THE NEW SOUTH WALES FEDERAL ELECTIONS.

Waikato Argus, Volume II, Issue 110, 23 March 1897, Page 4

THE NEW SOUTH WALES FEDERAL ELECTIONS.

Detailed accounts to hand by mail show that the vote was one which affords encouragement to those who arc concerned for the stability of social order and the maintenance of good government. Of the ten delegates elected, not one can ho considered a revolutionary firebrand. The Premier, Mr Reid, has pandered to the Labour party more than is good for his reputation; but the amount of successful resistance he has shown to their attempted aggressions must be put to his credit on the other side of the ledger. Of his colleagues, Mr Drunker, the Colonial Secretary, is decidedly Conservative in his poli- , tical views, and Mr Carruthers, Minister for Lands, though more inclined to be Radical, has always shown that he possesses a deep sense of the responsibility of his position. In any case the election of Mr Reid and his two colleagues was a necessity. They were charged with the duty of carrying the Pederal ideas to fruition; the rejection of any one of them would have been regarded as a blow to the movement, while the rejection of the whole of the Ministerial candidates would have been almost immediately fatal. It is worth noting, moreover, that Mr Reid’s place is high on the list. He did not expect to top the poll, nor even to be found in the first two or three. He feared that a dead set would be made against him on account of the new departures with which his name is associated-—■ especially the imposition of class taxation. The propertied classes have shown, however, that they do not let their vindictiveness interfere with their sense of duty. Of the others elected not one need cause any misgivings on the score of excessive Radicalism. Mr Barton, who is the most trusted champion of the Federation cause in Hew South Wales, though he has not been in Parliament in recent years, was for some time Speaker of the Legislative' Assembly, and is therefore fully seised of the necessity for the predominance of rightful authority and of government from above and not from beneath. Mr M‘Millan is a staunch Free Trader, who is out of touch with the Free Trade Ministry because of their concessions to the Labour element. Mr Lyne, the leader of the Opposition, ' is a staunch opponent of class taxation, and believes in a property qualification for the election of candidates for the Federal Senate. Sir J. P. Abbott, the present Speaker of the Assembly, is Conservative in every fibre of his being. It is noteworthy that he was elected without the slightest effort on his part in the way of canvassing or adressing the electors. He issued a brief address in the Press, committed himself to no principles, and then started to enjoy his well-earned holiday amongst the grand scenery of New Zealand, and the electors justified his confidence in their appreciation of his past services by electing him triumphantly. Mr R. E. O’Connor, M.L.0., is one of the staunchest champions of the rights of property to be found in New South Wales. Mr Walker is a Conservative gentleman of great financial ability, and the Radicalism of Mr Wise has greatly sobered down of late years. To a great extent the choice of the electors of the other colonies concerned has been of a similar character. It may, therefore, be taken as granted that anjr constitution which will be framed by the delegates thus elected will duly conserve all existing rights, and contain safeguards against their invasion or infraction. The candidature of Cardinal ’ Moran, it is now evident, was a mistake. The ability and conscientiousness of the candidate- are undoubted ; also his right as a citizen to offer himself for election. Bub it is not always wise to insist on one’s full technical rights, and a dignitary of the Church, above all men, should have a quick perception of considerations which dictate caution in this regard. It was impossible to separate the citizen Patrick Francis Moran from his official position as head of the Roman Catholic Church in the colony. Therefore his appearance on the scene necessarily implied the intrusion of a religious element, both for and against his election. In many minds, it is - impossible to say how many religious and sectarian considerations outweighed those which were proper to the consideration of the business in hand. A caucus of ultraProtestant ministers prepared a “ bunch ” of the most likely candidates with the express purpose of keeping the Cardinal out. As, with one or two exceptions, the whole of the bunch were returned, the inference is irresistible that opposition to the Cardinal rather than desire for Federation (and vice versa) actuated a good deal of the voting. This consideration vitiates to some extent the value of the verdict just rendered by the electors. There are over 170,000 electors in New South Wales, and as considerably more than two thirds of them have voted for Federal delegates, it is held that they have thereby testified their desire for Federation, But there is reason to fear that a large number of them had very little thought of Federation, hut simply voted in order to put in or keep out one man. The ten candidates put forward by the Labour party received scarcely any support. The electors apparently are out of conceit with these gentry, as well they may be. With characteristic conceit the “ Democratic Ten,” as they styled themselves, declared for a unicameral Legislature, an elective Ministry, and woman suffrage, and

declared that unless these were accorded they would oppose Federation altogether. Their " bunch " was altogether disregarded by the electors. Their leader, Mr McGown, received many votes because his name was included by the Protestant caucus in their " bunch." The remainder, however, as the Americans say, were " snowed under." The electors would none of them. No more favourably fared the " Patriotic " parly, headed by Mr ileydon. These gentlemen were opposed to conferring upon the Federation any power of taxation. Indeed they appear to have been opposed to Federation on any terms whatever, except the impracticable terms that New South Wales should, take all and give nothing. Their crushing defeat may be held to denote that there it at any rate no active hostility to the Federal movement among the electors, or that if there is the minority is so small as to be hardly worth considering. Among the 39 neglected candidates a host of busybodies and nonentities have met their fate. Some, however, of those who failed to reach the first ten would have done credit to the position—notably Mr Bruce Smith, Mr John See, Mr Arthur Renwick, and one or two more. The successful candidates, however, compose a creditable team and one which should be able to give a good account of itself at the Convention. — Hawke's Pay Herald.