The Politician.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 227, 15 January 1876, Page 19

The Politician.

THE NEW HOUSE. (From the New Zealand Times, January 8.) The House of Representatives, Avhen the roll has been completed, Avill contain many men neAv to Parliament and public life. This has its advantages and disadvantages, but on the Avhole Ave think an infvision of fresh blood is desirable. The advantage, hoAvever, is decidedly in favor of the party in poAver, unless a hostile majority has been elected on some welldefined question of policy. When the Assembly met in 1871, there Avas an absolute majority of new members in the House, and it Avas gravely debated among them whether they should not unite and turn out the Government, replacing it by a "new-chum " Executive. The project was feasible enough, but the weakness of a considerable body of men unaccustomed to act in concert, or in any sense disciplined, was soon made apparent. Personal vanity was skilfully worked upon, jealousy and distrust were fostered, and the " new-chum " party was dissolved before it had time to consolidate. The Government SAvallowed it up, leaving only a small section of the Opposition, to Avhieh, but for the circumstance named, a large proportion might have allied themselves. Looking at the probable influence of neAv members in the House next session, we should hardly think a repetition of the same thing possible. That they will be numerous and influential there can be no doubt whatever, but the leaders of parties will require to manage them differently. The election has been taken on a great public question on which the constituencies generally have declared, although in several instances, no doubt, the choice of members Avillbe on personal grounds. But as a whole the members will come up prepared to vote yea or nay on the question of consolidating the colony, or splitting it up into sections, and so far will be less a disorganised body than their predecessors in the late Parliament. On this question there will be much debate, but of the result there can be no reasonable doubt. The country has pronounced so far unequivocally with the Government, and every fresh return may be said to add to their ultimate majority. The difficulty in managing the new members will begin Avhen details come to be considered. Everyone of them, in all probability, will have an idea of his OAvn, which he conceives necessary to the avellbeing of the State, or as Sir George Grey grandiloquently puts it, "essential to the happiness of the " Avhole human race." If parties are at all evenly balanced, the utmost care is needed to manage new members on poiftts of detail. They must not be offended, neither can their crotchets be accepted ; and it is in such cases exceedingly difficult to know how to take them. Of course, AA'hen the House has settled do\vn, and men begin to know each other and Avork more or less in harmony, this difficulty diappears in a great measure, for although a feAV neAv members may feel themselves slighted, they are not embrued with personal rancour bred of years of disappointment and defeat, like many of the veterans of the House.

The time that must elapse betAveen the elections and the meeting of Parliament will enable Ministers, however, to form a tolerably fair estimate of the force, capability, and temper of the new House; and this is a branch of study quite as im-. portant under representative government as the measures to be introduced by a Ministiy. Much must depend upon the accuracy of the Ministerial mind in this respect. It should, to a large extent, guide the Government in framing general measures of legislation, and as to the manner and time of their introduction. A careful perusal of the speeches of candidates, for instance, will enable one to form a shrewd idea of the tendency of public thought on the question of local self-government. If we said the public

