The Wanganui Chronicle and Patea-Rangitikei Advrtiser. "Nulla Difs Sine Linea." TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1899 FIGHTING FOR HIS POLITICAL LIFE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 1500, 5 December 1899, Page 2

The Wanganui Chronicle and Patea-Rangitikei Advrtiser. "Nulla Difs Sine Linea." TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1899 FIGHTING FOR HIS POLITICAL LIFE.

The Premier is engaged in a despite fight. He is :f fig.htfng'foV ; -liis political life, and drjveiv hopelessly away from, the large pities, where the; great mass of workers have' learned to estimate hinj at his true worth, he is now, mak- , itighis last' stand* on flve'otrtskirts, and j is trjing to rally his disheartened sjiipjporters in such of the smaller elector- ! ates as he can reach. I3ut his task j seems hopeless. Thoughout the colony there are strong and visible *sigus.qf, a growing impatienee on the j part of the great mass of the people j to be rid of the Seddoniam yoke, and .the man who is pleading to the cduntry fco gjv.e him and his broken - Ministry #na grwßfbljng party another chance is pleading:'/ ifi y.ajn po $,skf ears, and unresponsive hearts, •'^'d-what' is tli,e, nature of his pleadings '? Is it theappeal of a statesman, of' a man possessed of the^bnest and sincere desire &> F^tajn office in ord.er that he may j administer' public affairs* for the benefit the people >' Jf we are to judge by the speech deUvere4 by Mr Seddon to the electors" of Wanganui ,. from the .istage of the Oddfellows'' Hall yester> day we can only answer emphatically, No! The. meeting . was called ostensibly ior " friends and supporters ,of .the Liberal Party," but as a matter o( facjt #i-wa| purely arid simply a public {©Ijfi&aj which no One waK\deß,id^^anjissjbn. The wording o*f the ady£jtjsemeljt, however, served its purpose, and rested in the majority of those present being adherents . of the .. Government, ' and consequently-, protected Mr Seddon from the possibility of a hostile' motion indicative of the feeling of the great rnass of the electors of this district. For ourselves, however, we sincerely ivislvtJ»i*6;&i'g,ry.man and woman in the electorate eouii, \sy§ .seeri and heard j Mr Sed£dh; fe>r'wfi.aiie goftftdpnt .that i the spectacle would have sejrve.4 |fl I utterly destroy -the last hope <jf a " Liberal " victory in this constituen<Sv lit was a'-sprry Sight, and a "sorry hear^ ! ,ing, an, insult to. the intelligence of tlie.j assembled .crowd. The .people went to {j/JSf a statesn>anlike' exposition of tlie.great.pQfA^al questions of the day, j but instead £h.ey wferg treated to what j in absolute fairness, jean o$V fee (Jescribed as arrant twaddle, characterised principally by vain-gloripus self-lauda-tion, insincerity, and an attempt to appeal to the most sensitive passions of .those present. . As proof of the e<»re@tft£.ss of our assertions we intend to i»sta#ps a few of the statements made by Mr gedddn. T^ke.for instance his dramatic^rofessjo.n'*ljia£ l^e fed aj special regard for Wajjganuj ajjd^a^: he had always taken a great' interest Ijn the welfare of the district. What, may we ask, has he ever done to warrant him in making- such an assertion., .If answer be needed Jet. the struggling loHg .suffering settlers in the roadless back 'tjloeks SReak as to. the kind -of interest he. Ims m&sfe tcd in the wellfare of the district. A t'mmkf yß)}'? 0 many years of office bebijixj hipjj wkh practically unquestioned power,' and with the " welfare .of the district" at heart eoujcj surely have given these land-locked- farmers, .some measure of relief and have opened wp & district which must inevitably enhance Jhg pivg? pertty of Wanganui. Yet, te-day we have still to put our trust in the future, I for the past is but a blank and dreary j waste of broken promise^ and empty] professions. But perhaps the elearpftt j ' proof of the Premier's unblushing hypo-- j crisy was to be found in his exhortation to the electors to conduct the contest iXvitbQub.bjtterness and without recourse to peJson^UHe.s. , Jt was a noble | appeal pte.stitutes almost in the next 1 breath by^«^fcßce of bitter personal j .condemnation OfjiispoJiwGJJ.qprjpnents. His quotation of Mr Qmims remarks, anent the Young Persons Pratcction Bill, and the use he made L o| that quotation, must have made &nm . woman in the -hall blush jfor shai^c ,t,hat one in so high a (position cowil descend so low. Hf -Seddon's base in^nuation was as | false .a; it ,\vas uncaHqd ;for, ■ afcsotetejy ■made it! And itjiep to talk.ofabsten- 1 tion frpm bjiler»es.s.afl,f p-er^onalities. '.

