THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 7, 8 January 1876, Page 2

THE WEEK.

A week of electioneering has produced strange In the Mail of Thursday appeared; the reports ofjbhree pollings, each of which terminated, for the time at least, the political life of the members who had represented the' districts concerned in ; the late parliament. One old hand and two new ones . have stepped into their shoes. "Will their turn ;come at the next general election to be offered up as, sacrifices at the. shrine of public opinion, that most fickle of all goddesses, to gain whcfse favor so many make the chief a}fti .and end of their existence ? ■j The strangest and most unexpected of all these defeats: is vwithdtit/dotibt that of Mr o' Conor. Had he obtained a considerable majority at "Westport and this been upset at Charleston and the' * out districts one would not have wondered so much, but that the town to whose interests, /which, . it may be, included his own^ he had invariably sacrificed every oth.er part of , the, proyihce; should have rejected him iel indeed passing strange. Can the reason be that he is one in'whose hands it is unsafe .to others; and unkind to himself to place power of any kind ? Does it render him supercilious, overbearing, and domineering to such a degree that he at once becomes the. most unpopular of men ? This I regard as the chief reason for the deathblow administered; to hiß political career last Wednesday. And in Nelson how was the news received ? It is not too much to. say that it was hailed with . general, if not universal, satisfaction closely bordering on delight. .."Have you heard the news ? O'Conor's licked !" " "What ! By Jove, then I don't mind shouting. Whattll you. have, old map?" This question and this answer, if not in the exact words, certainly in the same sense, was asked and received, on Wednesday evening not once but a hundred times.' Some may have heard expres- «. siohs of regret, but my experience is that high and low rich and poor learned with somethiug approaching a sense of relief that the Buller had re-? fused to re-elect . its late member. Strange that the defeat of one who but . a few months ago was far from un- ; 'popular in Nelson should have occasioned such general rejoicing, but so it, was beyond all doubt. • I leave it to others to account fdr it as best they may. ? , * '... • Then there comes the Waimea election and its result. Mr Shephard has gone down before his old opponent. Mr Baigent. The victory is not much to be proud of, for anyone, who was in the district on polling day could not fail to see that to the electors generally it was , a matter of the most supreme in? (difference who was returned. ". I don't like one, 1 and I don't care for the other." This, I believe, represents very fairly the state of 'the public mind, and I think so from the fact, that, in addition to the apathy that was so plainly bbservable on; the part of those who did vote, not half, or nearly half, of those, who were on the roll took; the trouble to go. to the poll at all. If i the late member was unpopular the new. one may regard , himself as equally so, for the few votes which ; gave him his majority might easily have been counterbalanced on the other, side had • a little trouble been taken. But no-, - body seemed inclined to go to < any," trouble. There was no enthusiasm felt, and . consequently there was no work done, §io much fbr. the settled pdrfcibi of the district. . What fchb feeling was.in the Upper Buller, where the population is -'more' scattered, may' be gathered ! from the reply of a digger who .was^ asked to go and' record his vote, "No' fear, I lost a day's work in going to vote for Shephard beforehand I have never seen him here since, and as for Baigent who, the deuce is he that I should bother about voting for him ? I never saw him yet, and; I .daresay ,1 never shall." Is it to be wondered at that so very few recorded their votes? I feel just now in an advice-giving mood, so I must address a word or two to the two candidates. To Mr Shephard I would say, If ever you get in again, run straight, don't neglect your . constituents between election days, and if you do go to the- poll again don't despise your opponent. And now Mr Baigent, a word with you. You have undertaken a very heavy responsibility?, are you quite sure thai you are equal to it ? Xou said that you, came 'forward I

