THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1881. THE COMING ELECTIONS.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2347, 11 October 1881, Page 3

THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1881. THE COMING ELECTIONS.

When any young lady is in possession of charms, personal or pecuniary, the number of suitors that are certain to come forward is never very small. At the very outset perhaps the more eager and less bashful men may alone come to the front, those of a more solid or of a more retiring temperament preferring to see “ how the laud lies,” and wishing to take all due precautions before the final plunge is taken. And as maidens are wooed so are constituencies. Unless there happens to be in the field a rival against whom it is felt hopeless to struggle, the list of suitors will be sure to fill up. At first it may be thought that the supply of candidates may be small, but little by little gentlemen come forward and claim the coveted prize. So, indeed, has it been found to be the case in regard to Canterbury constituencies. Day by day we find new names added to the list of individuals who have yielded to strong pressure from admiring friends, and are ready to sacrifice their time and devote their energies to serving their country. Already three of the constituencies have three members each in the field, while the number of those where a “ walk over ” is a probability becomes diminished with the greatest rapidity. By a glance over the list of candidates it is at once apparent that the amount of fresh blood which is certain to be brought into the new Parliament is very large. Some of the names most intimately connected with the representation of Canterbury in the General Assembly are not to be found there. Twenty or so of new men are already up, most of them, moreover, being men who have had no opportunity of proving on an extended field of what metal they are made. ■Some of them have indeed worked well in Municipal Councils or on Boards of various sorts, but even of these it may be said that they are comparatively untried men, for the qualifications requisite to make a good Member, and a good Councillor or Road Board man are very different. The work undertaken by the General Government is of so much more complicated a nature, and the interests involved are so much greater, that a man who may have flourished exceedingly as a member of a local body may prove to be a dismal failure when translated to the larger sphere. And this is true in a number of respects. We will take two as examples. The amount of brain power required to work out complicated problems is not to be acquired in a day. Because a man is chosen by a constituency, that does not at once make a statesman of him. It is not uncommon to hoar the opinion that it is not a difficult thing to assist in governing a State, and yet, the very persons who put forward this theory confess that the strides made of late in the matter of political economy are gigantic, and have been gained solely by working on the basis of the accumulated wisdom of past ages. Now it requires considerable study and considerable ability to enable a man to grasp the truths which an experienced politician has adopted as part of his second nature. Again, in matters connected with casuistry. In dealing with small matters, the lino between right and wrong is generally pretty plain. There are no party obligations to bo considered, and there is little likelihood of any conscientious man

bMtig puzzled as to the direction in which his actions should tend. But, on the larger field, the number of considerations that come into play is often very considerable, and a man requires a clear brain, as well as good intentions, to steer a correct course. As in the previous instance, brain power and knowledge are again requisite if he is to do his duty thoroughly to his country and himself. These remarks may be trite, but, nevertheless, indications are not wanting to prove that too many are not prepared to act upon the truth contained in them. The typical work-ing-man’s candidate is in many eyes considered to bo an individual who need not be overburdened with an excess of brains. All that is required is that he should be a working man, and should have sufficient “ cheek” to urge the claims of his class in season and out of season. The more he talks the more his admirers applaud, regardless of the fact that talent and tact, not talk, rule the world. The folly of choosing mere windbags to represent one of the two important sections of the community is at once apparent; for not only do the representatives of the section fail to claim in Parliament that attention which their position entitles them to, but the class itself suffers, inasmuch as it is credited with a certain want of common sense. For a person to place over his own private business a foreman who was known only by his powers of talking by the hour would be considered the height of stupidity, and yet men calmly elect a representative for the simple reason that he can talk, and quite irrespectively of his talents and business qualifications. We hold that the working man will never be satisfactorily represented until ho recognises as an axiom the fact that his interests cannot be upheld except by properly qualified representatives. By all means, if possible, let them come out of his own class, but two things should bo considered as absolutely necessary, namely, that the representatives are honest and able.

In the coming elections we heartily trust the electors will steer clear of adventurers and windbags. The adventurer should be avoided because he wishes to enter Parliament simply for his own ends, and- thinks nothing of the country in which ho has no stake, or of his constituency, which he secretly laughs at for electing him. The windbag should be avoided because he is utterly useless and ridiculous, and will, as sure as fate, sooner or later fall into the clutches of some stronger spirit who, if he happens to be unprincipled, will use him for his own sinister purposes.