mind was unsettled on this particular question Ave should not be far astray, but certain leading principles may be seized upon, and these, if embodied in a Bill, with comparatively simple machinery, Avould undoubtedly be accepted by the country. The more complicated the Bill, the more likelihood of opposition. In like manner, this remark applies to all other general measures of legislation. The success of a Government depends mainly on the tact Avith which they manage the Legislature. With regard to the main questions on Avhieh the Government Avill be opposed, Ave have little fear for the result. The country is so unmistakeably in favor of completing the great scheme of public Avorks, and of settling the Avaste lands with an industrial population, that it Avill insist upon this policy being carried out concurrently Avith the consolidation of the colony. Administrative decentralization and legislative centralization are the ends in view. These embody the Government policy ; the country, so far as the elections have gone, has ratified it. It is, of course, open to the Opposition to challenge the administration of the Government, and join issue on that point rather than on a question of policy. In this respect, the Opposition has a decided advantage over the Government. It can choose its oavii time and point of attack ; it can harrass, and Avorry, and obstruct in an almost endless variety of Avays, and it need not confine itself very strictly within the bounds of moderation or truth. Exaggeration and recklessness of statelnent are weapons resorted to by an Opposition, and these frequently impose upon new members Avhose. opinions are semeAvhat unsettled, and whose want of Parliamentary experience makes them more easily susceptible of receiving impressions than they Avould otherwise be were they more familiar with party tactics. We cannot presume to say how far the Opposition, led by Sir George Grey, will go upon the broad question of Constitutional reform, or on points of administrative detail. In all likelihood, an attack all round Avill be led. Mr. Macandrew and Mr. Stout are pledged to restore the provincial system in its integrity if possible ; failing this, they go in for a modified form of provincialism, and as a last alternative, insular separation. Sir George Grey will support these gentlemen. Time will thus be wasted, and if the Government are wise and active they will push through their business during the inter\ 7 als of these debates, and the session will close leaving them triumphant over a demoralised Opposition. The representatives from the central divisions of the colony will not submit to the dictation of the two extremes, who only agree in their antipathy to a consolidation of the affairs of NeAv Zealand, Avhieh Avould place every locality on a common political level. As far as we have been able to follow the everchanging front of the Opposition, we take it that the fight next session will be on the Constitutional question, and not on administration. Schemes for promoting the happiness of mankind by means of shabby counterfeits of parliamentary forms Avill occupy at least six weeks of the session, leaving only a brief period for the considei'ation of necessary measures of legislation and colonial finance. With ordinary care and ability the Government may have everything their own way next session, and as Sir Julius Vooel will be in his old form and place Ave may safely venture to predict that the Government party Avill be skilfully led.

UNITED STATES AFFAIRS. (From the New Zealand Times, January 11.) " The third term" candidature appears to agitate political circles in the United States more than ever. The result of the State elections has given the Republicans a controlling voice in the coming presidential campaign, and it is generally believed that Grant's party will put him in nomination. If so, the result may be in the highest degree disastrous to American society. It is quite within the range of probability that the adherents of Grant —the huge army of officials and placemen who have grown rich upon public spoils—will be strong enough to secure his return to the White House, and then ; —" Well, " Ave can't tell Avhat may happen," to quote the President's reply to an inquiry as to Avhat he thought of a third term. But that a very strong feeling will be aroused, menacing to the peace of the Republic, cannot be doubted. The more independent newspapers, and the more independent politicians as well, agree in condemning anything like an attempt to nominate General Grant for a third presidential term.; and their opposition means a great deal in a Democratic country like the United States. But countries, like men, fulfil their destiny; and it is not at all unlikely that the corrupt influences Avhieh have dominated American society since the civil war Avill require caustic treatment. < It may be that the Democracy of America will require to pass through yet another fiery ordeal before it can be said to be purified. Meanwhile General Grant holds his peace, or speaks in such

guarded Avords that his real intention is not knoAvn. " Well, Ave can't tell what " may happen " —and that is all. The JVew York Herald charges the President with shaping the foreign policy of the Government for the purpose of influencing the coming election. Other neAvspapers do the same. It is urged that the menacing tone adopted towards Spain Avas done Avith this intention solely, and the President is credited Avith the design. But perhaps the strong party feeling Avhieh the discussion of this question has evoked has somewhat prejudiced the minds of American Avriters. Their antipathy to anything like fixity of tenure in the White House leads them to undervalue the great public services of their President. In this Cuban affair it was of the utmost consequence to the maintenance of a good understanding betAveen Spain and the United States that the provisions of the treaty of 1795 should be so interpreted as to meet the altered circumstances of the tAvo nations. When that treaty Avas made, Spain was strong and the United States Aveak. The one Avas a great power, the other a country of infinite resources struggling into national existence, and for many years the treatywas construed to mean a great deal more in favor of the Don than the successor of General Washington is now prepared to concede. It is quite true that Spain declared Avar against England, as an ally of the American States during the War of Independence, and did not make peace until the British Government recognised their independence, but then Spain Avas next door neighbor to the United States, and for several years afterwards controlled the navigation of the Mississippi, and acted in a highhanded way towards its ally. Spain having ceded Louisiana to France soon after, Napoleon sold it to the United States, which subsequently acquired Florida by purchase from Spain, and thus obtained control of the great Avestern basin Avhieh iioav forms the real strength of the country. The Spanish GoA r ernment, however, have not learned to look upon the altered circumstances of the case with due regard to the facts. It is forgotten that Spain does not possess a league of territory on the American continent, and that citizens of the United States travelling in Cuba are entitled to be tried by the civil courts, and not by courts martial. At least General Grant insists that this is the true reading of the treaty of 1795, and Spain, although acting contrary hitherto, has wisely accepted this interpretation. The Spanish Minister has officially intimated to the American that in future American citizens on trial before a court-martial in Cuba shall have the privilege of selecting counsel for defence. This satisfies Secretary Fish, and so the storm has blown over. The Avar preparations are at an end, and President Grant has achieved a bloodless victory.

