THE FEILDING CHRONICEL AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, SEPT.3, 1879. JAY LIBERALS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 71, 3 September 1879, Page 2

THE FEILDING CHRONICEL AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, SEPT.3, 1879. JAY LIBERALS.

The .contest Jar supremacy between Ministeri?ilists gjjd Oppositionists draws' on apace. The v great Tnajoritj of those" who es say to wog' the 'sweet voices of the; electors m the "various ' districts," hftve addressed those wKp are privileged" •to wield the franchise,' in"" meeting as-" sembled. It is at once amusing -and" instructive to note the similarity of; tone -pervading the utterjinces*"of the antitMinisteriaiists who have^' thus unfolded their political views. They, on.©' and -pli, profess to be firm believers mi and staunch su pportersi of i -those measures of Libei'al reforrii— shadowe'dl forth m the Governor's Speech-^-whiea constituted the Ministerial programme' for the last Session. They, one and all, swallow the whole piogramme of the" Grey Ministry, manhood suffrage and Triennial Parliaments included, and forthyiih dub themselves "Liberals ■!" It is all Very well to profess such high-_ toned liberal views, but the. electors know well enough that the programme" of the Grey Ministry has been adopted simply because the measures werejropu? lar measures, and as such, the 'candidates professing to " affeat " tjhem were likely to catch unwaryV 5 ; Bui/ ' a ." very ' awkward question -awaits these selfstyled Liberals of -mushroom growth. It is this— and we wish the electors to' lay k to lieart, aud reflect Ui>on it Lefore^'

their, vote, so as not to be le«i .astray by ephemeral hustings' professions, which are destined to survive the,day. of polling only— "How conies it if : you are suclt thorough-faced '■ Liberals ' as you -profess to be — and not more ! Brummagem counterfeits — how comes jit, we ask, that not one of these ' much : needed refbrms ' was proposed durinjr the many . years your [ 'continuous Mini stry, ', h^eld pfficje ?" ' "Aye, there's rub \" a3Shalj|espea'*e quaintly puts it. During Vsie tinie the " coiitinuous ■ Ministry * ' were mV power, " Manhood ' .Suffrage" ''was scouted as the very acme of . politicil absurdity. But how, ■■ for electioneering purposes, the erstwhile deriders of the _ measure swallow it ." luoipus,''' with, or without a residential qualification, though, souie^few, of weaker giistatorial powers, . prefer to have the nauseous pill sugar-coated, j with a residential qualificatiou " of, say, six monthaj' v but' would' not object f to gulp it down with one of i three months !' At the time to whick we ar.e alluding, Triennial 'Parliaments were ridiculed and scoffod at, but now.thes,e ridiculers and scoffers "if they find their constituency wish it, will support such a measure !" " ■ But the elector? are too wide awake , to. be caught m this manner. They will faason with themselves—" If these men are sincere why did they n »t introduce jone or 6ther of the^ ref prna s comprised ia the Mihisteriai progia time P Their pot having done so, pr6yp< they are not siocere, and weioannot trust them. We, wish to see these reforms carried out, jand for doing this we can only depend on those who iutroducfd the measures. .Our duty therefore wil].be to support the Ministerial Candidate-rthe '.-true Liberal." ' The British race are proverbially lovers of fair plsy, and know how to respect an honest, gtr aghtforward But they hate meanness and dissimulation. IE there be one thing more than another they detesfc, it is the cowardice that prompts the sailing under false colors. They are shrewd .enqngh too, to see that the .Opposition candidates "have run "up the " Liberal " flirg^ m view of the enemy, to be hauled down . as soon as the destruction they so much dread may have fceen avoided. It' nee.ds no prop.het to it ill the electors, that' the adoption by the Opposition, of the programme of the liberal Government they seek to subvert, is merely a ruse to secure their roturn ; and we shall be f^r frqm suvpdsed'if the result of the prese.nt election be to teach these "jay-liberals" the folly and inconvenience of strutting about ia borrowed plumes.