THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1879.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1703, 5 August 1879, Page 2

THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1879.

It appears that an effort is about to ho made to induce the Hon. John Hall to leave tho calm haven of tho Legislative Council and once more take an active part in tho political fray. If tho electors of Selwyn aro successful in their endeavor to elfoct this they will have earned the gratitude of the colony. At this crisis in our political history it is more than over necessary that wo should have amongst our political leaders men of sterling worth and probity, combined with intellectual power. Such a one is tho Hon. John Hall. He has stood before the people of tho colony in general, and this provincial [district in particular l for years past as a public man against whom no breath of suspicion of political dishonesty or trickery has over been heard. Ho has hold high offices in the Ministry of the colony, and has done good service in tho past. Tho presence of such a gentleman as the Hon. John Hall in the Assembly would tend in the direction of inducing a bettor state of political morality than has grown up under tho auspices of the present Government. Wo trust that he will see his way clearly to accede to the request of tho Selwyn electors. The colony is so urgently in need of sterling politicians that it is to be hoped that no light matter will prevent Mr. Hall’s valuable services in tho Lower House from being placed at the disposal of tho country in the present crisis.

The “Lyttelton Times” is on the warpath ; its bloodthirstiness and valor are becoming something terrific. Perched on a pinnacle of supremo bravery, it scoffs at the world at large as poltroons. The British army has lately been annihilated by our contemporary, and branded in a manner that will strike terror into their coward hearts. And now it has passed on to wither our Princes with

its scorn. Yesterday it charged them with neglecting the duties of their station hy not at once making for Zululand. Four of them, says the “ Lyttelton Times,” hold commissions in tho army or navy, and yet none of those four are to ho found in South Africa. When, however, our contemporary commences to analize the position, and endeavors to drive its terrific charges homo, it becomes somewhat feeble. The Duke of Cambridge, it confesses, is altogether too old to take any part in active warfare, and tho Prince of Wales, besides being Heir Apparent, is merely field marshal because of his birth, and knows no more of tactics than he does of conic sections. So that, tho accusation is, at once, narrowed down to tho Dukes of Edinburgh and Connaught. Tho former, whatever his other faults may be, is no coward. At the time of tho Eastern Question ho was on the spot ready to take part in any action that tho English Government might have dictated. The Zulu war, moreover, is not, as far as we are aware, in any way a nautical one. Wo have, as yet, received no intelligence of tho Zulus putting to sea with a view of capturing or destroying our fleet. Consequently, if tho Duke of Edinburgh had gone to South Africa, ho would have had to have joined tho Naval Brigade, a, proceeding hardly suited to his rank. There only then remains the Duke of Connaught to bo dealt with. It is well known that he was extremely anxious to join Lord Chelmsford’s army, and was eager so to alter tho date of his marriage that ho would have boon able to do so. The Ministry, however, were averse to his proposal, and ho was forced to abandon tho idea. No blame can possibly bo attached to him in the matter; ho has the credit of being an active and energetic officer, and, had he gone, would no doubt have given a good account of himself. Tho case of the Prince Imperial is quite apart. Ho had nothing to prevent his leaving England, ho was not about to bo married, nor was there any power that coidd stop him when ho chose to depart. On tho contrary, it was somewhat of a political move. Tho Napoleonic cause is at a low ebb just now in Franco, and had the Prince survived, that cause would certainly have been benefited by his display of those qualities which are always dear to the French nation. Indeed, the howl raised by the " Lyttelton Times” is quite uncalled for and in very bad taste. Tho Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh have their faults, and those are often only too apparent. But a charge of a want of courage has never been brought against them. Not even the most blatant section of the English Press has attempted to trump up an accusation of this nature. “ Fair play is a jewel,” and the “ Lyttelton Times” would do well to remember that vague denunciations of a baseless character are cowardly, and can do no possible good.