Southland Times PEBLISHED DAILY. Luceo Nou. Uro. SATURDAY, 26th JULY, 1884.

Southland Times, Issue 4987, 26 July 1884, Page 2

The Southland Times PEBLISHED DAILY. Luceo Nou. Uro. SATURDAY, 26th JULY, 1884.

The Awarua election carries within it some lessons that ought nob to be lost either on the candidates or the constituency. It will be remembered that the competitors for this seat were five i ia number, and that they polled respectively from 54 votes up to 444. There was Mr Joyce who was successful with 444 votes; following him was Mr McDonald, with 339 votes ; after him Mr Kinross, who polled 94 votes; Mr Mitchell, whose score was 74 votes ; and Mr Hodgkinson with 54 votes. The real fight was ofcourse between Mr Joyce and Mr McDonald, the others serving " only to complicate and disturb the contest. Mr Kinross polled next to Mr McDonald, and may think that he was warranted m entering the field. But there never was the slightest justification of Mr Kinross's candidature. He calls himself a Liberal, and he came out as the champion of Liberalism and of free and undenominational education, All very well. Bub was not Mr McDonald as good a Liberal as he, and was bo not as sound on the education question ? Was he not, moreover, as well fitted as Mr Kinross on the ground of general qualifications to represent the district ? Will Mr Kinross aay m what respect his Liberalism practically differs from that of Mr McDonald ? We contend that the entire Liberal demands have been granted, and that no privilege conceded to the people is m the slightest danger or being recalled, "What then is there remaining between Mr Kinross and Mr McDonald, that should make the one, on general policy, an opponent of the other ? We remember very well a quest-ion having been put to tho late Mr Colin McKay, than who probably there waa not a more pronounced or thorough going Liberal m the community m the midst of which ho lived. Mr McKay was asked, after the extension of tbe franchise, by a tnainber of the party that Imrl previously opposed hfm — What, is there now to divide as? The tinbcsi tuting reply was—Nothing ! Of course it suits those who desire to keep up old distinctions, and to profit by them, to cherish the names of Tory, I pnacrvative, a»d Liberal; ond m truth this is all of their stock-in-trado . that hns been left. But it is impossible f) point out a single individual who is jjl'^parpvi to advocate a Tory or a ConHPj'Viitlvo policy m the series m which tiiostf wdi'di? have always been u.sed. The fact is that only snoittl and economical -questions rfiinin to bn fought over —the, question of- Education, t!iG question of &lre' Dtiuk Traffic, the'qaostion of = Free Trade, (jud the question of. TaxGtiou; 'Kow noi on* of theg? w ft <j u es*

tion that can poss\bly divide men into Liberals and Conservatives. Major Atkinson, who will lead the party .of caution, including many of those who ■would be styled Conservatives, is himself a Radical of the most advanced type. Sir Julius Yogel, who will head the party "that will call itself a party of progress and that will increase the powers of self-government by the people, was m England 'a Conservative. So that to talk of at least" active Coriser vatism m a country like this,' whe_re the power is absolutely m the hands of the masses, is -merely. to raise a spectre for personal or party ends. And if all this be true, Mr Kinross's appearance as the champion of. Liberalism was a piece of very gratuitous chivalry. But know Mr Kinross better, and are aware that it is to be liberal to himself rather than to ,be liberal! to the country that he reappears, with the regularity of a pltuiet, whenever a season of election comes round. We do not desire to speak harshly of Mr Kinross, whos,e character we respect, bub he might profitably ask himself how much of his burning desire to serve the country is due to his superfluous and obsolete Liberalism, and how much to his personal vanity and ambibition. Mr Kinross might undoubtedly m some juncture offer himself with a reasonable claim to a constituency, but such, a juncture has never yet, we think, arisen, aud certainly did not arise on the occasion of the recent election for Awarua. Judging before the event, it was very difficult to say what was Mr Mitchell's position m the contest and what right he had to go on to the end. Opinion was divided as to the the relative chances of himself and Mr McDonald. Tbe Farmers' gmeeting, held at the Prince of Wales Hotel, was unfortunately abortive. The parties present refused to bind themselves to the choice of the meeting ; neither, as we understand, were the candidates to abide by the decision j and very few voted on the issue, Mr Fvoggatt, from his subsequent action, evidently did not consider himself bound, and Mr Mitchell could not be considered to have had his hands tied either. Had Mr Mitchell been content, however, to take the vote as an indication of feeling towards him, a "great deal of trouble to himself and others would have been saved, and the result at the poll might have been different. Mr Mitchell and his friends, however, w?re sanguine, and he was kept m the contest to the last. He certainly showed a disposition to take an equal chance of retiring, with Mr McDonald, but the issue has proved that tbe position of the candidates was not equal. We have come to Mr Hodgkinson, who was lowest on the poll, and whose candidature was from the first a hopeless one. Mr Hodgkinson will pardon us for saying that there was something Quixotic m his attempt. He was utterly without political experience or experience of public life m any shape, and we must say plainly tliat he was wanting m some of those qualifications that he himself must know to be essential to success m the character to which he aspired. It is therefore greatly to be regretted that he interfered m a contest where his interference could only prevent a fair fight between those who were the real combatants. Mr Hodgkinson has ventured on his experiment and we hope it has satisfied him. Had the field been left to Mr Joyce and Mr McDonald alone, there is the best reason for believing that Mr Joyce would not now be the occupant of the seat, and those who on slight grounds came forward as combatants have to bear the responsibility of the issue. When next there shall bo a contest for Awarua we trust that it will be between two strongly backed candidates only, and that those hoveiers on the verge of every political battlefield will take a lesson from wbat has happened and consult the country's interest rather than their own.