MR DONALD REID.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4990, 21 March 1877, Page 3

MR DONALD REID.

(By M. W. Stack, in the Saturday Advertiser.) \ The'imperative, if not the. imperial, standard ', measure adopted by society, is society's own; bushel. Selfishness will insist on measuring ' each man and each woman with its'own tape-' line. • And when selfishness finds that a'mem- : ber of society does not come up to its own, measure, then selfishness enters into partner-1 ship with; calumny, and both raise a shriek of; suspicion. ""' ~ ~ " ■

In religion we are expected to conform 'to the wishes of our parents.' - What, they are in spiritual creed, society commands that we must be likewise. The causes that have produced : our parents' alleged convictions, we-are bound to accept as causes for. our religious convictions, John Calvin insists that hid son and daughter do'believe in predestination simply because he (John Calvin) believes in it. John Wesleyi if he had offspring, would conscientiously, in his opinion, insist on his heirs male and heirs female believing that human beings are invested with free will by God. Religious men and religious women are apt to be very despotic; and, indeed, dogma and despotism stand in the relation of cause and consequence. The Baptist rages because the interpretation of certain baptismal passages of Scripture do differ from the alleged orthodox Baptist interpretation. And in other creeds we find similar bifotry. This bigotry, be it remarked, concerns the statements of mi inspired book, a large amount of which is obviously rhetorical and figurative. Uninspired men and uninspired women, with a flippancy which would be amazing ■'■ were it not' ouly too familiar, ~ do'" speak dogmatically" ah3™Belfsatisfactorily of a'book which] being inspired, should logically require inspired - interpretation—a book which was written in Hebrew, but:which ■is being daily "interpreted" by many men and ; by many' l women' who'do'n'ot know 'English, who have no logical training, and whose impudence—springing from' ignorance—is their, to them, all-sufficient'substitute for profound erudition. In politics, too, we must, if we obey society's commands, follow in the footsteps of our forefathers. * Reason must not give way to habit. The provincial system brought in cash to sundry coffers in Otago, and hence it was a' system good for the'whole colony. : My'thumb aches; and "because I '■ cure my thumb by some given panacea, a similar'application will act as a panacea for my toe ! This is logic. ' Vinegar, externally applied, may cure the ache in my head. Ergo, vinegar, externally applied, may cure the ache in my bunion ! ' Local self-government suits Otagp, consequently selfrgovernment will suit Auckland, Canterbury, Taranaki, Wellington, and Nelson. Australia' and Canada have been governed by one central Government—why should New Zealand be an exception to Australia.'and Canada ?

Taking the narrow Otago'view, I will admit that local self-government in the shape of the old Provincial Government and the old Provincial Council would be as good, perhaps, as one government out of which a county system emanates, for Otago, as well .as for the other provinces ; but a statesman should not shut his eyes to the colony as a whole, and ample statistics show that, as a system for the whole colony, provincialism was a failure. 5 The best thing that has been said of provincialism is, that it v/as A school for kicking statesmen. But in effect the scholars have been dunces. The number of orators or statesmen who have been developed by Provincial Councils can be counted on the fingers of two hands. 'Even were it true that the old councils developed political scholars, the sum paid for that system of political evolution was altogether too costly.

If the commands of'..certain self-commis-sioned political captains in Otago had *>een obeyed, Mr. Donald Reid would not -'have joined the present, administration. That is to say; he would have sacrificed all his political knowledge at the;shrine of party ambition. He would have worshipped a dead calf. He would have dedicated all his talents to the memory of an irrevocable. pasc._. The living, anxious present he would have ignored. He would have entombed his brightest aspirations, his most national ambition, in the mausoleum of a petty local so-called patriotism. If .Mr. Reid had performed the work mapped out for him, he would have been a very political spaniel. He has taken a nobler view, : and has acted on it. He is enabled to see with eyes that scan the political horizon. Evidently the eyes of the old provincial party are bounded by certain very antiquated antecedents. Times change, circumstances change, requirements change, and with , the change of times, circumstances, and requirements should conie a change of men. That - man who deliberately opposes the national will, is a man whose, day of -utility is-a-thing of the past. ! That man who i'persists .in : . adheringwith monomaniac-intensity to a system the. necessity for which has been, superseded'by a complete change in national requirements—that man, I repeat, is a subject for deep regret, because: talents which would be useful in building up ; a young nation; are. allowed to rust, simply because the pet views of an obsolete factioii/haye^qjf.Ji i eenjid^tt,ed.mtojtb. : e councils of the Commonwealth. j We want .more men like ■ Mr. Reid—men who will not let the petty absorb, the;:large view. If Mr. Macandrew had joined the present Government, we would now be in possession of the fruits of that able administrator's undoubted, genius forJ,.govern'ment. As it is, so far as we "can see!; at present, all his past is lost to the colony. On the contrary, in.. Mr. Reid we have a man trained in the school of political experience—cautious, yet logical .in debate, conscientious in hi* convictions, and possessed of the rare talent of being able to put the hearer in full arid clear possession of his ideas. He can disentangle sophistry with a few words. Falsa logic is thrown away on him ; and political liars, who should have good memories, should always bear in mind that Mr. Reid's memory is a retentive faculty, which will readily detect a false statement, a fl&w in reasoning, or an error in judgment. He is selfraised, self-reliant,' and self-opinionated in the best sense of each word.

No politician can ever, with truth,. "assert that he has ever been iutentionaUyled astray by Mr. Reid, whose word is his bond. _ scientiousness in politics is supposed, rightly or wrongly, to be an unknown quality. With Mr. Reid, conscientiousness is a known and familiar experience, and he believes that the political arena affords the fullest scope for that honesty which is the best policy. About people who suddenly jump to eminence there is, as a rule, an uneasy feeling. Rightly or wrongly, they are often suspected of unsoundness.

Mr. Reid's present position is not the result of a leap in." the dark. He has logically,,. calmly climbed the tree of political progress.. And history can -say that ere now he. would have been at the top of that tree had he sacrificed his political consistency at the altar'of self and pelf.' Indeed, a few more men of: Mr. Reid's stamp would give the administration a position of eminent , importance and utility. Under .parliamentary institutions representative men who inspire confidence are the one thing needful. \ Experience inspires confidence. The most talented : novice is watched-r-and we cannot separate vigilance from suspicion. Mr, Reid's .experience puts him beyond the pale of , suspicion, and his known probity of character gives him that' emphasis of character-—if 1 may be allowed to coin a phrase—which is a tower of strength to-any administration,-but especially to one which, will doubtless attempt to pilot through I the rocks of opposition more than one measure of a very debateable complexion. ■'■'.- Mr. Reid has never been'a reckless politician. "He .has never" thrown the mud of { slander"on his opponents. He has, as a rule,', refrained froni using _tu quoque arguments.'! The "Ivtold youvso," and the "you're! another" class "of detraction, have never: found favor with him. ; Logic, common' sense, these have been his weapons. He is am industrious-political bee, but he is stingless.; It would be a mistake, however, to suppose . that he cannot answer an antagonist, and. although his answer might not be appreci-i ated where " non-gentlemen" most do congregate, it' will asshredly extort praise where logi- | ciahs assemble. , ' " \ . ~