-Their againr'thwtf was" Kss"exSasero--f"| travelling about the country ori'clec- . tionecring business. ," There Avere," , the , says, " 70 " Opposition candidates | aiid ■60 newspapers pounding a^vay at him, and 'was he not to say word in his own defence?" What do intelligent electors think of this ? ; Are they i not aware that there is a preponder- j ance of' candidates" on the Goyerhinent side ? One would imagine • that Mr Seddon -was standing '.alone, against j these fearful- odds, instead of having j champions of .his own pitted against f these "■ 70. Opposition candidates," and j newspapers, willing .to espouse his cause, combat the statements Of ' the;. Opposition Press. To put .it plainly," Mr Seddon's remarks on "this subject must either be accepted as miserable nonsense, or as a scathing reflection on the calibre and ability of the Government candidates and supporters in the. Press. "Am I not to 1 be allowed to say a word in my own defence ?" Yes, we reply, providing you travel at your own' expense, and do not neglect the work for which the people'ipay you. If you have a defence, a- defence which will appeal to the intelligence and reason of tl;e people, make it, but do not insult thip people of the ' ■ colony ;\ hh such humbug.- What; does the Premier think of Mr Willis, wheiv he cannot trust him to defend the Government, and ,what do the supporters of Mr Willis ,;think of him when they must needs ask Mr 9e'd"d6ri td' come here to fight his battle. ?> In any case, the,"explanav tion vf'jwith which t\]e Premier tried to gloss over his offence will not suffice to satisfy the electors: Neither will his paltry reference to the length of the official electoral advertisements appearing iu the Chronicle, by means of which, he had the meariness to assert, Mr- Carson's election expenses were paid, '' tend ' to elevate him in the eyes of right-thinking men and women. The suggestion, apart from its meanness, was false and utterly misleading. In the first place, the advertisements are authorised by . the Returning Officer, and are published as an ordinary matter of business ; in the second 'place, . the Chronicle is the property -of. a ''"company, in which Mr Carson is only a, shareholder, as Mr.-, Willis- is 'iri ; the Herald ; ,in, the third place the Herald publishes, the same advertisements at the^'samfe ' length ('Which, even Mr Seddon had :.to ; admit).; arid in the. fourth place, Mr Carson, even when editorially con-nected-with the paper {which he is not at the present time), 'has nothing whatever to do with the advertising'^department. The reliability .of Mr, Seddon's "bluff" concerning the hostile receptibris witW which he met at Eltham ahd'Palme'rsto'n North, niay be.jucjgeclby .hi?., statement that Mr Pirani had telegraphed ' the Press report, of true? ■Palmerston meeting, wheji,;he» (MY * Sed'dpti) must have knpwiirthat, M,r. IJu'riiis was specially sent from Weilingt;qn by tfie .Press Association to report the -meeting.. - He passed 'ligfrtly over scandals which; have disgraced thfe history of the Government, and did'not even 'hesitate- td-defend the notorious ■ Wrigg affair; On.' the subject of the ; Old Age Pensions/ Mr^Seddon worked ; himself up to his highest pitch, and tried his best' to make himself appear as tho. saviour,- of- the deserving poor of New^Zea&nd^.Ms- "Darby; and Joan" picture 6f~ther old couple before and • after the-passting" of Act was pathetic, : but not convincing, and it was noticeable that lie. 'was ungenerous enough' 1 Jo refrain from.giving Mr Carson creditfor" Having loyally, supported the Old Age Pensions Bill. Mr Seddon, in a Avord, touted for votes, both on . the strength of the pensions ( and of the : sending of the N.Z.Contingent to' '£h\3 7 ' Transvaal, although he had not the ! > ■jfairiyess to admit that ' tliat Capf Rus- ■ ':£;elf was ecjually as enthusiastic "as himgejf in regard to the Contingent. Throughout : £h.e whole address it- was a case o-f the great f-l" and the little : f6ll£wer.'^.t!X-.^m..the : m^.:fqr' the peopfe,'" said Mr Seddon ; ''I am- the. man for the ladies," said Mr Seddon,' "I am the man for the. country ," said Mr Seddon ;' " It is riot a'.gifestiort of Mr Willis, it is a question of the Ministry," . said Mr > Seddori ; and throughout the whole of hisspeech ther'e was the same discordant note. The speech : was,' in fact, a failure, devoid of argu T ment, , and lacking -all, thel attributes which characterises the ''utterances 6t men accustomed to hold* a ■dignified'.DC/sitioh in the Legislature of a natjorf. But, ther'e did Mr Willis come in"?.'-R|r Seddon hsd,. nq£* a -word to say about his fitness ag' an' individual to represent the. constituency, not a Word :qf " praise' for "his past actions as a member, He apparently Only regarded tfie Liberal " candidate as "a good party man" (see Mr Willis's definition of this term in our yesterday's. issue) and as a ■ desirable" joint in a pliant ministerial tail. $p Jhe electors want such represent- ; atj'on.rWfi Itynjk jjo£.