Writing on this Cuban question the New York Herald has the following remarks Avhieh deserve reprinting here, inasmuch as this colony is becoming so intimately connected, by commercial ties, with the United States. It says:—

Charles Sumner—a high authority upon any question of this kind —said, when the Cuban question first took shape, that at the very lowest estimate a war for its possession would entail a debt of five hundred millions of dollars. The Spanish have a better navy than ours. They could destroy our commerce, such of it as survives the rebellion. They are a valiant people and fond of Avar. The possession of Cuba is as dear to the Spanish heart as that of Massachusetts or Pennsylvania to the American heart. Cuba is among the last remnants of that splendid empire which Spain once governed on this continent. It is a monument of the glorious days when the will of her sovereign Avas almost absolute throughout the civilised world. Therefore the Spaniard, passionate and proud, and with an intense love of country, Avould fight for the possession of this island with a tenacity which we must respect, and which it Avould be madness for us to underrate. . . But, laying aside any argument of this kind, we must look at the Cuban question wholly from an American point of view. It is not, after all, Avhat England or France may think that will, in the end, affect our policy, but Avhat is best for ourselves. We do not need to spend a penny nor Avaste a life for Cuba. It is the ripening pear, and must sooner or later, fall into our lap. We have our internal affairs to arrange, our finances to strengthen. War Avould interrupt all this. It would be a relapse, bringing up again, and in an intensified form, all the evils of the rebellion, so far as the war for its suppression affected our industry, our credit, or our commerce. It Avould send our bonds rolling back upon us. It would weaken our credit in every money market in Europe. It would adA'ance gold, paralyse our reviving manufactures, and add to the currency millions of greenbacks—enough, Ave fear, to satisfy the most enthusiastic inflationist. Beyond this Ave have our Centennial, Avhieh is slowly becoming a national event in which every Americcan will; sooner or later, feel a personal pride. We propose to celebrate Avith due honor this one hundredth anniversary. We propose to show to the world what Ave have done in the arts and sciences, in the perfection of government and in material prosperity in these hundred years. We propose to give an account of the century of steAvardship Avhieh Providence has imposed upon the Anglo-Saxon race in this New World. A Avar or the apprehension of a war would fall upon the Centennial as a blight. Although it might Avell be reasoned that no free people should for a moment permit a sentiment like the celebration of an anniversary to interfere Avith the honor or the duties of a nation, still these sentimental questions are A-ery often the most important. It would be a great disappointment to the people of this country to have the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of its independence a failure. Nor would there be any recompense for this in Avinning Cuba at the cost of a For these reasons, Ave cannot resist pointing out to the administration and the people the duty of absolute peace. Nor should Ave suspect the administrationof any purpose to break it, Avere not the signs so ominous, and if we did not see surrounding the Government an ambitious party, resolved to retain poAver at any cost. What may be called the regular army of the Republican organisation, the drilled cohorts who observe its discipline and follow its flag, mean to fight for the third term, and, if possible, to Avin it. To them war is nothing but a step toward poAver. Ii they

can inflame the country either by the fear of repudiation or by forcing war upon the country to resent the "outrages of Spain " and to free Cuba, they will do so as a deliberate act of political management. \gainst this we earnestly protest. We urge the President to remember that for him the highest fame is what is to be found in peace. He has won laurels enough in the battlefield to care nothing for West Indian trophies or for a military success over a friendly and sorely troubled people.

