The Daily Telegraph. THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3958, 27 March 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1884.

EvEHTTiiiNG to,an .early dissolution of Parliament, i and,.to the formation 6i a strong middle party as the result of .the next general elections. Since peccmber, 1881, the feeling has been general that/the colony gained nothing by the rejection of candidates who ; deolinod to' stoop to, claptrap. -'At- the last elections clement :had been admitted' to -,tho ■■ suffrage, and men came forward as the representatives of that olcmoiit who ■ otherwise would never_ havef emerged' from their respectable ob-' scurity. A cry arose throughout the country that public affairs demanded "/new bi'ood," and tried legislators wore relegated to private life on the asSumptioh. that they were old fossils. '• The • experiment has beeii Wist .unsatisfactory. Narrow-minded, partially 'educated men for the most part'took tho places of those/whoso,, efforts had .assisted to' raise thb''colony position;9l great "prosperity, r ahd :: great 'was ' the joy , expressed. at,tho bliahgewhicli'h&d been_ so ' effected. 1 It ; was considered no small thing, : for manhood suffrage to have accomplished, and,the '.•' Liberal", associations of the day were .proportionately \.'gratified at their success. Tho now members werp found,,to be the deeoted, delegates of r 'the districts tlioy'represented, 'and they ' socured unbounded, praise for their close attention to, .the interests of their respective constituencies. Tho character of many of these interests showed that localities, and nq.f the colony, as a wholo commanded; tho most attention, and this has, been: especially glaring in . the matter of public '■ works' and railway management.,. "The general admiriistration of public affairs escaped criticism in the greed for petty favors to place members in tho good graces of their, constituents. With a House so constituted ! it was impossible to expect efficient government; Ministers did wliat they pl6ascd,_ for tiicro '.. was no.opposition worthy of the name. : Men ranged themselves dii the Me, of the' Opposition without having any intelligent reason, to .support their course of action, and they' would then i cringe,; to Ministers to obtain some l trifling, cbticcssion to--the "rliftricts they represented.. Tho Government faced the new Parliament with a -bare majority, .but. before tho session was over the Opposition hid been "rendered harmless. .Such was the Parliament of ,lhc'apab'los that will .shortly meet for the last time. It is of this Parliament that : ■ Incapablcs speak of being quite equal to its. predecessors, a Parliament from ; which arc absent Sir W. Fox, Sir John Hall, Reader. Wood, Bunny, Seymour, , Ballancte,' Saundcrs, l'ishci-, Richardson, arid Ormond ; not to mention Gisborne, Richmond, Bqwen, AndrewN, or Oliver. And wKen thcc'alibrft of tho men who took their' places is_ considered, the poverty—poverty ofjexperien6e, poverty of ability—of our existing Parlia-' mentis 'easily distinguishable: Like all other , things'it will, however, come to an end, and happily its end is not far off: Already the Ministry forsec a the inevitable change that must come with , : the nfext elections. 'The working's classes, who arc mainly responsible fOr-tho increased taxation consequent on the reckless extravagance of administration, ■ have discovered that "honeyed words " buttor.no parsnips," and they are hardly' likely, to. allow themselves to be hoodwinked a second. time by mon .whose only qualification is unlimited verbosity. We say that the working classes are responsible for the existing .state of affairs, because it was through their.votes -thst a Parliament of Nobodies was elected. They put themselves under the leadership of professors of humbug; they were flattered and cajollcd, and; they voted; as (they • werq.-told to v;ote for the Great Liberal Cause, which cause, so far as has resulted, meant increased cost of ad- • ministration, and extra taxation, to enable idlers and loafers to live at the public : expense. We venture to think that there was ■ not au idly disposed person in the colony whd ; did not buildup hopes pf a Govern- 1 ment billet from the success of tho Liberal cause, a cause that was to turn' the colony upside down, give every man: a ,, 'smiling , homestead," and assure the unborn millions unalloyed happiness and •have what all this sort of nonsense has led, aftd woihavo now every reason to '"think that the country is recovering to ; ;a" right .state of mind, ; ; '"