THE WEEK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4322, 9 December 1893, Page 7

THE WEEK.

(Lyilelton Times.) The "fitful fever" of the elections is Veil ovor, aad all ia O7ieo more normal, but for the attempts beinjf amde by certain Conservative tccibes to the peopio that there is 3oin?.t*.drig paTticularly critical and ominous about tli« political situation. Sir Eobert Stout aud the reuinajit of the Opposition are said to bB about to form a coalition thit will turn the. r v • seutMims 1 vy out of office, and there are jiark hints oc ft "summer seßßion," when this consummation iB to be brought about. In these foreoasts and warnings ike wi^h is generally " father to the thought." One astnta Opposition journal ev<=n throws out tbe friendly suggestion that Mr Seddon's only hops of retaining £fflce lies in having a summer session and dipping in the bud tbe revolt of Sir Robert and his merry band of prohihiuoniats. Eeally, thees Conservatives nre altogefcber too effusive in their invitations to the once heartily-bated "Sooialisb and faddist" to come over aud help them. Their sublime faith, in the elasticity o£ Sir Bobart's political conscience recalls a story that used to be told, with gusto during tho Russian war iseare. The Stout-YogeJ. coalition Governinent was then in powar, it should bo explained, and considerable comment had been evoked by that combination of Opposing elements. In Wellington one day a knot of politicians were discussing the possible consequences that would ensue if! a Russian cruiser were to sail into tbe harbour. Unconditional capitulation peemed to some tbe only aUernofeive to the prompt destruction and sacking of the Empire City. A southern member — Mr Bazron, i? we recollect aright— i ook a more hopeful view. Ho declared there wa3 no cause for anxiety — that all untoward consequences could be easily averted. tc How P." " Nothing simpler. Send out Sfcout to meet the invaders, and he'll Boon form a coalition with the Russian Admiral." The talk of a Stout-Coneerva-tive combination is j u&t as wild and wid9 of the mark aa this jocular suggestion. Hera is what 5 practical, hard-headed member has to say on the aituation creatod by the elections. Ms Duthie, interviewed by an Auckland Eerald reporter, said :— " Practically there are only eight- mombers of the Opposition returned, and the party is virtually annihilated. Iu my opinion our action and that of the Conaeil in resisting what we think ia vicious legislation, has not msfc with public sympathy. Good government will only corns from the experience of the evils oE such legislation. Various measures, hitherto successfully resisted, must now become, law, and we think a revulsion oi teeling will ensue when some of the33 measures are brought into practice. Divisions will, I think, arioe iu their own party before they go very far. I think there is an, improvemant- in the personnel ol tbe House, and I am of opinion that men of more moderate views will gravitate together before very long. As to the Premiership, my opinion is that it would be a great pity to disturb the pre3out Government. They ought to ba retained in office till the effect of their measures and their finance is fully before the country. I would regard it as a huge blunder to disturb the Government, even if a division Upon prohibition, accss. The country, as I Baid, must firat realise tha general effect of their measures, and especially of thsiv finance, before there ia any attempt to disturb the Government. As to Mr Eolleston's defeat, one must express regret that a high-minded man of ripe experience like him, nftiv all his Relf sacrifice aad toil, should be casb aside." The notable j>oint3 in tb'in pronouncement are — (1) The admission that the Opposition Party is out of touch with public sentiment ; (2) the con7iction that the Liberal legislation hitherto obstructed must not? be passed ; and (3) tbe opinion that it would be a blunder, in the opinion ofi aa earnest temperance reformer, to ouat the present Government from office over the question of prohibition. Beyond all doubt, Mr Dufchio will be no party to a Stout-Rusaall coalition. Most of the defeated candidates have taken their beating with a good grace, and have publicly tbauked their supporters without allowing the slightest trace of bitterness to appear. An exception to this rule was found ia the case of Mr Kennedy MacdonaJA, of Wellington, who, witih more truth than taste, thraw the blame of hig defeat upon the lasli o? unity aad organisation in the Liberal Party, and concluded by announcing that he would never again woo th9 suffrages o? the elaoiore. In pleasant contrast to this, Mr C. W. Pnrcel], Btnilingly told tae electors of Ashburton in his address of thanks that, though defeated he intended to try again, and made the announcement thuß early "so that no diacuesioa might hereafter arise upon the important queetion of who wa9 fir3b in the field." Mr Purneli'a pluct, determination and forethought are worthy of all admiration. Ifc is to be hoped that he will be found fighting nest triennial coateß.t with hiß wonted dasb, but on the " right " side of politics. "Stop my paper!" This Jb the last argument of people who refnse to aoeept tho logic of facts, or whoaa minds are bo narrow that they cannot understand that the thoughts of the general body of mankind are being " widened with the process of the sune." We have all along been in the van of progress, and yet we have included in our list of subscribers hundreds of people whoae political views are certainly not "advanced." The more Conservative o£ our readers have not hitherto employed against ua the "laafc argument," to which we have just alluded, but it appears that some of these gentlemen, cannot forgive the extinction of the Opposition party in Canterbury. For the sweeping away of the last vestige of Canterbury Conservatism we are, it seems, wholly to blame, aud we ara to be punished for oiir misdeeds. Several subscribers have, since the general election, sent notes more curb thancourtaoua, ordering their papers to be stopped. One of these epistle?, written by » veteran Conservative legislator for whom ■we entertain the highest reapect, is so flattering that we reproduce it in full. It ia dated Nov. 30, and runs ao follows :— " Sir,— Ba good enough to cease sending me the Lyttelton times. I have sutucribed to that journal for about thirty years, but I decline any longer to take in a psper holding such views as ifc now doe3. You may be, and probably are, proud \..f what you have done in aid o? a Radical Government, but I thin-k the time is not far off when eome conatituencuja, at ail events, will awake to V-ja sbaine you have buoa instrumental i& bri aging- on them.— Tour obedient servant, ." Comment woxild spoil this epistolary gem, so we let; it stand with the simple addendum of a modeot disclaimer of the full credit of having secured for Canterbury the "sbatne" of being represented en bloc by supporters of a Government that has shown a thoiough and honest deterftinstiOE to cope with the evils of land

