The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 1895.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 1658, 11 January 1895, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 1895.

The Premier's speech at Hokitika was not a very important utterance, but it was lengthy and touched on a large number of subjects. He actually talked for four hours, and must have taxed his hearers' patience to the utmost. A very condensed report occupied nearly three columns m the Christchurch papers, and a verbatim report would, we suppose, have excluded all other reading matter from that issue. The Premier is terribly longwinded, and appears to think that eloquence consists of an unlimited flow of words. There never was a greater mistake. He would largely increase his power as a public speaker if he could learn • the art of judicious condensation. But we much fear that it is too late for him to improve on his platform methods. Four hours at a stretch i is a long time for a really fine spea- ; ker to detain an audience, and the ; Premier is very far from being a fine speaker. The most that can be said for him is that he can keep , on talking, talking, talking, talking, ; long after most men would collapse from sheer physical exhaustion. It L is a pity that such powers of endurance should be so grievously wasted. The Hokitika speech comi menced with half an hour's attack on the Opposition newspapers, that is to say, on a very large proportion of the journalism of the colony. He has said the same things on a hundred different platforms, and even if some repetition was necessary he might have cut short his % tirade. But we beg his pardon ; there was a slight novelty introduced into his attack on the press. He asserted that the editor of the Evening Post was the correspondent of other Opposition papers m other j towns. "He (the editor) would f write an article, and next day telel graph it with the prefix ' The Post t says.' Similar things were done by the Opposition papers m other towns." Here then we have, firstly, a special charge against the editor of the Evening Post, and, secondly, a charge against Opposition editors generally. It seems that m their editorial capacity they write leading articles, and then, m their capacity as. correspondents, telegraph the said articles as indications of the bent of public opinion. If there is one thing more than another that the Premier prides himself on it is his spotless truthfulness. In that respect he . considers himself to be on an even higher perch than George Washington. If that be so it is clear that he really believed what he said about Opposition editors m New Zealand. It is, however, not the less certain that he was grossly m error. The editor of the Evening' Post has already denied the charge—he is not the correspondent of any newspaper either m the colony or anywhere else. If other Opposition editors thought it worth their while, they too could tell the Premier that he was mistaken. The fact is that editors are seldom correspondents. The two trades are distinct, and are kept so. The point is not of much importance, but still it is as well to disabuse the public mind of the impression that when a newspaper correspondent quotes from a leading article he is merely giving a wider circulation to his own writings. The Premier also charged the Opposition newspapers with abusing the Government. It was a , wrong way of putting the case. We seldom or never come across what can fairly be called abuse of the Government. Much that they do is condemned ; but the facts, as far as they are known, are stated, and reasons given for the condemnation. If it is undeserved, all that • can be said is that there is a difference of opinion between the newspaper writers and the Govern- ; ment, but that does not render the [ former liable to a charge of being abusive. The Premier went over a | great deal of old ground m his i speech. What was the use of once • more raking up the story of Mr Bal- , lance's political testament, and his . alleged wish that Mr Seddon should ■ lead the Liberal party ? Why treat ' the people of Hokitika and the colony at large to a rehash of the notorious Sergeant-at-Arms business ? Not one man m ten thousand is prepared to justify what was done, and nothing that the Premier \ could say would alter public opinion as to a great wrong having been perpetrated. There was more reason for the Premier's allusion to his proposals m relation to Samoa. We differ with him on the subject, and hold strongly that New Zealand had better let Samoa severely alone. But the question is still one for argument, and Lord Kosebery's injudicious remarks called for a reply. The speech contained a small amount of information as to the future; and bearing m mind the Premier's reputation as the George Washington of New Zealand, we suppose that we ought to put implicit reliance on what he said. He denied that the Government had any intention of borrowing — " he could only tell them that the Government were not going m for a borrowing policy, but would go on as they had gone on m the past." The announcement may be deemed to be somewhat selfcontradictory, because the Government are actually living on borrowed money at the present moment, and last session was specially a time of

piling up liability. But what we understand the Premier to have i meant is that the Government 1 would not go m a straightforward t manner into the London market 1 and ask for a loan for public works, t Time will tell ; yet it is difficult to understand how their public works , programme is to be carried out except by a loan. Amongst other things the Premier pro- ] mised the reintroduction of the Licensing Bill and the Undesirable Immigrants Bill, the latter with ] "some slight modifications." But 1 the amendments will have to be very numerous and important if the ! Bill is to become law. The country has never asked for such a measure, and even the Government majority j m the House may disappear unless the objectionable clauses are cut i out. Perhaps the most interesting bit of information m the speech was that concerning local government. : The announcement that the question would be dealt with next session was renewed, and the Premier expressed the opinion that the old Provincial system, without legislative functions, was the best. Is it to be understood that the counties are to be swept away, and their places taken by Provinces with the boundaries which existed before abolition ? l