the position. The persons whom Mr M Keczle himself ha.s notoriously slandered would positively, in the event of invasion, make a tolerable regiment of volunteers. Mr M'Kenzie, too, is amusingly indignant at the charges- of political corruption levelled at the Government, though as a matter of fact the charges emanate quite as much from members of his own side as the other. "Not the semblance of corruption," he says, " had been or could be produced against their administration, and in the matter of appointments fit ness, and not colour, had been considered." There is really no humour like the unconscious humour, and Mr M'Kenzie appears to have a good deal of it. Mr M'Kenzie, too, hotly repels the charge that Ministers have been interfering with elections. They never did anything of the kind — did nothicg, in fact, more than reply to "false and libellous statements " made against them. What is to be said in answer to this sort of thing 1 We, as journalists, have much useless criticism to make in the course of a year, but there is a limit to the time that can be wasted, and the limit has here surely been reached.

Let us say in conclusion that we are glad to find that though Mr M'Kerjzie, for reasons which he may or may not have fully revealed, intends leaving the district of Waihemo, he does not jet meditate retirement Irom Pftr-

liament. We have many times found occasion to take him severely to task. We shall probably have to do it many timea in tbe future. It would be impossible for any journal that valued a high standard of public life or set much store upon the institutions of the country to do otherwise. But Mr M'Kenzie makes a great mistake when he compounds criticism with personal rancour. It proverbially takes a lot of people to make a world. It takes a goodly number to make a Parliament. Mr M'Kenzie has at least an individuality of his own ; he does not travel in the conventional rut. Wbat he lacks is — well, we shall leave the statement of what he lacks for the next occasion on which he gives us a display of his unconscious humour.

Mr Seddon has a special knack for getting himself into very undignified MrSeddou positions," bnt he remains ana himself in blissful ignoranc Mr Piranl. that they are undignified. 1«: - a recent speech at FeildiDg he made some remarks about Mr Pirani, member for Palmerston North, which had no other object than to injure, that gentleman with his constituents. " Mr Pirani- ie a member of the* Left -Wing, as it is called, bnt apoitf occasion he has been giving support to the Government, rather than to the Opposition. In a recent address to his bonstituents he declared that he could support them no longer — in other words, that for the f ntnre he wonld bea sfcraightout Oppositionist. Here, clearly, he was simply performing his duty to his constituents. It would have been an outrage upon them for Mr Pirani to have continued giving the support of the district to men whose policy and administration he believed to be inimical to the welfare of the colony. If a member of Parliament were simply a delegate from a district, he would have no discretion a*, all ; on every question that arose he would h&va to take his orders frcm ;,he district. As a representative he is bound to exercise his discretion, and to leave it to tha judgment of the constituency as to whether he has exercised it well and wisely. Mr Seddon holds different opinions, and took occasion to air them in Mr Firani'g district. Mr Piraoi, he said, would never have been elesfced but for the " Government support," which is only another way of saying chat he was a Government nominee, ard not the elect of the ccnutituency. (This will supply a significant commentary to the Hon. John M'Eerjzie'e declaration that the Government never interfere with elections.) Mr Pirani, the Premier went on to say, should haye 1 resigned his seat when he found he could not continue his support of tbe Government. Finally, the Premier gratuitously gave it as his opinion that I.he member for Palmerston North would never be elected again. All this is mere garbage, and is obviously dictated by sordid self-interest. It simply means that if the representative principle is hostile to the prolongation of Mr Seddon's term of office, then the representative principle ■ must go to the wall. Mr Pirani's answer ia to challenge lha Premier to resign his own seat and contest Palmerston North with him. Such "challenges" are histrionic, and foolish 1 of course, and Mr Seddon has more sense than to accept this one, Mr Pirani having forgotten for the moment the principle of equality cf aaorifioa. But as Mr Seddon at Wellington a couple of months ago got a severe lesson ovex his brawling interference at elections (witness how carefully the Government stood aloof from Mataura), so he will yet have to learn that he lowers himself and degrades his office by going (at the public expense, of course) to a district for the express purpose of poisoning the minds of the people against a representative whose crime is that he set the interests of the colony before the interests of Mr Ssddon.

At tbe present time Tuta Nihoniho's letter to the Premier cbiVb for a better Tolunteering fate than the' cold shelving for Maoris, and formal regrets of im-

practicability which a year ago would undoubtedly have been its treatment. The time is opportune for a fair and liberal consideration of the proposal. The question must often have presented itself to all pakehas and. Maoris alike why the latter should not b§ allowed to assist in maintaining tbe defence force of the colony. Their interest in defence is co-equal with ours, their, opportunities are great, and their enthusiasm not wanting. What their martial instinct is it is superfluous to say. They have proved on a hundred battlefields that their bravery is second to none ; they have shown since the last wars were concluded that their loyalty is not superficial, but of the heart; and they have, just a -few months since, shared with us and with equal rejoicing the great national jubilation which celebrated the progress of the nation in her Majesty's reign. Is it necessary longer to distrust or to refrain from fully trusting? Is it just to the colony at such a time to leave liors de combat for lack of encouragement what will prove not the least valuable arm in the national defence ? The great obstacle which will be paraded is expense. The present Government is noted for a misdirected and inconsistent dread of expense, and the Defence department suffers. But liberty is neither measured by days nor priced by pence. The Government would, we are sure, have the voice of the people at its back in even comparatively extravagant expenditure on our defences. And if, as Mr Seddon 30 sedulously asserts, his administration is intended to be for the people, be and his colleagues labour under a painful illusion in so persistently tying the hands of the defence officers. No price is too great to pay for a country's immunity from attack, and nothing tends more to a consummation of that immunity than the maintenance of a strong and efficient volunteer force. A good investment is the heart's desire of any man, and to gain the confidence and assistance of the Maoris in this wise would be the most profitable interest ever obtained upon a State investment.