monopoly, aad reform a ey stern wl>i?« h'v ■ h '..•!•,! civil tV.o growth oE tbia provhiiia , district more than all other causes pu ; together. L i Some depressed ConsarvftiisPß have beor i ' propounding In theaiwlvea during thopae' . : week the qut'ation : " What U Liberalism ?' , i To this problem or conundrum they hav( . also attempted to provide the answer , They have realised, o£ course, thai ■ Liberalism io something that cat j best Conaorvatisni in & fair fight and they evidently want to lean , something of the nature of this con^ i queriag force. They can reach no othei couoiusion tfcaa tho old one — at variance with f act nnd insulting tG the intelligence of the Democracy— that Liberalism is s ehftm and a delusion that never did and never can do any good to anybody. Thej SRy that Liberalism has never "provided employment; for the people," or "put sixpence in fcbeir pockets," whereaa all great political reforms Lave been granted bj the Conservatives of New Zealand, fcht opan-h&nded landlords „ and employers. This is as pretty a sample of ConssrvativE argument aa could be found — one*half unsupported assertion and the other half studied misrepresentation. It is unnecessary to refute such statements. Men nowadays are not to bo deluded by the pfii-fofc phrase about the benevolence of cupitalisis ia finding employment for the masses. They know th.it so fat from the employer cocfeiring a benefit on them by giving them work, the benefit ia mutual, exceph when the employe!' appropriates too large a share of the fruits of industry. The tannt about Liberalism not putting sixpence iuta the pocket ib n. particularly unfottanate one. , Ifc irresistibly suggests the time when the Conservative Party thought it could command votes by putting sixpence into niea's pocketa or pouring it3 equivalent ia beer dowa their throat3. The use of such a pTira>e goes to prove that bohi9 of tha old school, who lag behind in the race of progress, long for the days when tho " sixpence -in ■>• your - pockets " argument could eeeura a large following oi that extinct speeieß, the " Conservative working man/' If the true reply has not yet been found to the query, " What is Liberalism ? it may be presumed that it has been established on the best authority that Ooaeervati&m Rtill ' means " sixpence ia your pockeis." The disastrous floods in Hawlra's Bay, which, have brought ruin upon many settlers who were not; in affluent circumstances, have naturally evokod warm expressions o£ sympathy all over tbe Colony. The people of Nsw Zealand not only feel in their hearts on such an occasion ; they also feel in tlieir pockeio ; aad it ia hoped that when, tho extent of the dietWßß is ascertained the ralie? will bs generous and aoequafce. From tho Timaru Herald we clip the following interesting remarks concerning the scene of the recsnt floods •«— " The rivers of Hawke's Bay, which traverse the Ahuriri or HastiDga Plain, drain a large extent of country, a peculiarity of which is the ease with which the soil and sub-soil on hill slopes slip after heavy rains, — and most of the country they drain is compoaed of hill slopes, high or low. A consequence of this is that the rivers when in flood are rivera of sludge, and when they overflow their banka | they deposit ' sometimes enormous quanj titiea of fine silt. A few yeara ago a large p.vea ox cultivated land was buried under about three feet of this silt. Fortunately the deposit is fertile, and the new surface waa soon under cultivation. The Ahuriri plain, especially ia its lower or eeaward portion, is probably tho newest par's of New Zealand, and this in a doubta sense, as the silt of which it is built up consists ohiefly of decomposed pumice or volcanic dust, . ejected from the great central volcanoes, long after the surface of the plains and downs of Canterbury waa formed and tuacooked. Ifc is, the inooherence of tho pumiceous deposit on the surface of the country, when wet, which causea it to Blip so readily, and the rivers, when in flood, to be strcairs of sludge."