WHAT THE PAPERS SAY

Observer, Volume XVIII, Issue 1094, 16 December 1899, Page 4

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY

The intangible plank in the Opposition platform, namely, the promise of purity, etc., in the administration of the colony's affairs,. may be dismissed in fewer words. Such an assurance is vitiated by its very arrogance and the pharisaical assumption that the men who make it are better than other men. — Hamilton Times.

What Prohibition has done has been to set father againßt son, wife against hus band, brother against sister, friend against friend — it has brought discord into the family circle without any compensating advantage. — Wanganui Herald.

The Ohinemuri electorate seems to be a sort of TattersaU's Bweep, in which a number of men invest a £10 note with a chanoe of getting a dividend of £240 per annum lor three annnms It is mostly a race of two year olds who have no record. They may turn out good, bad, or indifferent. The mystery is, how is one to choose ? — Paeroa Gazette.

The Conservatives have no case, absolutely no case. In order to avoid the open reproach of their few sincere friendß that .they have no policy they have been obliged to adopt that of the Government, and by way of justifying their claim to administer that policy they have condescended to declare that they are purer than their fellows ! To the crime of grand larceny they have superadded the unsavoury offence of pharasaism. — Hamilton Times.

Mr Napier's protest against handing over Samoa to Germany, if it does nothing else, will give the Ministers of the United States and Germany the opportunity of indulging in the recreation of findiDg out by reference to their atlases where Auckland la.— Oamaru Time 3.

The present. condition of the colony is the strongest factor working towarda the reinstatement of the Government What has been the result of a fortuitous conoourae of circumstances, and the effects of a steady expenditure of one million a year of borrowed money, will be put down by a majority to the remarkable excellence of the present Administration ? The minority, of course, know a great deal better. — Greymouth Argus.

The time has come when we should cry 'halt' with our labour legislation, much of which already on the Statute Book evidently requires" amendment, which it will be one of the duties of the new Parliament to effect. — Blenheim Express.

Here at the centre of Government we have to let the rest of the country know what Ministers stump the colony at public expense, to cover up, to misrepresent, and with unblushing effontery, to deny. Here at the centre of things we can see more clearly what is being done in the name of the. people by the Premier and for the Premier. It behoves us, therefore, to enter an emphatic protest once more against the political sins we deplore. — "Wellington Post.

Seddonism, seeing its chances of prolonging the 'spoils ' policy are meagre, has imposed a political terrorism in all its departments. It has enlisted the mob element in its cause, and has invented a system of rewards and penalties in all the public departments. Its spies honeycomb, the country. — Napier Herald.

This, then, is how the colony is governed. If the candidate or member is prepared to scratch the Premier's back— and he has an amazingly large surface to operate upon — the Premier is prepared to allow his nails to grow so that the return of the compliment might be a fitting quid pro quo for the assistance rendered to purity of government. Under such circumstances is it to be wondered at that the Government have a good chance of returning to power? — Oamaru Times.

It is an absurdity that, if an alleged selfgoverning community wants & democratic policy without Seddon, or with some one else, it shouldn't be able to have it. It is also a parody on free institutions that the country, if it is tired of Seddon, has absolutely no means of indicating who, in the Progressive Party, it would prefer to follow. But it is necessary to consider things as they are ; not as they should be. The country is asked to choose between the Progressive Party plus Seddon, and the Unprogressive Party,, plus Buesell. — Sydney Bulletin.

The present Ministry has been using seemingly progressive legislation as a sort of soothing draught to lull popular suspicions to Bleep, to prevent the people from perceiving how the Constitution has been set at nought, the real virtues of democracy disregarded, and an unwholesome despotism built upon the people's dependence on the Government. — Wellington Post.

The fact is, that even the best intentioned attempts to meddle with the law of supply and demand are bound to fail. The reason why unscrupulous persons can get an abundance of girls willing to work for nothing for six or twelve months to learn dressmaking or millinery is because of the strong preference shown by girls for factory life as opposed to domestic service. — Napier Telegraph.

Boers offer £5000 for the head of Cecil Rhodes, the South African Colussus. And, if they get it at the price, We'll say the Boers have done good biz, For judging by the things they do, They badly need a head like his. — Melbourne Punch.

Not only Opposition but Ministerial candidates are somewhat perplexed in endeavouring to understand the principle of Mr Seddon's finance. It certainly does seem curiouß that with big annual surpluses and a steadily increasing revenue, it should be necessary to borrow largely and pile up the Public Debt to such an amount that the annual payment of interest must become a serious charge on the revenue. — Dunedin Star.

It is amusing to note how the Opposition journals have been disposing of the seats to the Opposition candidates. If all the forecasts are as reliable as that of the Wairarapa, then the present administration has nothing to fear— it will be returned by a larger majority than in 1896. — Carterton Leader.

The ' statesmanship ' of the Premier at the present time may be described as an elaborated and Bhameless system of rewards and punishments. In Auckland, he bid for the support of the province in the most brazen manner. 'A quarter of a million was on the Estimates,' he assured hia audience, ' and bo long as he was Premier, every shilling of it would be spent.— Wellington Post.

If the shent per shenters are really at the bottom of the Transvaal slaughter, England's motto ought to be changed to 'England, Home and Jewty.'— Sydney Truth.

We fully believe that Mr Seddon now recognises that f-hould he return to power he must surround himself with stronger men as his Ministerial colleagues than are some of whom with whom he has worked in the past, and the avalanche of adverse criticism — some of it grossly unjust — which has been hurled against certain of his administrative methods has not, we believe, fallen upon heedless ears. — Blenheim Express. wiJcJiii

Very few people know that in the matter of the cable service, the one message serves for the whole of Australia — the skeleton message comes through, and is written up by the different cable liars, according to their imagination. One would little dream that the Argus, Age, 8. M. Herald, Sydney Telegraph, 8 A Regitter and Advertiser^ the Brisbane, Hobart, Perth, and N.Z. papers, all write up fiom the one miserable message. — Adelaide Oritic.