NEMESIS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5740, 7 December 1896, Page 4

NEMESIS.

. v [From the Lyttelton Times.'} The prohibitionists cannot, when •we look beyond their signal triumph in Christen urch, be congratulated upon the results of the election on [Friday. The plan they favoured, speaking generally, waß to subordinate everything to the question of "bare majority" and other pledges in the direction of stringent temperance legislation; but the outcome has been exactly the reverse of what was intended. In stead of securing the return of candidates favourable to their cause, the prohibitionists have been the chief; agents in augmenting the number of . Conservative members, who are nearly : all opposed to prohibition, and would, ' had they the power, repeal the local option law now in force. The true' policy of those desirous of temperance reform was, as we repeatedly pointed out before the election, to have fought against the Conservatives by declining to divide the Liberal voters on the question of prohibition "whenever such action gave an opening to those who are the natural allies of the liquor trade. A few prominent examples of the working of the prohibitionist plan of campaign will at once occur to our readers. In the ABhburton electorate the Liberal vote of over two thousand <was divided, with the result that a supporter of the Government was ousted by an Oppositionist ; in other words, the candidature of Mr Sawle had the effect of weakening the Liberal Government that has given so full a measure of temperance reform and of strengthening a party that is hostile to the cause. It may be claimed, of course, that Mr M'Lachlan's friends, in this instance, by refusing to accept Mr Sawle's candidature, were the real cause of the disaster ; but against this we have the fact that of the large Liberal majority a good deal more than one half was opposed to the extreme tenets of the prohibitionists. In Dunedin the prohibition vote was distributed among' Conservative and Liberal candidates, with the resnlt that two prohibition Liberals who formerly sat for that city were displaced by two Conservatives, who will not favour any . advance on the existing law. In the North Island districts, again, speaking generally, the prohibition element was not strong enough to affect results, but one seat — "Wanganui — was lost to the Liberals by the combined Conservative and prohibition vote, which, in that Radical constituency amounted to an absolute majority. The net result of the prohibitionists' disregard for general political principles in their support of candidates has been tbat the Temperance Party in the House has been considerably weakened, and it is very doubtful whether any improved legislation will be passed during the next three years. The Christchurch election is the only one in the colony which the prohibitionists can look upon with any degree of satisfaction. Here they have gained a seat by dint of persistent agitation and perfect organisation. The return of Mr T. E. Taylor by a narrow majority over Mr W. ~VF. Collins shows the working of Nemesis in another direction. It may be regarded as a just vengeance upon the Conservatives and a section of the publicans, who, after capturing a large section of the Liberal vote for Mr Lewis, attempted to perform the same service tor the two other 11 Nationalist " candidates. There is a grim irony about the fact that the Chriatchurch Conservatives and publicans were the joint means of sending Mr T. E. Taylor to Parlia- . ment. We can well believe that they never intended to do anything of the kind, but this was the effect of their ruse, and under the circumstances we > can scarcely deplore the result. On the contrary, we hope that when Mr Taylor returns to the electors three years hence he will have lost much of the asperity and extravagance that •have occasionally marked' his career, and that, with wider opportunities and riper experience, he will be able to present a parliamentary record that will ensure his continuance in public life. In any case we trust that when another . general election shall take place, prohibitionists and publicans alike will be found to have profited by their present experiences, and that there •will be a fair fight on broad political . issues, loyalty to general progressive principles, and an absence of that " disturbing element" which worked so unfortunately for the Liberal Party in the election just ovot.