The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, 30th SEPTEMBER, 1887.

Southland Times, Issue 9636, 30 September 1887, Page 2

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, 30th SEPTEMBER, 1887.

Now that tbe excitement of tbe elections is over, people are beginning to try and conjecture the probable eilects of these three or four months of painful speechifying and button-holing. Will the new Parliament remove the depression and restore prosperity ? Mr Mackintosh would of course answer No, because there is no chance of cheap money, seeing that the Mataura electors have refused to take him as their representative. Some of the successful candidates might be tempted to take a more hopeful view of the matter. They will be members of the new Parliament, and if a new era in the politics and industries of the colony is not inaugurated it will not be their fault. This hopeful view is probably confined to the new members, green patriots who have an amiable belief in their own omnipotence, and a profound ignorance of political affairs. It is sad to think of the disenchantment which they will experience before their first session is ended. The old stagers, who know what's what, will go up to Wellington with more sober thoughts, and much les3 magnificent expectations. Their principal concern will be how anything like order is to come out of the chaos which the elections have produced. They will put the removal of the depression out of the question, having lost all faith in the efficacy of political nostrums. Sir Julias Yogel has done much to extinguish political en- | thusiasm in the colony and discredit the influence of our so-called statesmen. He is by far the ablest man in our political world (Sir George practically stands aloof now), and all his statesmanship has only served to plunge the colony deeper in what one of our late candidates, in an eloquent peroration, called the gulf of bankruptcy. A great many people have indeed come to the conclusion that a country gets on (if it does get on) in spite of its politicians. There is a good deal to be said for this view" of the case. It must at least be admitted that popular government is not anything like an unmixed blessing in New Zealand. Pessimists, however, are as far astray as optimists. Tbe truth lies between. Asa matter of fact the world somehow does get on ; and it would be ridiculous to assert that oar free popular institutions, imperfect as they are, briDg us no good. They might bring us a great deal more, it is true : but the fault lies more with the people than with the institutions. Even the elections which have just closed show unmistakeably that the folly of a constituency is pretty | sure to be reflected iv its representative. Like electors, like members. But this is no reason why we should lose faith in our popular government and clamour for a benevolent despotism. It is often said that New Zealand would have been in a better condition had it remained a Crown colony ; and the wish that it could even yet be placed under the administration of a capable dictator is often expressed. There is not much wisdom in this kind of talk. Benevolent despots and dictators are not by any means an unmixed blessing either. They too develop their peculiar evils and corruptions, their worst effect being to destroy the selfreliance of the people. The instinct of self-government may be said to be ineradicable in the British race. It is of no use wishing for the rule of a dictator for New Zealand. Tbe thing itself is impossible ; and even if it could be obtained it would do us no good in the long run. We have only to get rid of StoutVogelism, be careful as to what kind of members we choose, and restrain our local greed, to be as well off in the matter of government as any reasonable people could wish. And this brings us back to the question with which we set out — what will the elections do for the colony ? A full and particular answer is not very easy ; but the statement may be hazarded that they deliver Neiv Zealand from the incubus we have just named — Stout-Vogelisrn. They have relegated Sir Robert Stout into private life, after a not very brilliant career as Premier, and though Sir Julius Yogel will have the strongest personal following in the House, it is not at all likely that he will lead a powerful party. The country is sick, not only of Vogelism, but of the ascendency of Hie wretched Canterbury clique. This clique still holds together, and it will of course continue to work Sir Julius Yogel for its own ends — the most fortunate thing perhaps that could happen at the present juncture, as it will almost certainly arouse the resentment of the bulk of the House, and lead to the for* mation of a powerful colonial party. Only in some such way at any rate will it be possible to carry out the reforms and retrenchments which the necessities of the colony demand ; and it is surely not too much to hope that a majority of the members will endeavour to fulfil their pledges in a fairly loyal manner both to their respective constituencies and to jihc country at large. The most of them h&ve declared themselves against the Government, that is. against Vogelism. It is noticeable too that the sid,e issues which wefvj pujb before the electors had little or no influence pn t>he ejections. The question; was simply kbis-— Am the Government to stay in, Yes, or No? And the country has very emphatically answered No. Some ti&ie will no doubt elapse before the new Ji«VK$ fctorwgWj ttlKisjrtiftdP I

itself. There are between thirty and forty new members. This alone will cause some uncertainty ,if not embarrassment, at first. A number of the old leaders and notables, too, will be conspicuous by their absence. Such men as Stout, Bryce, Hursthouse, Rollestone, and Trimble will be sadly missed. The defeat of Mr Bryce is especially to be regretted . The colony had begun to regard him as the best emergency Premier it could possibly get — a man not indeed naturally fitted to lead his fellow men, but of a firm unbending will, of sterling integrity, and patriotic beyond the conception of your professional politician. Something of the dictator is after all wanted in the head of the Government at present ; and it is just possible that a seat may yet be found for the man who settled the West Coast difficulty. The return of Mr John Ballance and rejection of Mr John Brjce is surely an instance of the irony of fate. It is to be hoped that a sufficiently strong party will at once be improvised to prevent a repetition of the intrigues that disgraced the opening of last Parliament, fcir Julius Yogel will make a desperate effort to recover his lost power ; but a majority of the members are pledged against the wily Treasurer and all his works. Political human nature is proverbially frail. The constituencies however will be sure to keep a sharp eye on their representatives, whose best policy after all is to perform the promises they have made and avoid factious courses. The elections may not fulfil all the expectations of the more sanguine sort of colonists, but there is no reason to doubt that they have given the deathblow to Stout-Vogelism. A better system of Government ought to follow almost as a matter of course.