MR. T. E. TAYLOR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 991, 5 December 1910, Page 8

MR. T. E. TAYLOR.

° "THE MAN WHO MIGHT HAVE " BEEN." ' r- The Christchurch "Press" of Satur,s day reprints the editorial, in The .Do- ® minion .on Friday, in which it was ro'g called that Mr. T. E.' Taylor, who so fiercely defended the' Prime Minister i- the other night, presided at a meeting il in 1905 in which were made attacks " on the Prime Minister on matters " the member for Christchurch North ( now denounces. After observing, in an editorial commenting on this fact,, that tlie Prime Minister probably assessed Mr. Taylor's championship at its'true value, the . 'Tress" says: "It is fourteen years ' since he was first elected, but ho has " never yet sat in two successive Parliaments,. a striking fact which bears out "" the truth of The Dominion's remark that no one has done Mr. Taylor , greater injury than himself. His speeches are often interesting, . some- •" times brilliant, but though they dazzle s his unthinking hearers at election meetings, they carry much less weight in 0 the Hoiise than of members possessing not one-twentieth of his ora--11 torical ability. At one time ho was greatly admired by a section of the r public because ho was . a thorn in the - Government's side, but after all, a tliorn 1' fulfils no useful purpose in that direction. It only creates a rankling wound. In the country Mr. Taylor still jctains a faithful following; in Parliament 3 ho sits alone. His bid for tlie leader--3 ship of the Labour Party seems to have failed, his bitter tongue intensifies polii. tical differences, his unbalanced judgZ ment brings disaster on- his friends, and f to-day lie'presents that most'tragic ■- figure—the man who might have been."