The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, AUGUST 31. 1880.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 556, 31 August 1880, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, AUGUST 31. 1880.

A. remarkable incident has recently shown the public of what material the great Liberal Party is made and what it is capable of. One of its familiars, a man who has been wont to act as jackal to Liberal lions, wade a special trip to Pnribaka a few days ago, at considerable personal expense and inconvenience, to work a point with Te Whiti, This self-constituted ambassador to the native potentate has recorded at great length, in the Wellington Chronicle, his journey and reception, He modestly described the motives which actuated him as purely disinterested and philanthropic, at the same time, however, admitting with that self complacency which is one of his characteristics, that he was ou confidential terms with some great light in the Assembly—the great Pacha, we presume, of the Great Liberal Party, Te Whiti cannot bo such a bad sort of fellow, after all When the jackal presented himself at his whare, he, in his own words, " tendered his hand to him, which after some slight hesitation he took." Te Whiti apparently has gentlemanly instincts, which do not permit him to be altogether rude to a guest, though be be a jackal, at the same time he has a keen scent for Liberal shoddy, and is not prepared to be cordial with it, The jackal told Te Whiti that he was not there in any official capacity, and in this be was perfectly truthful, his normal position being one of an office-seeker rather than that of an office-holder. He explained his mission, which was to induce Te Whiti to secretly instruct the Maori prisoners to apply to the Supreme Court for their release. Te Whiti, however, got irritable and excited, and the jackal found it necessary to withdraw without obtaining a second shake of the hand from the Maori prophet. He naively remarked that he thought Te Whiti preferred not to shake hands with him, and no doubt he was quite right in his surmise. So ended, with ignominious dismissal, a mission which was intended to embarrass the Government and the country, and to lead to fresh native difficulties, How far this mission was inspired by greater men than himself it is impossible for us to say, The incident, however, shows by what underhand and mischievous ways the great Liberal- party carries on its undertakings, The person who made the trip is sufficiently wcll-knownfag one who has been an active agitator for his particular party for some years. Are wo to assume that ho still enjoys the confidence, say, of Sir George Grey, and that such, missions are a part «f the ex-Premier's programme. We trust to see the Liberal party survive in the Colony, but so long as it recruits its ranks with unscrupulous jackals and office-seekers it is impossible for honest decent men to follow it. And when the tigers of the party, as in the present case, parade their own infamy in a public print, the only feeling which can be entertained towards it is one of unmitigated disgust,