The Star. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1881.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4243, 26 November 1881, Page 3

The Star. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1881.

Thb Parliament last Beßsion, it may be remembered, eat for about ten or twelve weeks with no other measure before it for consideration b.ut tbe Licensing Bill.; towards the ch>Be — following their usual triek — tbo Governmont bronght down a batch of bills, and taking advantago of: memberH beirg exhausted and anxious to return to tbeir bomes, hurriei them through tho Houbo. Amongst their measures waa the Corrupt Practices Aot, •which m»*y be said to contain the full embodiment of the pure morality of tho purely moral Government. There can be no manner of doubt that, if strictly administered, tbe Corrupt Practices Act of liiut s<?6Bion will effectually put down many practices in addition to things wbioh are in their naturo corrupt ; but, even a 1 ; thiH early stage, it is d r ar that in ono respect the measure ie a failure ; for there iv at least ono source of .corruption which remains unaffected., and whioh has already made itself apparent moat palpably. Whilst the Corrupt Praoticee Act bungs up candidates and electors in impervious envelopes to shield them from every contaminating influence, it leaves the general purso-holder of the community — the Government — entirely nfc liberty to bribe, demoralise and fool tbe people in tho most comprehensive and unacrapulono spirit. It will bo no doubt witbin jyenera! recollection tbat, Bhortly after

the Hall orew sorambled into power, they were — notwithstanding their wailing about tbe financial state of the oountry — most liberal in their attentions to certain electoral distriots whose Representatives' votes were believed to be somewhat doubtful. Through the supposed political independence of their members one constituency received a lump vote of £35,000, a second £40,000, whilst a third achieved no lest* a sum than £60,000. These were by no means small pickings to get from the table of a purely moral Government, but it is clear tbat— in this equivocal respect at least — the Hall Ministry boasted a polioy of their own, and it was very far indeed from being exhausted. About the beginning of this montb, we referred briefly to the nice little exposure of the efforts of Government to transfer the oredit of the attempt to secure a grant for the proposed Sailors' Home, at Lyttelton, from the Honorable E. Richardson and Mr Peteb Cunningham — to whom ifc rightfully belongs— to tbe politically capitalless Mr Habry All wbight. This disreputable trick, however, by no means stands alone. A somewhat similarly unpleasant revelation is reported to have taken plaoo in the East Ooast constituency, from the electors of which the late member — Mr Allak M'Donald — seeks reeleotion. Mr M'Donald has been a most con* eistent, bard working exemplary member for bis constituents ; but, being in opposition and a shrewd pure morality Government in power, it was not likely that — beyond tbe opportunities whioh the efforts at general legislation gave him — he could be able to aobieve mnch for them. At an eleotion meeting held by Mr M'Donald recently, one of his audience rose and produced a telegram whioh ran as folio *s : — " You can state Mr M'Donald had nothing to do with getting moneys for roads on the East Coast put on the Estimates. — John Hall." This contemptible attempt to damage the credit of an opponent, it will be seen, is very nearly upon all fours with tbe Lyttelton trick, though in the latter instance it was sought, not only to rob a candidate of his aobieved laurels, but to bestow thero upon another. With regard to Mr M'Donald's oase, we feel that we oan scarcely do better than quote the language employed by an East Coast journal in regard to it : — " We have often heard it advanced, when objections have been raised to the Premier's political laches, that, at all events, he was a gentleman. What mitigating quality will now be argued ; for, by no Btretch of imagination, can a man be called a gentleman who perpetrates Buch an aot of meanness. It is quite a new feature in our political history that a Premier should endeavour to influence the electors of a district against their representative by pointing to what he did or did not accomplish for them in his representative capacity. The money was put upon the Estimates, and it is evident that the Premier desires to make political capital out of the circumstance ; for Mr M'Donald is the only representative for the East Coast, and if he did not secure the boon for his district, it stands to reason that the Government must have granted it of its own accord. The Premier might just as well have said plainly, • We have caused to be voted a sum of money for roads in your district. We would not do it at the inßtanco of Mr M'Donald, because he was opposed to as. We only do such things for our friends, and not for our enemieß, whatever may be the urgenoy.' " Our Northern contemporary proceeds at greater length than we feel justified in quoting, to use yet stronger language in reference to the contemptible action of the Honorable John Hall in this matter, pointing out that it is as emailminded and as " meanly- discreditable " as bis oonduot towards the discharged telegraphists, " whom he attempted to hound down " by applying to the Governments in Australia to refuse them an opportunity to earn their bread. Then, in last Saturday's issue we published a nice little story told by the Wanganui Herald under the heading "A Job." It appears that during last Beasion Mr Nicholson, of Whenuakaru, on bebalf of the settlers of the Patea district, waited upon Major Atkinson in Wellington in reference to the ront3 of the proposed railway from Waverley, and be was then assured tbat the inland line would be followed. Only a week or two ago it waa publicly announced and openly Btated by officers of the Public Works department tbat the Government had deoided that the line should be taken by the inland route. The geceral election, however, being at hand, and the necessary pressure by strongly interested influential parties haying betn brought to bear, Major Atkinson at once calls the Oabinet together and gets it to agree to ohange the line of the proposed ra'lway to what ia known as the Ooast route. This transaction is a palpable attempt to purchase tho support of the eleotors of Patea by, yielding to them a consideration whioh can only be extended at the expense of the general ''ntereßts of the peoplo. In regard to it tbe Herald concludes :— "The whole affair is certainly very disgraceful, and it is moat evident that the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act does not contain one provision it ought to contain. The law ahould undoubtedly be bo framed that Ministers Bhould not he ablo to fix railway routes on the eve of a general election." We cordially agree with our contemporary. Another scandal which has come prominently under publio notice is the notorious manner iv which certaiu Press organs have been manipulated recently by Ministers and their supporters. When a newspaper, withic the limits of a Bhort month, makes itß appearance as politically green — yellow — blue, and upon each occasion •most pronounced in tone, the public be--como surprised at -what — we are happy to say — is an unwonted occurrence ; then tbeir suspicions are aroused ; finally tbey become OBsitred of tbe truth, with a deep conviotion which no astute — legally drawn — advertisements which quibble with well-known facte are likely to shake. Of course, when tho proprietors of oauntsy-edited journnls, wbioh havo nlways been in a languid condition aud from the moment of their unhealthy birth have 'been gradually getting aicker and sicker every day, receive f-n offer for the purchase of their expiring offspring, it is not to be supposed that any mere political considerations could bo allowed to oloud the hopes of tbeir hungry Btomach, the more especially as everybody knows tbat the more a political huckster blazonß his virtuo on tbo Btreet wallp, the more iikeJy is bo to be ready to sell it on tho first convenient opportunity ; but we do think that proprietors ot I

publio journals, before they consent to politically turn about, and jump about and dance Jim Orow, should be assured they are not being trifled with by a set of unscrupulous 6chemers tbat will throw them over without the least hesitation when the elections are over, and all the very little good to bo got out of them has been squeezed forth. Thus much about the small organ proprietors. What, on the other hand, is to be thought of men who are followers of the purely moral Ministry, men aspiring to legislate for tbe people, when they are found playing tricks of thia unscrupulous, legal hocus- pocus nature? If they are to be considered justified in thus buying and selling a political machine to effect their political ends in the constituencies, why should they not be permitted to buy and sell the electors themselves openly P Theße kind of purely moral and virtuously righteous candidates — one of whom is is eaid is a member of the Government — bring to mind the monkey who, perched upon tbe ass' baok, made it scour the plain after a bunch of carrots held before its nose, and which it could never bope to reach. They are clever people truly and entitled to laugh — when they win !