The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1884. The Radical Speeches.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1244, 3 May 1884, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1884. The Radical Speeches.

There is so much similarity between 1 the member for Dunedin South and J the member for Christchurch South that the addresses with which these 1 gentlemen have favored their constituents during the present week may fairly be considered together. Both representatives belong not only to the Opposition but also to the same section of that Opposition, while for pure talking power it would be difficult to decide which should occupy the premier position. Mr Fish last session earned the unenviablejnotoriety jof having introduced an entirely new clement into the Parliamentary debates in New Zealand; Formerly we used to boast that the manner j n which the business of our Legislative Assemblies was carried on formed an example that might be advantageously followed by other colonies, but thanks to the presence of politicians of the Holmes and Fish type in the House of Representatives we can, alas ! no longer lay claim to this distinction. Everybody will remember the torrent of virulent abuse, extending over several weary hours and couched in language worthy only of a Billingsgate 1 fish-fag, which the member for Dunedin South poured out upon the heads of the Ministry during the penultimate session. Even the most bitter opponent of the Whitaker-Atkinson Administration must have felt ashamed of this new recruit to their party, who by his violent language unquestionably caused a re-action which injured the prospects of the Opposition. Mr Holmes as a politician, if such a term is not a misnomer to apply to one whose knowledge of politics is so very slight, is of the same kidney as his Dunedin confrere. His utterances may not be so uniformly vulgar, but they have just about the same practical value. To eac|i might be oppositely applied the Hudibrastic couplet— But still his tongue ran on, the less Of weight it bore, with greater ease ; And with its everlasting crack Set all men’s ears upon the rack. What is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh, is a proverb as true as it is trite, and Mr Fish’s speech on Monday displayed many of the characteristics ot the blatant orator, whose knowledge is in universe proportion to his ability to string words together. That these pre-sessional speeches become so inexpressibly monotonous is of course due to the fact that every representative considers it necessary to give his own individual reason for the depression now existing in the colony, and the member for Dunedin South, belonging as he does to the Opposition side of the House, put down the cause of our to the maladministration of affairs by those now in power. Mr Montgomery the other day chose to speak of the Premier as a “ hollow financial sham,” and the epithet has been repeated parrot-like by the lesser lights of the party. We have, however, too much faith in the good sense of the colony to believe that the mere assertion of the member for Akaroa will outweigh the recollection of the service rendered to the colony in the past by the Colonial Treasurer, It is , well known that when Major Atkinson took office he found the tfihances of New Zealand in a perilous state, and that by his careful management he raised our credit in the Home rharket. Admitting that he over-estimated the revenne for the past year ? and that consequently he has now to meet a heavy deficit, this does constitute him the “ sham ” his opponents have dubbed him. Even had he been gifted with the spirit of prophecy and had foreseen the unprecedented bad times the colony would have to go through, and had proposed greatly increased taxation to meet the difficulty, he would have been hooted at as a Cassandra by the very men who are now so ready to pick holes in his reputation. However, Major Atkinson can console himself with the reflection that that reputation will be remembered when the speeches of his maligners are buried in the dust of forgotten things. To do Mr Fish justice, when he is not blinded by his personal hatred of the present Ministry he does attempt to account for the depressed state of the colony in some more sensible way than by putting it down to the misgovernment of the Premier and his colleagues. In one part of his speech he said that the people are to blame, because of their personal extravagance in the past, while the action of the banks in connection with large companies and in other ways is an important elementjin the situation. This is, so far as we can see, almost the only sensible thing the member for Dunedin South managed to say, but we think that these matters will set themselves right in time. As to the policy of the Opposition, Mr Fish states it as follows :—“ First, financial separation of the two islands and proper local government; second, the abolition of the property tax; third, the imposition of a progressive land and income tax; fourth, reform of the Civil Service; fifth, reform of the Upper House; sixth, bona fide settlement of the people upon the land of the country. Certainly no fault can be found with this platform pn the score pf want of comprehensiveness. So far as the first item of the programme is concerned, the utility of a financial separation of the two islands to the South Island would, we apprehend, depend entirely upon the terms on which it was effected. As to the second we are all agreed upon the necessity of a better system of local government, but the difficulty is to devise a really workable system, and this Mr < Kish and h's friends have hitherto failed to do. Nor is the alteration in the incidence of taxation, as advocated by Mr Fish, in any way called for. It would be impossible to make a tax that would satisfy everybody, but the Property Tax is as little objectionable as any other. It serves all the purposes of an Ifl£pme Tax, while it is incomparably easier tp collect. The three final items ®f policy need little notice, as no one will question their soundness!. The present Government have promised to give their attention to these matters, j and we have yet to learn that they are j less able to deal satisfactorily with them

than would be a Ministry formed from the Opposition. The address of Mr Holmes delivered at Christchurch on Tuesday need not detain us long. Like Mr Fish, the member for Christchurch South is a reformer of a drastic kind, only more so. He considers that there is no need for taxation to meet the deficit, all that is necessary is retrenchment. And he certainly advocates no half measures, as will be seen by the following summary of his proposed remedy for our malady. If Mr Holmes had his way, he would reduce the Armed Constabulary to one hundred men, the Native Department would be improved off the face of the earth, the Minister of Justices’ Department would be re duced by per annum, the honorarium of members of the House of Representatives would be limited to a guinea a day, while the “ Lords ” would receive nothing for their services. Those bug bears of the Radical party, the absentees, would be compelled to pay fifty per cent more taxes than any other person, local industries would be fostered by protection, and last but not least a National bank is to be established, on the lines laid down by those financial geniuses, Messrs MacandrEW and Bathgate, where all that is wanted to provide us with unlimited wealth is a printing press, a few bales of paper and some ink. It would seem as if Mr Holmes had read his fellow member’s speech of the previous night, and, in the graphic card slang of America determined to “go one better.” And yet this is the man who ventures not only to re-iterate his leaders opinion . of Major Atkinson’s financial abilities, ■ but also applies to the Premier such elegant epithets as “ egotist,” “ brag- . gart,” “ bully ” and a host of other , pretty names which comes so lightly from the tongue of this vigorous refor- , mer. Let those people who, not un- . justly, have resented the recent actions of the Government consider what would ; be the state of the colony could a r Ministry, formed from a party of which r Messrs Holmes and Fish are examples I come into power. It would indeed r be jumping out of the frying-pan into the fire, and nothing could show us better than the two speeches we have reviewed the necessity for a General Election, so that the objectionable element so apparent in our present Par- ; liament might be weeded out.