The Evening Star SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1873.

Evening Star, Issue 3165, 12 April 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1873.

The plague of New Zealand politics is that men are sent to the House of .Representatives who are not capable of understanding the subjects that come before them. Politics, not being an exact science, depends upon analogy for its demonstrations. Men are obliged to fall back upon the past, in order that they may form a probable conjecture of what may result from certain courses of action j and in proportion to their knowledge of the accumulated experience of mankind, depends in a great measure their fitness for the duties of legislation. Unfortunately, the bulk of those who are sent to Parliament are men who have no accurate knowledge of either past or present. Born to some obscure lot at Home, history, science, and philosophy are sealed books to themthey happen to have arrived in the Colony at a time when even their meagre attainments, backed by the luck of circumstances, placed them in comfortable financial positions; and then they set up for legislators, and give their opinions on men and tilings, tinged with that peculiar coloring that narrow views and ideas of motives drawn from their own personal consciousness suggest. A man named Murray, member for Bruce, one of this class, has been discoursing after that fashion to a constituency that has been unfortunate enough to elect him ; and the Bruce Herald has been so singularly unkind as to report his speech at some length. Mr Murray’s mental calibre seems peculiarly suited to the genius of that journal, the Editor of which evidently felt flattered when he said he “ regretted that there were so few journals like the Bruce Herald , which addressed itself to the advocacy of what was right and honorable, and not merely wrote and published information for party purposes.” As that flattery is the sweetest, that conveys praise for merely imaginary qualities or attainments, we can easily believe that this discovery of Mr Murray’s must have been particularly grateful to the Bruce Herald. Most people will be apt to think that Mr Murray was under the influence of some strange delusion when he commended our lopsided contemporary for freedom from party prejudices. For our own parts, we are charitable enough to think that, like many other people, he said what he thought, but unluckily he thought what was not true. That is the misfortune of men like the representative for Bruce. They see facts, and they imagine motives. They see a man like Mr Yogel travelling to Sydney or Melbourne, and, utterly unable to comprehend tlxe object of his mission, or the labor, anxiety, and self-sacrifice he has to undergo in order to achieve a desirable object, they think the whole affair is only a pleasure trip, and jump at the conclusion that what has been done through anxiety to fulfil to the best of his ability the functions of his office, has been done H neglectful of his departmental duties,” This

might have passed unnoticed, as one of the natural consequences of Mr Murray’s limited capacity to judge of what is necessary, had he stopped there. But Mr Murray did not stop there. He went very much further than any man is justified in going, without positive proof of the truth of what he asserted. He charged Mr Yog el with “want of candor and straightforwardness,” with being “ well drilled in,log-rolling,” with “a reckless squandering of money,” with “ deception and corruption and that; lie had found Mr Yookl was in the habit of dealing with the affairs of Otago, when he was Provincial Treasurer, very much in the same way as he has since been dealing with the affairs of the Colony. His policy was to get all the revenue he could out of the Province, to sacrifice its assets, its public estate, the commonage of our Settlers, our bush and coal, and even trust reserves ; in fact, to swallow up the whole resources of the Province, and for what purpose ? To buy support for the Government in power, of which he was a member. Some of these charges, our readers will remembei well, were freely made during the celebrated debates on “ Public Works and Immigration ” and “NoConfidence” last session, and as successfully answered by the lame attempt by Mr Gillies at manufacturing a new balance sheet. But Mr Murray is not content with them. We can excuse much of his misapprehension as to the slow progress of public works, when such men as Mr Header Wood and Sir David Monro feel disappointed, or say they are, that lines of railway are not constructed with the same ease that Acts of Parliament are passed ; although Mr Murray ought to know experimentally more about the time required, than men whose knowledge of pick and shovel work has been gained by watching their gardeners. We, ourselves, should be very glad were some process discovered by which, aided by the “ Yrill ’ of the novelist, to will and to do were about simultaneous. Such puerilities as were uttered by Sir David and Mr Wood are things to be laughed at, for every body knows they are mere clap-trap—bad enough when judged of by the strict rules of morality, because intentional departures from truth—but deceiving nobody who takes the trouble to think, and only raising a smile at the credulity of a speaker, who imagines he can gull the public by such nonsense. Mr Murray might even bo excused forgetting the claims of Otago, when, in his zeal to persecute Mr Vogel, he charged him with neglecting to make the Duller railway before all others. But no man is excusable who slanders and libels a public officer without foundation, and substitutes his belief when fact alone should form the basis of what he says. We cull a few specimens of this contemptible style of dealing with the characters of men indulged in by this Mr Murray ; snd feel sure that all right-minded persons will agree in the opinion, that it is to be regretted there is no such tribunal in Parliament as a drum-head Court Martial before which to arraign him ; for if there were, for its honor’s sake the House of Representatives would drum him out from among them, to the tune of the march invariably played in , honor of such involuntary exiles :

Mr Stafford’s Ministry had very little time to devote to the preparation of a policy, but certainly they showed zeal and ability in unravelling the tangled skein, and making preparations for sweeping out the Augean stable. This very .devotion to their duties proved in a degree inischevious, in the demoralised state of many members. They neglected to consult their supporters, as some thought they ought to have done, and disdained to stoop to the adoption of “log-rolling” practices as openly flaunted before them by Mr Vookl. By courtesy or good nature, Mr VooEL was allowed to retain the ministerial residence, and there he gave regular dinners to his friends or those lie wished to make Ids friends. lie believed those dinners cost about LoO or LOO, and generally thirteen or fourteen attended them. Ho had no hesitation, however, in summing np this matter in one word—viz., that it was impossible for any party to hold their seats without buying votes, and lie regretted to say there were too many ready to sell. This was well known to be the state of affairs, and the Stafford Ministry were ousted only because they would not adopt dishonorable practices. On this ground he .thought the Governor should have granted a dissolution, but it was well known that he had a strong leaning to Mr YoGKn, and that might he accounted for by what was reported regarding that which touches the feelings of most men —the touching of the pocket. It said that Mr Sewem. had refused to pay certain hills which it had been customary for Mr VoOF.b t-o pay lie had refused to' pay not a washerwoman’s bill, but a tailor’s, or something of that kind. Mr Stafford advised a dissolution, but Governor Bowen was not like the Eoman Governor when Paul appealed to G.-esar—the latter said—“To C.KSAR shalt thou go;’ hut when Staffokd appealed, from amidst the prostitution and corruption in which he was placed, to tho people, the British Governor said, “To the people thou shalt not go.” ***** * * In the house there were some seven newspaper representatives, all Government supporters, and ho might mention some L7,z00 was paid last year almost solely to Government organs. r lhe Bruce Herald, the largest circulating paper in the country districts, hut not a supporter, received the large sum of about _L4. Mr Buckie, on the other hand, he might state, received some 1.800 or LOOO between advertising and writing, and publishing some pamphlet. He believed he was safe in saying that at least onethird of the members were monetarily inteiosted, so that there was no wonder at Stafford or any honest man being unable to hold the reins of government.

It is related of a certain Duke that, on a visit to a prison, he found only one man who admitted he had been righteously convicted, and that, lest the morals of the rest should be contaminated by his presence, he kicked him out of the prison, telling him he had no business amongst such a set of honest men. What a relief it would be to the soul of Murray to be freed from the presence of such a set of scoundrels as he is obliged to associate with in Parliament! We beseech him to resign, lest even one righteous man may not be left in New Zealand.