The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1878.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 40, 27 February 1878, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1878.

"The; attainment of popular liberty a& perfect ap is compatible with the , mutual relations of gc^vernjng anil governed is the simmum bonwq,, towards w ( hich, all civilized' state?, aje working. Liberty, of the people. is " essentially a characteristic of modern. - anp\ 'enlightened- times* apd, indeed -the progress of a, state. may beJEairly X estimate^! by,. the amount of liberty that ijfcs peQ-ple possess. Tet popular, liberty, absolute, is an intolerable , if unapcoppanied by popular J enlightenment. Thereis np tyranny more unendurable or, unjust than. ; the tyranny of an uneducated mob. ■ Thi^s has been dempn^trajted by the mob riots, tha^t have occurred! m, former times.} notably by the Fpench Resolution, wjien an ignorant people, ros.e against an, unjust rule, arid 1 m clutching at liberty lost their, manhood and every other vir iu*.e. The popular tumults that have occurred m more recent and enlightenjsd,' times have arisen, either from j some, act of tyranny on the part of t the governing- body or through the' ignorance.of.th&gav.emed. In most "cases bath these causes have oper- ; ated. The,.cause of the present corijtjention m Melbpurne.may be. said j be an act of, injustice. an, the. part. loathe governing. In tht^ master 'the. people are the.sufferers, andj to, their, credit be it said;, tliey have conducted themselves reaspuably. And-, why is this ? Because they are sujOSciently enlightened and reflectiye. to know that things. will right; the'nv selves \ery speedily if let'-ajorie, whereas if they w.er&to assent thpif* [rights by acts of reprisal and; oji";-; rage they} would ,ojily extend; thC misichief iaflefimtely apd, sp, §gh| , againpt themselves. , vc-^V, * Yet w.e are,iipt without abunjlant examples of i^hp tyranny, ofv the people, when $■ suits thorn, to, be tyrannical. Eroni y what we see. o| - the. labop. strikes apjl, trades unions., 'm Englapcb and; America the. de? mands of tjie, working -men are quite, as of.ten unreasonable' as reasonable, : and the means, taken for; enforcing those demands are. oftentimes disgracefully tyrannous, Popular liberties and popular \ rights have been,2o erected; into, in-.

fallible, prraciples ob late years — have, 'been, so. proclaimed from the hustings ar^d echo,eA back from the press-— .that it is, no,t a matter. ojE surprise, if many ppople. come to, re.gard eveiything. that can b&squeezedin un,der. thanamp. of liberty as that before, which c.very-thing else, must give way. Prinqiple. an,d( right are no. longer, principle, and right unless they arermpre echops of public, opinion,. Individual cojuvictioi^s and individual honpsty must be sacrificed; upon the. altar; of the. grei^t gp&, the people, the moment they clash with the. seeming, popular- interest o.^ the. hour. S,uch appears to be the doctrine of the poop.le.of "Wellington^ who ha,ve attempted tp. coercs their member, Mr- Hunter, to. attach him-self-to, the. principles of Sir G?. Grey. DA\c Hunter, be it known, is one of the members for, Wellington, City. Atthp. last general election, he.stated clearly what his political principles were," aiid^by . virtue, of these. political principles r he^^as chosen, by the ppople of 3v^fllirigto,ri as their reprer spntative, Hr]Hunter;has religiously adhered to, hisprofessiops arid tip' to. tha present r.ecess ; ha,s giveuv full satisfaction to, liis constituents,' ; But the reform programme, of Sir. Greorge' G-rey a,n,d; the eloquence with which it has been recommended have come, upon i"his ppople. as a bright visiop that must at all hazards be. made. a reality, It ra,at,ters not what defects. { may be. m. the." schemes proposed; ;. the g-amp-ur. of popular liberty pervades the. w^haje, hides every defect and apparently- extinguishes., the moral sense, or these.electora^ Thay, forthwith, re'qjujisitioA _Vl|r. Huntereither- to, a^.ap ? t thp npw principles or. to resign, his seat. Thpy require, him to, aid- themvin^ecuring a greater, share, of) liberty by sacrificing his own, liberty*,; an<^ his truth, and honour to, boot: What purblind yie^s of liberty these, requisitionjsts. mivst haye to, think that it can be, srih|epyed- ; by tyranny iike.thi&! The people^hacanld, insult a.n honourable manVby^^V dishonourable an ftX©?tijradese>v"§." to be. represented by ment w .i* n - n .°; W^ stability than a weathi6tcook,.;'f A' pity it is tha,t the electors oos^ s the. prerriieiv city shopld bp. the. opes to, set ainlexaHiple. of bad mpra]s to, the, constitujehcies ;— -an example: w.hjch if fojlo^ec^ o 4 u,b to its natural result, degrade, rer prespntative. institu.tiops. m. the. colony and fijl the legislature wjith^ trupklers instead of- palitipians. v. "We have, at preyipu;S ; times ex-; pressed^ our. sympathy with the. liberal aspirations of Sir. George Gfirey, and' we. wish, to. see. him well supported;. in, Wellington;. and- elser whpre, Rut, m censuring the means by. which, thp. WJellingtori. electors wpuld* haye'. hfmj supportedi we.are not magnifying a t trifle v Thp. prin r ciplejnvolved^is aju, importapjb one. Mir. Kuriter.hadi been, deliberatelyelectedibj; his , constituppfs fpr the. period; thp;- present Parliament will be. m existence. In breaking; m, upon, his unimpeachable political lifo. they are. breaking fajth, with, him, m the most reprehensible. mannerV;^arKhjp_i thpir. doing, this dp.es not meet? with, that measure, of p|ib].ic.reri:r6bajbion. that will.pre.vent it beco ming a.,p recedent, honp v rable, men. w,ill naturally hapg, bapkfroma position wherein, they can be.so : used;. Liberal in^titujbibris. arid progressivp legislajtipii. are w^eil w.ort,hy the. ap^r miration, andf support of' exery people ;. bptiutegrity and; truth^re, m, iriiportanpej aboye,eyerything ejse, apd^a pppular. liberty- thai requires the. saprfi.ee .oi these. is. npfc gpnu^np.