The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING GISBORNE, NOV 27, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1943, 27 November 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING GISBORNE, NOV 27, 1906.

Tnii appointment of Dr Findlay as Attorney-General in tho Ward Oabinet appears to bo a popular one in cortain quarters, as the gentleman himself is personally popular. His elevation to the position, too, has not come as a surprise to those who know the workings of tho inner political circle wherein the brilliant young lawyer has become a necessity. Politics now a-deyr esmso; bo run successfully without indir-ct advertisement, and the banquet hail has been found tho most converuo .t way to securing the advertisements under quite a variety of guises. Wherever there was a political banquet in or around Wellington there was Dr Findlay in the midst of it ready to pile up heaps of flattery on Government administration, for his fluent oratory, his graceful witticisms, and his cultured bonhomie were as indisponsablo to tho success of these functions as the advertisement was to tho principal actors in the political drama. Tho learned doctor could always be relied upon at the social board to innko things interesting. He could tell a good story of the very old now' typo, that is to say, he could dress up any old story in verbose garmonts quite fresh and chan and place it bofore his delighted hearors in such a way that even though they had heard it before it would appear quito now and interesting. Blessod with an inexhaustible fund of imagination, and a most perfect aca demic knowledge of Roman and other ancient history and mythology, ho could draw comparisons betwoeu Milo and Ssddon, or between Demosthenes and Ward that appeared quite real and flattering to tho modern representatives of our noble democracy. Ha was, in fact, the right-hand man in the background, and all that was necessary to give him a foremost place in the councils of the nation was the hall mark of democracy itself. To gain this added distinction he was chosen to air his acknowledged eloquence from the hustings in an election contest for the Empire City. With a big flourish of trumpets by the great Liberal and Labor Federation he was called upon to come forth as tho chosen democrat to slav the enemy, but he didn’t come fourth if we remember rightly, for irs position was either fifth or sixth when the numbers went up, and the ancient proverb once again found verification in him that “ a prophet hath no honor in his own country.”. Still tho bauquetting went on, and his defeat, otherwise the refusal of democracy to accept him as one of its leaders, did not draw a cloud over his ambitions or damp his joviality over a glass of champagne, for ho knew his time would come. If democracy didu'

choose to accept him on the one manone. vote principle, ho knew the law well enough to satisfy himself that there was one men with only one vote who could settle the business without

ad captandum vulgus exhortations and pleadings, so ho henceforth eschewed further pleadings except for big fees on behalf of the people, and confined himself to acquiring fame in tho way ho bad begun, satisfied that another and more effective call would come,

and he was right. The call has come, and he is to-day the Honorable i r Findlay, M.L C., Attorney-General for the Colony of New Zealand, and one of tho great loaders of Democracy in and for the said colony, rejocted by

the Democracy itself it is true, but still one of its great leaders and future

expoundors. What a travesty upon true democracy is-this! When will Democracy insist upon its leaders practising what they preach ? But when that happens the banquet balls will not be tho political nurseries of our alleged statesmen, place and power will not be the gift of one man, and tho man who desires to occupy the

pinnacle of political fame must travel another and a harder road to reach tho coveted end. Personally there is nothing to bo said against the new Minister, politically there is a groat deal. Personally he is popular, educated, clever (as lawyers go), and he knows how to entertain ; politically he is young, inexperienced, and flippant He has never had to take life seriously.

nnd knows not tho moat pressing wants of tho pooplo. Ho Inn studied law, unciout and modern, aud his whole oxporionco conjures lip tlio belief in his mind time laws citu (ill tho stomachs of tho pooplo as they have Idled his pockets, and ho is ready to mako as many more of thorn as aro wanted. He will bo uu ready after wards t;o tear therm laws to pieces M’hcn h<; rotnrni) to his ordinary avoo-i----ties! ; but h ..it (its in with tho practice of modern democracy as neatly as it does with tho praetteo of law. Bo why should wo blamo him '{ Tlrore was an excuse, r,oo, for this appointment, for there is certainly not a lawyer on tho Government sido of tho .Uouso of Representatives except tho Bpoaker to whom tho position could boo Herod without ondangoiing tlio stability of tho Government, and if there are lawyors outsido on whoso behalf stronger claims might ho urged on tho score of fitness and experience they must blamo themselves for missing tho chance in n gioctiug to tootle for tlio Groat Modern Democracy. Tho lion. Dr Findlay onco delivered a most amusing and instructive locturo upon “ Humbugs,” which was reported verbatim, but it is now out of print, aud so perhaps wo ought not to revivo it for it is some seven or eight years old ; but it contained a chapter on 'political humbugs, aud wo mention tho matter merely to show that at that early stage of his life ho know something of tho lifo and duties of a Oabinot Minister.