The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1901.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3557, 2 May 1901, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1901.

On Tuesday night the agent of the Press Association in Greymouth telegraphed all over the colony certain particulars regarding the Premier's tenure of office, compared it with the time during which the Premiers of other colonies have been in office, and added the information that he has sat in the House of Representatives continuously since the General Election in 1879, "thus practically representing one people for twenty-one years during twentyfour sessions of Parliament." There was also the startling intelligence that Mr Seddon had commenced his public life as a member of the Westland local bodies in 1868. We object strongly to having to pay for stuff of this sort, and the Greymouth agent of the Press Association should be censured by the management for having sent it. Does that agent suppose that the editors of newspapers and people generally throughout the colony are not at least as well acquainted as he is with Sir Seddon's public career? If that is his idea he is very much mistaken. But it is easy to see—how the message came to be sent. It did not originate in the agent's brain, but was prompted from outside. The Premier and one of his private secretaries is in Greymouth, and either the master or the man thought that such a message would be a good party advertisement, and suggested that it should be despatched, and despatched it was accordingly. If that was how the message came to be sent, it was an impertinence; if it was prompted by genuine desire on the part of the Greymouth agent to lighten the- darkness of the people of New Zealand, it was merely asinine. However, as attention has thus been pointedly directed to the long time during which Mr Seddon has been Premier, we are tempted to glance at the causes of the unusual prolongation of his political success. It cannot be denied "that he has been exceptionally lucky. He was acting Premier at the time of, Mr Ballance's death, and that gave him the opportunity of stepping into the shoes of his late chief, for the party resented the plan which had been, concocted for making Sir Robert Stout Premier. But good luck will not account for all that has occurred since, and we are very sure that statesmanship will not account for it, for the Premier, whatever iiis other qualifications may be, is not a statesman. He is an exceedingly astute party politician, blessed or cursed with great- energy and will-power, and always prepared to seize an opportunity for strengthening, his position without much regard for the true interests of the people. No other New Zealand Premier lias taken such infinite pains as Mr Seddon lias to ascertain the temper of t-lie constituencies, and to profit by the knowledge. Long ago he established a network of agencies and a system of espionage all over the colony, binding men to him by promises, by concessions, by a judicious distribution of billets and pickings (such as Royal Commissions), and by a bluff familial' manner which overlies and conceals the true character of the man. Itgoes without saying that he has to a very large extent been successful. He has the majority in his pocket, which is a capital position for a political loader to be in, especially nt election, time, and has of course contributed largely to his lengthened (enure of o/lice. When we look at (lie statute book, and take note of thai, part of the legislation which may be fairly attributed to the Premier's initiative, we can find no evidence of his statesmanship, but a great deal of trimming and compromise, always with the one end in view—the holding fast to power. The land policy of tho colony has been Mr McKenzie'sthe labour policy (for good or evil) Mr Reeves'; the finance (again, for good or ovil) Mr Ward's. The .Premier may be credited with tho handling of tho jicens-

ing question, and he has not been successful with it. He has never approached the subject in a statesmanlike manlier, but has been intent on doing as little" as possible to adversely affect his position at the polls. The eight years of his Premiership is a -\vonderful record of success of a sort, achieved by means which, ■ as we have already said, point conclusively to a man of enormous energy and deep astuteness (we had almost written cunning, which perhaps is after all the most suitable word) where his own political interests are concerned, but lacking the elements of true greatness. For all we can tell to the contrary Mr Seddon may hold -the Premiership for another eight years, unless a. revulsion of feeling sets in as the outcome of some huge blunder on his part, or of lean years pressing hardly upon the people—a time of deep depression which he may have had as little hand in bringing about as he has had in causing the prosperity which the colony | now enjoys.