Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, DEC. 29, 1894. In a Fog.

Manawatu Herald, 29 December 1894, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, DEC. 29, 1894. In a Fog.

declare ftWe we shall be when the mist ia dissipated. Tt is not long since the dreadful catastrophe, the loss of the Waimrnpa, bronghl vividly before the public the immense responsibility resting upon those who undeifcike the guidance of i.he public. NegligetiCi?, Waht of' caution, whatever it may have been on the captain of the steamer's part, only materially anvcted some two hundred people-, therefor^ \l 'can be but ft matter ol multiplication to guage the responsibility of those gentlemen who have undertaken the guidance of the good ship New Zealand with its population of 000,---000. The Opposition press may have bjen in error, all things are possible, in suggesting to the officers (tho various Ministers) that they have got lost in a fog and missed their bearings, but at present every indication tends to strengthen the presumption that they were, and are, right. That the captain ahd officers have tio i Jea where the ship is drifting to is made manifest by their utterances, they only hope, that it is to some safe port. Surely there is something wrong in the usual feeling which used to animate the oldav colonists, to find their successors now standing idly by, watching their possession drifting away from their control, though the ship is under the nominal guidance of a staff of proper ofßceis. The outlook is indeed gloomy, doubt, hesitation, and incompefcency in our lenders, who have no fixed course, bilfc merely a blind hope that the way may become clear in the future. The »reat complaint made against the enptain of the Wairarapa was that whilst in the fog, he yet steamed full speed ahead, whereas, the contention waß, his duty, to his passengers, demanded he should have slackened speed, kept the lead going, and in fact, felt his way along. Is this r.ofc exactly the same blundering way Captain Sedlon, ehiof officer McKenzie, and officers Reeves, Cadimiu and others have run the ship of State these last two years ? When all is drear, when casualties were occuring in other colonies, did these men see fit to pause and reconsider their route? Events have shown they did not, but asserting fogs were unknown in this region, determined to keep a full head of steam up, causing a ti'emendons consumption of coal, which represents gold, with the result that now we have driven into the fog and the very serious question arises as to whether our fuel will last us out. If these things had occurred at sea would passengers have their confidence in their officers, which the Government press are trying to assert that the people have in their Ministers ? The peril is the same to us, though the mismanagement baa taken place on land instead of sea, bat the danger is not, at once, so apparent. Colonists will be thankful, bi-fjre long, that though the American principle of " Spoils to the Victors " has been introduced by tha present party in power, it has not been able to work all that was wished for it, of burking the outspoken criticism of the press. Our opinion of our officers is not sufficiently encouraging to lend us to believe they are capable of navigating us out "of the fog their stupid storing has led us into, and we may look to be cruising round and round in doubt and difficulty until, in disgust, the passengers arise and demand a change. The past year

ha 3 been one which all mv.st be gad i 3 nearly ended. It hag presented us with an unpleasing exorcise of unscrupulous power, a headstrong heedlessness of ordinary signs, and a gambling desire to plunge for sums far beyond what the colonists could honourably liquidate if anything should go wrong. The Government got into power on a popular cry of their love for the poor working man, and have legislated directly contrary to their best interests. It raised a cry against the money-lender and immediately set up a great loan department. This professedly for the benefit of the small settler, yet they fought for the power to lend money in suni3 up to £10,000. Similar instances ot the contradiction between their speech and action could be repeated ad nauseam, but to what good ? The fog is upon us, the captain and officers are in as equal a fog, and the passengers had best act for themselves at the earliest moment. Under these circumstances though the words will be repeated, as usual, in empty compliment, the usual pass-word will contain this year a greater significance, and should be used as a prayer as much as a greeting. Thus to all onv readers we earnestly wish A Happy New Year.

| • — -^ At the end of this year we regret to have to place the position of colonists as being unto those in a fog, so dense, that no one attempts to