The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1877.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 1897, 28 November 1877, Page 3

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1877.

There have recontly been rumors flbrond nbout Mr Sheehan being offered the chance of a Ministerial office on the other side, if he would desert his present chiel and enlist under the banner of the Opposition. That such a story should obtain the slightest credence from the public, much less that it should be publicly understood that overtures m thnt direction were made, directly or indirectly, betokens the existence of a depth of political immorality which threatens to sap the very foundation of party Government and political honesty. The most daring inventor of political canards on the staff of any of those "smart" papers which form such a remarkable feature m the periodical literature of the day at Home, would not have ventured on Buch a wild flight as to assert that Mr Lowe had been offered office under Lordßeaconsfield,orthatMrGawthorne Hardy had been coquotted with by Mr Gladstone. Such a rumor, supposing any one wild enough to start it, would have been scouted at once and regarded us impossible, as if the story had been that Mr Gladstone had been discovered picking Lord Beaconsfield's pocket, or the Marquis of Salisbury detected m the act of setting fire to Earl Granville's town house. Unfortunately a different code of political honor seems to prevail here to that which obtains at Home, and renders party Government there what it is. Not only are the public m this colony ready to credit the readiness of their leaders to do acts which under English rule would be regarded as dishonest and dishonorable, which would blight the highest prospects and result m political extinction, but our leaders, are too often willing to justify this popular estimate of them. A more healthy public opinion is needed to visit such offences against political morality with- the due meed of punishment. In the present case we do not. suppose Mr Sheehari ever contemplated for a moment such' a change as has been alluded to,, but had he done so his conduct would not have been much worse than that of Messrs Reid and Whitaker m taking office under the late Ministry. A great deal has been said on, this subject during the present session. Mr' Reid has been the chief object of attack, as the edge was taken off Mr Whitaker's tergiversation last session. The present Government side also bad peculiar reason to regret and resent Mr Reid's desertion during the recess, and hence the severity of the attacks made on him. He has defended himself with much specious reasoning and high-sounding declamation. Few men could have shown more argumentative skill m trying to make the worse appear the better cause. As far as words go he has held his own, even with Mr Stout, one of his most persistent, as be is one of his most able assailants. Mr Reid has endeavored to represent his ■■-conduct/- not only as blameless, but as ;^praiseworthy, as an act of political conscientiousness, rather than of political : immorality. : ' yVe believe that lie honestly believes m ihe view of the case he has put forth, as; hie defence, and it is possible that he may have led some people to take a similar view of his action j men of the Burns and Lum'sden class, probably, who cannot see much beyond their noses, and have no very elevated ideas on political subjects. Mr Reid, himself, is a man of a different stamp, and we can only regret that heushould be a victim to self delusion, , that he shouldjnot be able to see his own conduct m all : its nakei deformity, but should on the contrary seek to excuse and justify "it. Party government m New Zealand has not been a success. ,Its failure has been largely owing to the ease with which party ties are borne, the fre? quency with which they are shaken off, and the leniency with which the Colonial public and politicians regard desertions, which at Home would cover the deserter with enduring shame. Consistency has ibeen said to be the virtue, of fools. We are no advocates for, the consistency which may, be so. .'described..-. Men must ; change with circumstances, and should yield to arguments, but there is a decency to be observed m doing : so, : and, when, as has teen long the case m New Zealand politics, the ranks of the Ministry are persistently recruited from the leaders of ..the' Opposition ;'"' when m fact, the -shortest . -way. . to , office - is- to .^strongly oppose and abuse the Government until Ministers, shut. -your, mouth/by, making you .- a ■ iColleague, i the • interests unmistakeably < suffer, ' and the liberties of the people are ih'dangerl Represen-: tative goyermneat must necessarily be

party government, jf j t j s (0 h e pure and honest government. Her Majesty's Opposition is as necessary a portion of the machinery of government as Her Majesty's Ministry. Under such a system as this which now obtains, an honest and effective Opposition cannot exist. The object of its leaders is not to check and control the administration of the other side, waiting until a legitimate opportunity of carrying- their own side into power arrives ; but to offer such a factious opposition as may render the other side anxious to convert them into allies instead of enemies. A Government cannot receive honest support from its own party, even when office is constantly used as a bribe to silence opponents, not an honor to reward friends for good and faithful service. The leaders of the Opposition cannot act m concert or have confidence m each other so long as it is understood to be a correct and proper thing that each for himself should take the first opportunity to go over to the other side, and join his opponents as a colleague. Dishonest intriguing for persona! advantage and promotion must under such a system soon take the place of all bonest political motive and action. This is really a serious matter to the public, arid tho lax political morality which is growing into fashion here is, we have said, fraught with danger to the public interests. Mr Reid's conduct has, we hope, brought matters to a crisis, and a healthy reaction may now set m. We cannot term him what Macauluy terms one who, like himself, was once the advocate of liheral and popular rights — the popular Wentwortb, who having sold himself, became belter known as the infamous Strafford. Mr Reid is not like him, " the first of the rats " — the first of those statesmen whose patriotism has been only the coquetry of political prostitution, and whose profligacy has taught Governments to adopt the old maxim of the slave market — that it is cheaper to huy than to breed, to import defenders from an Opposition than to rear them m a Ministry. The primary distinction does not nttach to Mr Reid. He is noc the first of the "rats," but undoubtedly his conduct has brought the practice of "ratting" very strongly before the public, and we trust that the result may be that he will be the last example for somß time to come, and certainly the last who will ever escape the punishment which should ever attach to such conduct.