PORT CHALMERS ELECTION. (From the New Zealand Times, January 12.) The Port Chalmers election has been the first serious check which the provincialist party received in Otago. By electing the Hon. Mr. Reynolds in lieu of Mr. Macandrew's nominee, notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of the League, the Port Chalmers constituency sustained its old reputation for chivalrous independence. Years ago it returned Mr. Macandrew as its member, when Dunedin would not look at him ; and now, when that gentleman, for what he has been pleased to describe as " a strong sense of what was " best for the public interest," deserted the Port for the City, the Port Chalmers electors returned Mr. Reynolds who was ousted from Dunedin. We do not say that there was any strong political feeling in the Port Chalmers election. On the contrary, we do not think there was ; but there was a very strong personal feeling. It was believed that °Mr. Reynolds had been badly treated in Dunedin, and that Port Chalmers had been exceedingly badly treated by Mr. Macandrew ; and this belief, strong as it may have been, was exceedingly well founded. It was a mistake which Mr. Macandrew committed to desert Port Chalmers; it was a greater mistake on his part, and on that of his League, to oppose Mr. Reynolds when put in nomination for the Port. Any man not blinded by faction ; —any man possessed of political acumen, must have seen that under the circumstances the Leagne courted defeat. And defeated it has been. Moreover, the defeat was complete : it was a moral as well as a political defeat, and should teach the inflated, demagogues of Otago that even in that province, which has been the plaything of demagogues and political mountebanks for many years, there is one " Old Identity " constituency, in which a sense of public decency and political honor is so strong as to induce it to enter a protest, by its deliberate act and vote, against a line of procedure on the part of the public of Otago, which must lower the tone and impair the usefulness, because destroying the independence, of its representatives. Mr. Reynolds has defeated Mr. Macandrew and the League for Port Chalmers, although, if events had fallen out otherwise, Mr. Macandrew would have had a walk-over for the seat, and Mr. Reynolds might have been kept out of Dunedin all the same. The votes recorded at the Dunedin election justify us in making this statement. But the election of Mr. Reynolds is a triumph on other grounds. Mr. Macandrew addressed a special circular to the Port Chalmers electors just before the poll, in which, with consummate art, he appealed to the local prejudices of the electors against the Government. His appeal was in vain. In vain he attempted to show that Port Chalmers suffered serious loss at the hands of the General Government: in vain he appealed to their local antipathies and personal cupidity. He had offended Port Chalmers in its tenderest part. He had outraged its selfesteem ; and there are too many Gaels on the electoral roll to render it possible for that constituency to forgive or forget a slight. Mr. Macandrew was their adopted chfef. They were proud of him; but when he threw them over for a constituency which, in its heart of hearts distrusted him, and which they knew did so, they transferred their allegiance to their late chief's political opponent, Mr. Reynolds. "We have the Otago Daily Times of the Bth instant before us in which Mr. Macandeew's address is printed immediately after the report of Mr. Reynolds's speech to the electors. In their way, the report and written address are political studies. One is puzzled to know where Mr. Reynolds's provincialism ends and his centralism begins, but that he gets comfortably over the fence is undoubted. As a Minister of the Crown, however, we think he went a little too far when combatting the provincialists with their own weapons. We suspect that his speech will harden opposition in many quarters where a different tone might have made allies, but we must not judge Mr. Reynolds too strictly, as he was placed in very peculiar and trying circumstances. His victory is complete. He has had his satisfaction to the full ; and there let it rest. On the 6th of January Mr. Macandrew wrote his explanation to the electors of Port Chalmers, and in it we find the following paragraph : —"Gentlemen, wich tl these views it needed no argument to " show the immense value of the city of " Dunedin —the most important and " populous constituency in the colony—- " returning three Anti-Centralists. It '' was only after very strong representa- " tions that this was not likely to be " effected, unless I became a candidate,

'' and after an assurance of approval " from many of my former constituents, ' * that I agreed to be nominated. The "result speaks for itself, and the " Dunedin election has, with one excep- " tion, given a tone to every subsequent " election throughout the province." On the 10 th, the constituency to which this language was addressed, elected Mr. Reynolds by a majority of sixty. This was the practical comment of Port Chalmers on Mr. Macandrew's circular, the tone of the Dunedin election being exceedingly distasteful to it. " I feel " persuaded that my action in this " matter," writes Mr. Macandrew, " will " commend itself to the judgment of " those among you who, like myself, " deem it our duty, at this important " crisis, to sacrifice our personal feelings "to the public interest." Patriotism must be at a discount indeed at Port Chalmers or this appeal would have been loyally responded to ; but the voice of the charmer was powerless to charm, and the man of all others Mr. Macandrew would have kept out of the House has been elected.

