The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1884. The Vogel Fetish.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1260, 22 May 1884, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1884. The Vogel Fetish.

The excitement caused by the announcement that Sir Julius Vogel was to again enter Parliament as member for the East Coast has subsided as rapidly as it arose. “Love that is t*o hot and strong Burneth soon to waste ” says the old song, and the enthusiasm of the Gisborne electors seems to have partaken of the same quality with a necessarily similar result. Only a few short days ago we received intelligence that meetings had been held, al which a a unanimous opinion was expressed that all the other candidates should retire, leaving the ex-Agent-General in ' undisputed possession of the field. • Two of the aspirants for political honors were quite willing to adopt this course, but Mr W. L. Rees absolutely refused to give way, and declared his intention to contest the seat against all comers. Indeed, it is difficult .to believe that anybody knowing Mr Rees’s former political views could have expected mother answer from him, and the arguments he put forward in support of his resolution to oppose Sir Julius appear to have so completely convinced the electors that they have forsaken the latter candidate, and the battle will after all have to be fought out between the local men. So far as can be gathered from the telegram received from Gisborne, Mr Rees’s principal objection to Sir Julius Vogel is that he simply desires to obtain a seat in Parliament in order to more easily prosecute a personal claim against the Government for a large sum alleged to be due to him for floating certain New Zealand loans in the London market. Whatever truth there may be in this assertion, it is evident that the argument carried conviction to the hearts of the East Coast electors, and after having invited the late AgentGeneral to come forward, and obtained an enunciation of his views, they coolly throw him over. Not the least curious part of the whole affair is that if Sir Julius had been returned it would not have been upon his general policy, but simply because he was supposed to have enough influence in England to enable local loans to be successfully floated. Taking Mr Rees’s analysis of motives to be correct, both the constituents and the prospective member had the same object in view, namely that each was to use the other as a catspaw. Now, however, the whole position of matters is changed, and the coming election which has caused the eyes of the colony to be turned on the East Coast of the North Island during the past week or so has dwindled into a mere local concern, of no interest to anybody outside the district immediately affected. Mr Rees is, indeed, the only candidate of whom anything is known, and it cannot be said' that his reputation is altogether an enviable one. He is generally considered to be the champion windbag in a colony that has rather more than its fair share of such men; his role is to play Patroclus to the Achilles of Sir G. Grey, and it is reported that the greater man is to lend his assistance to the lesser during his electoral campaign, Whether Sir George has sufficient influence to ensure the success of his protege remains to be seen, but whatever the result may be all interest in the election has evaporated since the Gisborne people deserted Sir Julius Vogel. But if the Vogel fetish has been destroyed in the constitucncj which at first appeared so anxious to obtain the whilom Premier’s services, evidence is not wanting to show that in other quarters his temporary stay in the colony is regarded as an opportunity which should not be lost for placing him in Parliament. The New Zealand Times, for example, draws on its. imagination, and expressesan opinion that Sir Julius may be asked to stand for the Ashburton seat; while our Timaru morning contemporary, following in the footsteps of our Wellington friends, who fancy they know our wants better than we do ourselves, ventures to say that the late Agent-General “ would very likely meet i a hearty welcome” if he chooses to come here and (‘spend a few weeks among the people and look after the matter himself.” We do not think that there would be found a single person in the whole electorate of Ashburton so foolish as to entertain a notion that Sir Julius Vogel would serve us as well as a candidate chosen from the district itself; and even if such a request were to be made and acceded to there would not be the remotest chance of his being returned. The present position of politics in the colony is peculiar. There is every indication that we are on the eve of troublous times, and it is at periods of depression that men lose their heads and bring themselves to believe that matters will only be righted by the intervention of a special providence. This special providence in some people’s eyes appears to be Sir Julius Vogel, who is regarded by them as a sort of deus ex machina, whom fate’ has destined to set us on our legs again. How one man is to compass this gigantic work is not easy to sec, and this worship of a fetish is one of the most unhealthy signs of the times. A leading paper in Otago, which has gone well nigh rabid over the prospect of Sir Julius Vogel’s return to Parliament, ventures so lar as to assert that the Ministry will do tKeir best to defeat his object. This is manifestly absurd, for the simple reason that the presence of the late Agent-General in the House would render the Government more powerful by still further disorganising the Opposition than is the case at present, and it is this very disorganisation that has constituted the chief strength of the Atkinson Administration. In spite of the efforts of his friends it becomes every day more doubtful whether Sir Julius will obtain a seat in Parliament. The people have long ago, whether rightly or wrongly we will not attempt to decide, lost faith in his political honesty of pur pose, while they are beginning to have doubts as to whether he is the great financial and administrative genius he was considered in past days. It is shrewdly suspected that Mr Rees’s supposition, that this anxiety to re-enter colonial politics is due to there being a Vogelian axe to grind, is not very far

from the truth. So far as the Ashburton constituency is concerned, it may be safely predicted that should Sir Julius decide to contest the vacant seat he will soon discover that we will not be contented with what the East Coast people threw aside.