The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1901. MR. WOOLLEY INTERVIEWED

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 194, 31 August 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1901. MR. WOOLLEY INTERVIEWED

During the short stay made by Mr Woolley in New Plymouth, he made many friends, who will, we feel sure, be glad to hsar of him. The other day he was interviewed in Christchurch by a representative of the newspaper Truth. This great American, who is both a statesman and a lawyer is touring New Zealand in search of health, and to study our politiml system and customs. His staging, both socially and politically, give everything he has to say considerable weight, and his comparisons between America and New Zealand are of great interest. The American people, according to Mr Woolley, are completely under the yoke of the two great political parties—the Republican and the Democratic. Despite the fact that the population of the State is a mixed one, and that, of necessity, fxtremes met, they are as good a people as there is on earth, but at present they are enslaved to " machine politics," as t rAmericans call the aggravated paiu government in the States. There is no rml division in the Republican, patty with rrspecfc to expansion, and for purposes of spo'ls to the victors, the party is very solid. Reformers rnd reforms have, under these circumstaEces, but little chanc?, because the party leaders are able to deny them a hearing, and consequently reformers are driven to fonn new parties, shch as the prohibition, single-fa*, Social-Ddmocrat, Labour, and Populace parrie?. Theee will certainly, in time, break down tho rule of the " boss," and give the people a greater amount of political freedom. " No," replied Mr. Woolley, " I don't think that the American system can be claimed to be freer than the New Zealand system. The will of the people is felt much less quicsly in America than it' is here. It is a sad fact that in the United Stitfs people are literally driven by the ' bosses' to a very great degree, dug there is a general revolt now which has led to the formation of the parties I have spoken of. You can scarcely understand the iniquity of' boss' ru'e from anything you have in New Zeiland, nor bavo any conception of its far re&cbing magnitude. Your Premier has the grace of a wholesome fear of tho pmple, be cause the people have the poser to overthrow his Government, whilst the President of the United Slates bas a. definite period during which ha cancoS be overthrown, which makes it possible for him to defeat the \«ill of tho prople in the intrr. sts of his party. Not only does ' boss' rule defeat the people's will in federal mattery but also in State affairs, and, worsS of all, in municipal matters." . R-. ferring to the decision that the American constitution does not follow the flag, Mr. Woolley said that President M'Kinley was

call 1 "emptor" oa tu ,unt of the; sudden change in the p iy's politKij during h's admin'itiittou ; io ffat, he is at ptr jilt Einp«ror of the Pirlppine Archipelago, and a veiy bdcne ind; 1, in Mr. Woo'ley's opinion. Cer"ly he b s 'istitu c 1 so ne reforms which, in the loDg un, will result in the Filipinos gaining by Aineiicau re'e; but he has p'so given the liquor uafir, and the tvi's associa'ed with it, very large liberty, debauching his own soldiers • s wel as the Filipinos, and putting t'e flag to s'caaie before th prnple whom be seeks to civilise. L; this President M'Kinley has bebave.l no woise than the British Governmen habi'ually behaves in China with rega r d to the opium truffle; but in either cas. it is infamous, atd, Mr. Woolley be livees, contrary to the will of the people in both Great Britain and Americi -I In Puerto Rico and Cuba, where the President h s less power, whit little he poiiesses has been used batter, but he bas studiously avoided giving offeree to the liquor traffic either at Home or the Islands. "Will )ou be ftandi'g at the next presidential election?" asktd the Truth represeotitive. " I don't think so," repli> d M.. Wcolley. " Neither will M'Kinky nor Btyan ; but there wil be new men." The gold-demoer.ts, whose numbers ure increasing, won't bear of I'-ryau's c;ir.didature ; his unreasonable Ivitxid to England wou'd also bi against him ; and generally neither he nor M'Kinl y would be acceptable to the peopl . Coming to a subj ct in wbicb hetak-s, perhaps greater interest, Mr. "ft oo ley said thac prohibit on in America is slowly but surely gaining ground, and the piohibitionitrts were never more hopeful than at present. "The reports you hear about prohibitory laws being a fai'ure where they have been tried in the states," he continued, " invariably emanate tither from vicious or ignprent sourc s. Enforcement is difficult, of course, and lacks much of being satisfactory; but whenever it has failed, the failure is directly attributable to the barefaced corruption of the local administration, or the insidious interference of the party leaders. In spite of everything, enforcement increases,-and is hopeful even in the seaboard cities and facory towns of the prohibition States. The man in New Zealand or elsewhere wl o prints in his newspaper the tumour that prohibition does not prohibit, marks himr-elf lacking in carefulness for truth, or lacking in intelligecc. I am pe.fectly satisfi d that however long prohibition may b in the United States, it isn't vtry fa away in New Zetland, because the m jiri'yuf your people aie against the lqnor Uvfii 1 , and wherever a fair count, ea-i bi had, unemb.ira' sed by other qti3stion-, t hey Wl! carrv it, The m jori y in the •Jnited hta'es ar> in f vour if tha abolition of the liquor tr (fie, but our fight against the politicians, in tbe natute of the cas", will t>ke more time than yours here. On>i very enouraging feature in America hnd io New Zejlan"," Mr Woolley said in conclusion, "is that the mere ckanly atd intelligent of the newspapers seem to ha reali-ing tbe recessity of publishing tha uews without censo ship in favour of the liquor traffic."