The testimony of the whole world shows that Mr Gladstone has done much Artificial good in his life, and most

Woe. people, we suspect, will agree that in his death, by forbiddiag the deluge of mural flowers and the trappings of artificial woe he has done a real e&moe to humanity. By the flower mania

funeraisfhave of late years been almost ds, graded into a burlesque. The habit oi burying the coffin in flowers affords, a good illustration of the inevitable tendency oi humanity to overdo and run to death an expression of emotion which in its origin was, tender and pathetio. A simple wreath of flowers, woven by loving hands and gently laid on the coffin of a lost relative or frien<J t is a touching and beautiful sight. A mountain of flowers ordered from the shop for the sad occasion is a mere vulgar piece of ostentation which excludes the possibility of tenderness, and often enough would mean but little more than tbe streamers on tbe hats of the mutes. Tbe custom grew until it became a positive evil, and a source of most useless expense as well. Latterly it had become common to order wreaths by telegram — a cheap enough way, probably, of avoiding an inconvenient- journey, or the Srouble of a latter of condolence. If one

[ Kooh telegram ordering a x florist to supply a • I »reata at a maximum cost of, say. ss, had come bo light any time this 10 y6ars, it would probably, by the shock given to the finer feelings of humanity, have destroyed tha vulgar custom as effectually as will the dying wish of the great statesman. Already the request "No flowers" is hecoming part of the funeral * notice, so that the custom may be expeoted to die away a good deal more rapidly than it grew. Possibly, too, funeral reform in other respects may be taken in hand now that attention has been drawn to the subject by a voice the dyiDg echoes of which have been heard over the entire world.

Tbe ls»t few years, since the assassination of President Oarnot, have Anarchism iv proved vexatious to the anarAustralia. chist cause' in Europe. In the few months following the death of tbe French president the activity and intrepidity of the Continental police rendered Europe far too hot for them to continue operations with any hope of success, and there was a general transit of the following to Bnglaid. For many months the London police -were greatly exercised in combating their machinations, and numerous minor outrages were attributed to the fugitive scum of Europe. The attempt to blow up the Greenwich Observatory was the deathblow of the cause in England, and a partial extermination was effected. Spain was the next field of operations, and the crimes there committed in the cause of anarchy culminated in the assassination of Senor Oanovaa. Since then the Continent has been singularly free ' from eutrage. Now the wretched dogma has appeared in Australia. The isolated outrage at Fitzroy is not in itself alarming ; isolated crimes attributed to any oause can never be taken to indicate the existence of the cause itself. But the placarding of the streets is an aspect to be taken notice of. In a young colony it is dangerous. We do not believe for a moment that Australia or the Australians will ever connten- ' ance or tolerate principles — if such they can be termed — propagated in the unreasoning manner which characterises the anarchist; cause; but it is to be hopad that the energetic colonial police will speedily eradicate the baneful canker in Its initial stages. There are in all countries fanatics who are prone to any crime.

Few parts of the aarth's surface responding bo liberally to even superSonth Seas ficid research and offering Exploration. 6a ch unbounded inducements

to science to explore have been so much neglected of late years as the islands of the Pacific Ocean. It is not intended to imply that any of the Powers holding different groups in the South Seas have been- remiss in making themselves acquainted with the ialand fastnesses and expanding their civilisation in a businesslike manner; but it is a separate fact that for many years hardly a single expedition has tapped the islands with the object of giving its trove to the realm of soience. In the early days of Pacific discovery the records of voyages were carefully preserved, scientifically expanded and published, and the' fruits of exploration there were given back to science more liberally than in any other part of the world . Up to a few decades back scientists continued this practice, and many of the most interesting narratives of travel are those of the Pacific. Latterly, however, we have had all too little from the " islands. Is it that there have been no scientific cruises, or that .the scientific is becoming debased and merged in the political 1 Surely not the latter. The record of at least one expedition, that of Professor David to Funafuti, which was entirely scientific, has been withheld from publication. The firewalking "ceremony of Fiji is only one of the numberless things in the islands which invite investigation, and for details of which the whole scientific world is waiting. That the several expeditions at present on the tapis will provide literature like " The Oruise of the Curacoa," "'Oar Home in Fiji," &a, is the earnest wish of all who are interested in the development of the islands.

The action of the clericals in the recent

revolutionary risings in Italy The Situation and the letter of the Pope in Italy. endorsing such action are

disquieting and regrettable, and serve to give colour to the surmises regarding the objects of the rising. The situation at present augurs ill for the peace of Italy. If not actually instigated from the Vatican, which we would be loth to believe, the demonstrations were aimed at restoring to the Pope some of the power of which he was bereft at the constitution of the present regime. Although the Roman Catholic at tbat time ceased to be the State religion, Protestanism was not given the preference, and up to the present there has been no friction between the Vatican and the seculai power. Consequently the country has enjoyed a prosperity which would nob have been possible under a purely religious regime. By his action ia identifying himself with the revolutionary movement the Pope has placed himself in antagonism to the secular power.' Existing hand in hand with such antagonism there oan only be a continual state of unreet and imminence of disturbance throughout Italy. The Roman Catholic religion has still a firm hold upon .the country, and the dynasty, by disestablishing it as the Estate religion, has incurred the odiara. of a large section of tbfe

•people. 'Not is tKis feeling "ksp'b 'in check "by -am 'opposing' fad>ioo,<Eor do State religion Is observed. - As - a;cor>eeguence the dynasty is is conflict with -the Vatican and ths 'mass &f t)he people, and' the ev£Js which msy rasult • tfromenoh a'stateare iraotffina'ble.