GOLDFIELDS ADMINISTRATION. (From the ISTew Zealand Times, January 13.) Now that provincialism is as good as buried, we think the Government should set about the difficult task of organising the departments heretofore under the control of the Provincial Executives, but which must, of necessity, on the abolition of the provinces, come under the supervision of Ministers. Of these, the most important as it is the most pressing, is the goldfields department. If there is any single branch of the public service which demands the undivided attention of the Government, it is that of the goldfields. Somehow or other, under provincial administration, the goldfields of the colony have been subjected to the most absurd and conflicting systems of administration, and the Goldfields Acts certainly did not mend matters. But when it is considered that special legislation affecting goldflelds was influenced by those who had their control, as members of Provincial Executives, the failure of the law may be easily accounted for. However, that phase of the business is past, and there is now an opportunity for the Government making a name for themselves, and doing a real and lasting good to the colony, by consolidating the goldfields administration and amending the goldfields laws. Some fouryears ago an Under-Secretary for Goldfields was appointed, and it was then understood that although the administration of the goldfields should remain with the Provincial Executives, the real control should rest with the General Government. As an evidence of this intention we may point to the fact that the goldfields' estimates were voted by the Assembly, to prevent anything like improper action on the part of Provincial Councils. It was feared, and not without reason, that obnoxious officers would be got rid of by Provincial Executives refusing to put their salaries on the estimates, or by adopting the plan of taking a vote for a merely nominal sum. This was a favorite device of Provincial Governments. Whenever an official displeased them, whom it was inconvenient to quarrel with, they were seized with a fit of economy, and asked for such a vote for his office as would compel him to tender his resignation. The General Assembly, however, by voting the goldfields' estimates, although the salaries were paid by the provinces, protected the goldfields staff from local oppression. But while this was done, another and most important point was left untouched. There was no uniformity in the administration ; —there was no uniform scale of salaries. Wardens and other officers were paid on a high scale in one province and on a low scale in another ; nay, more than this, money appropriated for one officer by the Provincial Council was-paid to another officer by the Superintendent, under the covering of appropriation of the General Assembly. Thus an injustice was often done through the exercise of favoritism. As the matter now stands the General Government are in the position of starting on perfectly fresh ground. They are not bound, in any sense, by the practices of Provincial Executives. On the contrary, they* are bound to take care that hereafter justice will be done to the goldfields' officers, while the miners are relieved from special imposts as far as possible. We have already said that the Government appointed a secretary for goldfields, but somehow or other they have managed to apply his talents in other directions. An able and experienced official, his annual report to Parliament on the state of the goldfields is a marvel of intelligent compilation. It is of no practical value, however. The Goldfields' Secretary should visit the goldfields, and after examining the state of the various departments, he should make a report from his own observation. Such a report would have special value : the annual goldfields' report has no value whatever, and can have none so long as the present system is continued.

What we would suggest is this, that the Government direct the Secretary for Goldfields to visit the several goldminmg districts, and prepare a report on their actual condition and the working of the departments, preliminary to preparing a uniform scheme of administration for the colony, for it is absurd to suppose that the same services should be paid for on one scale in Otago, on another in Westland, yet another in Nelson, and again on a fourth scale at Auckland. There must be something like uniformity of administration, and an equalisation of salaries, if the goldfields department is to be efficiently managed hereafter. Now, as this is one of those departments under cover of which the Government is certain to be assailed next session, we are all the more earnest in our wish that Ministers may be thoroughly prepared. They have abundant time and warning, and if they do not avail themselves of the means at their disposal to keep themselves right, they will only have themselves to blame. It was understood, when a Secretary for Goldfields was appointed, that he should take personal supervision of the goldfields, but instead of doing so we venture to say that he has not once been out of Wellington on goldfields' business since his appointmentThis is not what the General Assembly or country expected, and the sooner the system is changed the better it will be. Estimates—real estimates and not a sham —must be introduced next session, and unless the Government have the report of an independent officer to guide them, they cannot hope to prepare them with due regard to efficiency and economy.