merely Jn \ordeV tofgivev such of the ele^orsas wisKed .fof:it an|opportunitk oflli-e^ding 1 tliei^VyoteSlagainst Mrl SHephard. -Xouihay&beeii^iiQexpectedlyl *BuJ|es^!Ui]. v Vjou ni^bave formed! opinio|is on 'thid, ~ A |arge^qaestions witM whicHyou wiirHlve to deal, or you* may riot. " Nobody knows, for you have, never taken the trouble to enlighten your constituents. You have got in, it be said, by a fluke, but.beware how youMoaUwith |Hfe tru|t confided in you.| Your hoiiesty no one doubts ; your^ ability to fill the position in which you are-placed agreafr many -do.— , lfc-is for. you to prove to them that they are mistaken.: .-.-• , .'.'/;. . ■ ; ";..;., I have not reached the end of. my list yet. I want to talk to the new member for Motueka for a minute or two. To you too has been entrusted a grave charge. I have heard you speak,'and;haye afterwards r^ad; what you said in print, and I have come to the conclusion^ that you have yet a great deaj to learn. The first thing you must do is to drop that egotism, which has been so marked a feature in your] speeches. It is all very well when W few fellows get together and afe talking over matters generally to utter a few absurdities which are immediately for- ' gotten, but when, you r^a.d in the news.papers, the reports of w,hat yOu had said, and found that in gravely addressing, a meeting p£ electors who had gathered' together\to\ hear your viewijf on the political questions o? the day^ you had talked such rubbish as that you had " worked for a good many masters in New Zealand, and had never "yet" got-. thesacV t^a* you had "never yet been in a private • house .in would not again be a welcome.. yisitpr^ — when you read this overcalmiy,, 4 'tsayi r . did not a shudder creep 6vi?r youi did you hot feel uncommonly, uncomfortable as you reflectedhq^Very foolish you had. been? Then that; sensational reference* to your babyhood. I daresay you- were; as. nice and well behaved as most babies . ,and r I am .willing f^o allow that, dressed in elaborately embroidered longclbfches, and with the down on your head "neatly patted, you were as pretty a baby aspne ; wpul<l wishito.see^but why, when the jdown^ v had given place to ; hair, and you had arrived at ybu» thirtieth year— l think you told us among other facts' .''of ?a*t personal nature that that was your age/ —^why call up ; such reminiscences by relating that touching little incident of •Major Atkinson dandling you in his arms ? Dp. you suppose that any of the hardy electors who left' the hayfield to be present at the nomination cared one rap about such wretched trifles?' And why was it necessary to drag Sir Donald M'Lean into this innocent little nursery scene ? Even supposing that the ' Native: Minister had assisted the j Colonial Treasurer in trying to keep j you from crying; -even supposing, in- ' deed, that he had gone further, that he had held to your rosy ylittle lips the pap boat — feeding bottle I think they call it nowadays — what possible interest' could that have for men who wanted to know your present opinions on the j abolition question ? You must not talk like this any more if you are to make a really useful member oft the House. You have been very tenderly handled hitherto by the gentlemen /of the press, whose inclination mußt, I am sure, have been, to chaff you unmercifully, but it may be that they have .refrained because they can discern, or fancy that they can discern, beneath that mantle of egotism, thick as a Maori mat; in which you have been so unwise as to envelop yourself throughout your electioneering tour of the district, some good points which, as you gain experi- 1 ence, and come to know that people epe more ;about your actions, ability, and opinions than your pedigree or infancy] may develop themselves and prove you to be a shrewder and more sensible man than your speeches make you to appear. Dp not disappoint those who are disposed - to be -r friendly towards you ; "be wise enough to learn now, and by so doing you will, save yourself from much miglit be disagreeable hereafter. ' This V the advice of a frien.<jL Take.it. t It has just occurred to me that I am [ rather serio.us this week, owiDg entirely, I believe, to that dreadfully solemn election at "Wakefield the, other day, which was enough to knock all the fun out of a man for a long time to come.. But. what is worse, it seems to me that I have been übusually long, and on looking back oyer this Jcolumnand a half I feel very much as must a clergyman on finding that he has been preaching for five and thirty minutes to i a cpngregatipn who, he knows, wpuldbe more than satisfied with twenty, and a more 'uncomfortable position to^be^ placed in I can scarcely imagine. However, my readers, I have the corisolatidn of knowing, that ypu could, have deserted me in the' middle^ of my'discourse if you felt so inclined, &H d]iTO-? bably some of ypu have done so, thereby * availing yourselves of a privilege' 'tliat is not open to the members of a congregation, f "•; H/'f