THE Temuka Leader THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 1905. DIRTY POLITICIANS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 5289, 24 August 1905, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 1905. DIRTY POLITICIANS.

in his ti mperauee or prohibition addle ss at isic \ olunteer Hull, '.l emu ha}* last Ttu-suuy night Air Woolley, the American temperance evangelist, had a

; i! ai (Aral lo say about tiiny poltti■ian.s and corrupt ofltcials. Sneers and dtirs and degrading references to thorn .Topped from. him ill a rippling cur•ont, to the groat amusement of the icople. Air Woolley comes Iron the and oi dirty politicians, from the land o£ A aini.inny rings, from the and oi monopolies, and the Laid of (.irruptions, and there the points he .male would have been applicable, tlere, however, they are not. No one in this colony will say wo have a •orrupt magistracy or a corrupt body of public oiliccrs administering the law. They are not Yankee boodlers amongst whom ho has picked up his experience. If prohibition wore carried in this colony it would lie enforced, but the fact is that it is not. W hat is earned in certain places in this colony i ; no-1 iconse. One can bring drint into u no-licensed district in unlimited pliantities by going through a eetlaln form, and huh dgc in a saturnalia oi drunkenness, and no one cum interfere if one keeps oil the public thoroughfare and does not sell. A person has the right to lake a quart of'whisky or a gallon of beer into a no-liccasc district every day m the week, and so long as lie docs not sell it no i.oe can interfere with hint. 'I hesc are the

provisions prohibitionists have made for tiie perpetuation of drunkenness, and under these circumstances it is next to impossible for public ofiicors to enforce the law. in effect Mr Woolley stud the poli'ician.s were as the people made them. In that case why call tne;n dirty? Are not the people who mate-, the politicians as dirty ? is it not the case of tiie pot calling ihe kettle black, The unthinking are always tpiite ready and willing to sneer at the politician ; but if people would relied, they would realise that they could not he guilty of any greater act of folly than ibis. What is a politician? Is - le not a man who devotes his time and talents and energies to the service of the people? Is ho not a man w-o leaves the comforts of his home, and gives up his business, and works nig"t and day for the people ? Supposing it came to pass that all men tinned sol Osh, and refused to do this where would we be ? What would ue.vmo of our boasted democracy ■? What is the matter with 'Russia? Simply ft at she has no politicians. Russia is undergoing- terrible tortures to ever-us politicians, Here we have thorn, end wo applaud the sneers' cast on them. The lifeand soul and bone and marrow of a democracy is the poll'insn. Without him a democracy could not exist. The democracy which s ears at the politician and ridicules, scoft's and derides him. makes a terrible gash in its own throat, for so sure as day follows night, if the reward c f the man who devotes his life to the service. of the people is to be called dirty, the clay will come, and it is coming fast, when the best, class of men will refuse to cuter political life. The best class of men do not enter politics in America. Fraser’s book on Canada shows that it is the same

I there, just for the reason that because I instead of it being an honour to represent the people, it is becoming a dishonour. We are getting- op. that way fast in this colony, in fact, we are not sure that we have not igot on to it already. We have a few dirty politicians already, and we shall have more of' them if we do not look to it. There is no bettor way of lowering the character of our politicians than by degrading the office and making it such as men of honourable instincts will not accept. Who will suffer if it is degraded to such an extent ? Will it he the men who will refuse to be politicians ? Certainly not. No man worth his salt can make anything out. of polities. The good, capable man .will not suffer, ■ but the people will he- ! cause they will get only an inferior 'class of men to go into Parliament. ; For their own sakes therefore the | people ought to pay proper respect to I the politicians. They ought to select the best men they can got, and troE them properly when they have got them.

After the Temuko slock rnl« on Tuesday Mr (3. B. M. Jones..'lor the Canterbury Farmers’ Co-operative Association) submitted to auction third, issue shares in the Tomuka Terminating building Society, part of the bankrupt estate of J. Engl click!. tM 10/ had been paid up on each share, and on which there were some arrears realised £2 each, the purchaser being Mr F. Williams.