The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JULY 30, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1821, 30 July 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JULY 30, 1906.

MR BALFOUR’S WARNING. The solemn warning givon by Mr Balfour n regard to the South African constitution will perhaps do more than all the frenzied appeals of interested parties in South Africa to awaken the nation to a sense of the danger into which the Bannermann Government is | so light-heartedly guiding the Empire. Certainly all must join in the regret that the subject has been made a party question, and that a Government which obtained through reasons quite unconnected with South Afriean affairs—which in fact was put into i office owing to differences of opinion I regarding local govornmont matters

such as tho Education Kill—should hustle tho nation into a step in South Africa from which tlioro can bo no withdrawing after tho constitution has been given, and which Mr Balfour declares will result in dealing the nation “ tho most sorious blow it has had for 150 yours.” That is a swooping assertion, but it is made with all sincerity by tho ex-Promior, and no doubt is believed in by many other well-informed statosmon. The frenzied appoals to tho colonies fall flat for the reason that tho people of tho Australasian colonies aro suspicious of anything connected with South Africa. Mr Balfour himself is a good deal to blame for this. The polonies having made sacrifices in time of peril in South Africa could not forgive the immediate handing ovor of practical control of the country to men whose only thought wis to tear what wealth they could out of it with the aid of cheap Asiatic labor, under conditions that wore not so far removed from slavery. If for instance tho electors of New' Zealand were asked to morrow to record their opinion as io whether they would profor to have South Africa controlled by magnates who spurn tho British worker for tho dregs of China, or by a constitutional Government in which tho Boers might obtain a majority, we belivo there would be a groat majority in favor of the Afrikander Bond The groat mischief lies in not having the real issues before tho people—that question of Cliinamon will intrude itself in tho colonial mind, and we fear that no more can be expected from these colonies than a sullen silence, or a doubting acquiescence in the Bannerman policy, with a prayer that all may come well. It is a leap, the consequences of which we fear have not been thought out by the Govern- 1 ment, but the circumstances aro such that the appeal to the colonies to rise in protest falls on deaf ears.

thmgs arranged as he had expected. On resigning his own seat at

them the Labor man’s return- is probably a foregone conclusion.” That is just how it did happen, and therefore it is the more interesting to read further, and note the alternatives suggested : “But suppose it Happened that in the discharge of his duty as a member of Parliament he had, as is very often done by a conscientious representative of the people, inflamed some adverse local feeling which only waited its opportunity of revenging itself upon his political head. In that case Mr Holman would be defeated, and what would then become of the personal honor which was made dependent on the result of the election ? .N othing would be more unfair than to claim such a defeat as proof that the charges against him were true. And if that is so, it would be just as un« fair to claim that his return by a block vote, or any vote, against an opponent like Mr Norton was a refutation of them.” It is then pointed out that there are tribunals available before which Mr Holman can challenge his accuser to bring his evidence, and submit to cross-examination on oath, and if he thinks any refutation of the charges necessary, which is for himself to j udge, it is to one of these he must go. Whether Mr Holman or Mr Norton, or neither of them, was returned for Qootamundra would not I affect the matter in the slightest degree. They had no right whatever to sot the people of that or any other constituency up as judges in a matter which, if taken seriously, affects the honor of Parliament as a whole, and the voting cannot be taken in any sense as a verdict one way or the other. The one decisive point about it is that the challenges have led to Mr Norton being relegated to private life for a term, and just when he would have had an exhilarating time as member, with the Crick and Willis land scandals in the foreground.

COOTAMUNDRA. Tjie election for Cootamundra seat, New South Wales State Parliament, has resulted in a renewal of confidence in Mr Holman, the sensitive member who took Mr John Norton’s challenge so seriously. It was altogether a foolish arrangement, but the many enemies of the outspoken and irascible

John Norton will bo delighted to know he has Parliamentary circles for a brief period. He did not got

Surrey Hills the Speaker unkindly put that election first on the list, and not last, as anticipated ; consequently Mr Norton lost his old seat even before the other fight had properly commenced. But what a farce is this kind of thing in the matter of elections ? If the charges made by Mr Norton against Mr Holman were serious enough to taice notice of the appeal to the electors by no means disposes of them. In the case of Mr Holman he had a solid labor party behind him, and he was practically safe in accepting the challenge to let the electors decide whether or not he was past reproach. Thus the State was put to the expense of two elections, with practically no object to gain—unless the resignation of Mr Norton is generally considered a blessing, as no doubt it will be thought by some. “It may be,” stated one writer prior to the election, “ that Mr Holman having the solid support of the Labor vote to rely upon is quite safe in accepting Mr Norton’s challenge. If the matter is left between