The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1871. " Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 173, 1 June 1871, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1871. " Measures, not Men."

The voting for the appointment of the Speaker may be taken as a fair indication of the strength and composition of the two parties in the Council. Mr. Haughton, indeed, took pains to explain that the Government did not attach any party significance to the question ; but while claiming to act quite untrammelled by his official position, he carefully abstained in his speech from indicating whom he intended to vote for. When the course of the debate made it evident that Mr. Gillies would be elected by a large majority, both he and his colleague Mr. Macarthur voted for him. Had their votes, however, been sufficient to turn the scale, we question very much if they should not have been recorded for Mr. Reynolds. Long before the Council met, it was hinted that the appointment of a Speaker would be made the test of the comparative strength of the Government and Opposition, and the Council evidentlj'" understood it as such. The large majority for Mr. Reid's motion was not, we suspect, owing so much to any objection to Mr. Reynolds or preference for Mr. Gillies, as to the tacit understanding that each member should, by his vote, declare whether the policj' of Mr. Reid or that of the Superintendent should receive his support during the session. The Government must have been cognisant of this, and the pretence on their part of seeing nothing in the division but an indicatiou of the members' opinion of the eligibility of the candidate proposed, was so transparent as to deceive no one. The glove was thrown down, and the refusal on their part to take it up was the strongest possible admission of weakness. Nothing could more conclusively show the opinion and temper of the majority of the Council on the diffei'ences between his Honour and his former Executive, than the choice they have made of a Speaker. By a majority of two to one, they have rejected a neaiconnection of his Honour, who nan, during a political career extending through the whole history of the province, uniformly retained the highest character for integrity and consistency. This has ostensibly been done on the ground that he is a strong partisan — though it is scarcely hinted that he allowed his party feelings to influence his conduct as Speaker. The only tangible offence laid to his charge is, that he lent the use of his room for meetings of the party to which he belonged, and that he sometimes took part in these meetings. He is also accused of having taken an active part in canvassing during the elections. That thete were not the real grounds for the opposition, can scarcely be doubted, when the choice they have made is considered. He was sacrificed to the exigencies of party warfare. It was thought expedient to open the session with a display of the strength of the Opposition, and the election of a Speaker was a convenient occasion. Mr. Reynolds was therefore discarded, not so much for his own shortcomings, as for the offences of which Mr. Macandrew has been guilty during his canvass. He is the real delinquent, for whom Mr. Reynolds has been made the scapegoat, and the display of strength was intended to intimidate him. Nor was the majority satisfied with merely displaying their strength. The rejection of Mr. Reynolds would have sufficed for this. They might have elected one of the new members — Dr. Menzies for instance — who might reasonably be supposed to be comparatively clear of the crime of partisanship, for which Mr. .Reynolds was condemned. This certainly would have been the more logical and consistent course, but the revenge would not be complete. The party chose Mr. Gillies, who certainly can lay small claim to verytemperate views, or to much moderation in urging them. But the measure of the party's triumph, or his Honour's humiliation does not consist in this. Of all Mr. Macanrew's opponents, the oldest, the bitterest, the most inveterate and persistent, has been Mr. Gillies. For the last ten years, in the Council, in the Executive, and on the hustings he has sought for every opportunity

of encountering him, and his opposition has generally been successful. He has made his Honour, his history and his failings, his particular study, and has thoroughly mastered the subject. He knows the weak points of his armour ; and his shafts, whether of insinuation or invective, seldom fail to pierce to the quick. At several public duels, the punishment Mr. Macandrew has received has been too severe to permit him to preserve his usual serene demeanour, or sometimes even come to the scratch at all. His mingled dread and dislike he has shown on different occasions — notably by refusing, despite the pressure Qf his Executive, to sanction his appointment as Provincial Treasurer. And this, of all men, is he whom the Council has delighted to honour, and has compelled the Superintendent to receive with honour. He is almost justifiable in thinking that by Mr. Gillies' election, the Council has been adding insult to injury. The relations of his Honour with the present Council, offer a strong contrast to those which existed between him and the last, at the commencement of its first session. It was composed of men, nine-tenths of whom were pledged to support his Honour and his Honour's policy, and they were eager to redeem their pledges. They deferred to every hint and hastened to gratify every expression of his wish Many of them were meanly, servilely subser- i vient to him, and remained so to the last. But with the exception of these, in less than two years he succeeded in completely alienating from him the party by which he was returned, and which was returned to support him. From the present Council, the Sibbald-M'lndeo -Hughes element, on whose support his Honour could depend through evil and through good report, has been completely eliminated. At its first meeting, two-thirds of its members offer him, by the election of a Speaker, a flagrant affront. Circumstances are completely changed, and we should not be surprised if his Honour changes to suit them. He is constant only in inconstanc}^ ; consistent in inconsistency ! treason" is the element of his nature, and having betrayed the party which last returned him, it will not surprise us if he commits a double treason., and betrays that to which he is this time indebted for his position.