The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1878.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5274, 18 February 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1878.

Me. Hutchison is evidently determined to brazen out his political tergiversations. At tho hustings on Saturday he “challenged tho Times to produce one tittle of evidence to show that ho had in one single instance changed his views.” When it is remembered what took place at the hustings during tho previous election in March last, tho audacity of the newlypledged Greyite almost takes one’s breath away. After tho nomination, Mr. Hutchison then said : —“Believing that the Atkinson Government have done and are doing much useful work for tho country, knowing that tho Government is composed of men of high character, and repudiating as I do the axiom of ‘ measures not men ’ as a shallow fallacy; for good men will never give you bad measures ; and men you cannot trust, bad men, let them blow and promise to the top of their bent, will never give you good measures. Believing, I say, these things, I have no hesitation in stating that tho present Government should have my support so long as they continue to prosecute their present policy. Mr. Travers says the same tiling, protests to a large extent, but I am afraid the members of tho Government do not

altogether appreciate the favor he seeks to show them. It is, likely, another illustration of Mr. Travers being misunderstood.” The above are the exact words of Mr. Hutchison less than twelve months ago. Sir George Grey was then leader of the Opposition ; had enunciated every particle of his present policy ; but Mr. Hutchison did not, either by pen or voice, give the slightest indication that he would support him. Mr. Hutchison was a staunch Atkinsonite, and even denied Mr. Travers the privilege of ranking himself under the same banner. “ Conus was the man, not Short.” It was recognised that none but a supporter of the late Government would stand a chance of being elected for the city. There was only room for one in the Ministerial boat, and when Mr. Travers, to save himself, clung to it, Mr. Hutchison, to make him lose his hold, belabored him with a metaphorical marling spike. To quote Mr. Hutchison again. At the Royal Hotel, he said, “ he had no hesitation in saying, if ho had a seat in the House, that he should give a loyal support so long as they continued in their present course of action. He believed the country would search long before they were likely to find a more honest or a more capable Administration than the present.” And because Mr. Pearce would not desert those “honest” and capable men, Mr. Hutchison now says he is an unfit representative for the city. We will give a few more extracts from Mr. Hutchison’s speeches during the last election: —“ No doubt the Government made mistakes, but it was better to keep a Government which erred occasionally, but which the people knew to be honest and straightforward, than to turn them out of office for a set of men of whom nothing was known.” Again; “I believe the gentlemen holding the reins of office are actuated by a sincere desire to advance the best interests of the country —they have done a large amount of useful work—l believe they are friends of Wellington—and on these grounds, and so long as they pursue their present policy, I submit they are entitled to the hearty support and co-operation of the representatives of Wellington.” Yet despite this strong expression of faith in the late Ministry, Mr. Hutchison not only turns his back on his old friends, but comes out as the supporter of a gentleman who had vilified them for years. It has not been alleged that any change had taken place in the policy of the Atkinson Ministry. Sir George Grey himself has never hinted at that. Over and over again they were taunted with moving along in the same groove. The personnel of the Ministry was frequently changed, said Sir George Grey, but the principles never. Mr. Hutchison cannot give a shadowjof an excuse for changing his coat. “ The king is dead, long live the king.” That appears to embody the main political principle of Mr, William Hutchison. Hu does not believe in placing himself in the “cold shade of opposition.” At the latter end of last session there was a great deal of finessing on the part of Sir George Grey to appeal to the country as Premier. He had no desire to see any of his opponents in that position during a general election. Sir George is aware of the magical influence of power over that type of mind of which Mr. Hutchison affords a fair sample, and of which a considerable sprinkling is to be found in every community. Had we time or space, we could give fifty extracts from the speeches of Mr. Hutchison in praise of the Atkinson Ministry. Why, he was servile in his allegiance to that party. Well might the editor of the Post say that Mr. Hutchison’s half-dozen addresses to various constituencies are a curious study. Our contemporary says he has got a whole page of them, and they contain all sorts of political opinions. A gentleman stated at a recent meeting that he had been an observer of Mr. Hutchison’s public doings for fifteen years, and the result of his observation was, that ho was completely unreliable. However, to form a correct opinion of Mr. Hutchison’s political motives, it is not at all necessary to know him for such a lengthened period. His late wheel round will be quite sufficient for the electors of Wellington. It is his afl’rontery in brazening it out that astonishes us. To use the language of his new political chief, Sir George Grey, Mr. Hutchison is “utterly devoid of all sense of shame.”