Wairarapa Standard Published Trl-weekly, Price 1d. FRIDAY, JULY 22, 1887. The Gospel According to Saint Howl.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2095, 22 July 1887, Page 2

Wairarapa Standard Published Trl-weekly, Price Id. FRIDAY, JULY 22, 1887. The Gospel According to Saint Howl.

Two things men of Great Britain boast of—their pluck and love of fair play The .two qualities indeed are only one, for, without love of fairness, there can be no true courage. Any body of Englishmen, Irishmen, or Scotchmen—unless hounded on by despicable leaders; unless their worst passions bad been inflamed by despicable misrepresentations and lies—will give a man a fair and patient hearing and listen with the semblance of respect to the expression of his opinions no matter how they may clash with their own. Here, in New Zealand, the large majority of us are Britons or the sous of Britons, and we profess to be proud of it. Nay, we claim to have founded iu these Southern Seas a Greater Britain—a newer, fairer, freer England, In many ways wo are greater than our brethren across the ocean. Our people are, man for man, far better educated; wo have here, generally speaking, au ampler, nobler freedom. Here are none of those tremendous social contrasts which appall ns in the country of our birth or of our race. Though there is in our midst some poverty, we see little or nothing of the gaunt, grinding, and pinching poverty and starvation which grimly stalk in the cities of the old world. Here men are not slaves. Here no women or young girls nightly hurl themselves into muddy waters to save themselves that last shame worse than death that ever haunts the starving woman in our modern Babylona. Contrasts of position there are even hero; poverty too, in a measure, there is, and misery is of no particular clime, has no peculiar dwelling place; but neither the misery, poverty, nor contrasts of New Zealand are, or at least should be, sufficiently acute to cloud our minds, make ns frantic, brutal political enemies, deaden us to the eternal principles of right and justice; or obliterate within ua bravery and fairness. And yet, it would seem as if these latter qualities were for a time dead within the breasts of some of our countrymen. News comes from Christchurch—the most English city in the colony—of a a deed which may, without hyperbole be it said, bring the hot blood of shame to the cheek of the New Zealander, whether he be native or British born. For the first time we believe in the history of this young country, has a politician—a man of stainless private repute and political record—not only been refused a patient hearing, not only been refused a hearing at all, but has been howled and hooted down as if he bad been some leprous criminal. Nor can we, as is so often and unjustly done, make the convenient “ larrikin ” the scapegoat on this occasion. The offenders were au organized political body who masquerade under the sacred Mg is of liberalism and liberty. Mr Bruce, exmember for Bangitikei, attempting to address some 2,000 inhabitants of the city of Christchurch was not oven permitted to speak, his voice being drowned in ribbald uproar. Two ex-rnembors of the House, Government supporters, appear to have assisted at this cowardly and unmanly fracas. Whether, as is possible, these gentlemen organized the disturbance, we cannot say; this much is certain they admitted they could, had they been permitted by the Chairman, have gained for Mr Bruce a hearing, and it is consequently a righteous inference that they had this mob under their control. It is further certain that a local Political Association, favorable to the Government, summoned by circular its members to be present; that those members were present and consummated this dastardly deed. We confess that though shamed and disgusted we are not surprised. We stated iu a previous portion of this article that British men wore fair unless inflamed and hounded on by despicablo loaders. In this vile un-English scene at English Christchurch we see, on a larger and noisier scale, a repetition of equally diigraccful tactics which were initiated by Government supporters, whom we could name, during the past session, iu the House of Representatives. These gentlemen (?) made a point of interrupting and ridiculing iu the coarsest manner any members of the Opposition likely to be discommoded by such unworthy means. The tone of the session just concluded could hardly have been lower than it was. The so-called, selfstyled great Liberals proved that their Liberalism did not extend beyond themselves and that they hated and feared any ! voices but their own. This Christchurch bear garden is a perfectly natural sequence. When Leaders demonstrate that they have neither self-control nor gentlemanly instincts we can expect no better things from the sub-leaders. Sour, rility and misrepresent ation having failed, violence is ressi .ed to. And this, for. sooth, is Liberalism I No, a thousand times no ! Let those real Liberals who decline to follow such sham Liberals take heart of grace. Surely the day will quickly come when the counterfeiters of Liberalism will be detected. The very indecency of their methods is proof conclusive of their weakness. Barking dogs seldom bite. Jackals are at once the noisy aiid oowanly of anwutle.

Noise] and bluster may for a time, but cannot for long obscure the sterling good sense of the people. Not for one moment do we accuse the great Liberal party of Christchurch of this outrage; we attribute it to the low tone of their leaders and to the unclean propensities of those leaders’ camp followers.