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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5367, 10 June 1878, Page 2

Mb. Do>’Ali> Reid’s resignation of his seat in the House of Representatives is, not an event which can be lightly passed, over in a small country like New Zealand. Mr. Reid is an able, industrious, | and thoroughly honorable public man, land his retirement into private life is a: loss tothe whole community as well as,tpthe‘ district he has so long represented.' 'The reasons.which have induced him. to retire are such as will, we fear, tempt many of the best men in Parliament gradually to forsake a field of duty when they are called on to exchange the ordinary courtesies of civilized life for the amenities of pot-house politicians. :We regret to have to characterize in this way the deliberations of a Parliament which has, until, within the; last three years,, maintained an exceptional dignity among Colonial-Legislatures, It is the fashion among a certain class of writers in New Zealand- to deny the 'deterioration of Parliament, to applaud .the Rees type, oforatory as manly and outspoken, and to regard the sensitiveness and disgust off men of refinement as mere effiminaoy. -In. a society of ' bargees language must be spiced with rank epithets and'fl<avoted with a dash, offprofanity, to avoid i the suspicion of unprofessional delicacy. Manliness isstillUnfortunately considered, ! in some circles, synonymous with brutality,- - and the tone - and stylo of | the Legislatures of Sydney and. Melbourne ' are to some politicians the ideal.to be aimed'at. - It is a : Sad thing for a coun try when mob-orators succeed in disgusting public men of character ;and, integrity;; by ; raising-a class cry against ; them if they are rich, or by sneeririg at; their motives if they are poor. Mb.' Reid ■; concluded j ( his address to j the electors of Mosgiel with the following words. • •

“ Speaking now of personal Matters, I| may state.that, as your representative, I have taken the advice given to Cromwell, and have endeavored,tpi,keep, that advice in view.; ind I hope the'day. is far distant when the electors of the Taieri district will have any otliericlass of representative than one who will adopt the same standard. I know that a man; will be subjected to obloquy if he continues in a course which he considers to be upright and honorable ; .but no man can please all, and he ■would' be : a foot who attempts it.- - Gentlemen, I have to apologise for having taken up so much of your time. X have now to intimate that; after I r address my constituents at: Outram, it is my intention,, to forward, my resignation to the Spealcer. 'I regret having to make this intimation." I have been in politics for some-time, and I cannot say that I do not like the political arena, when fairly : conducted; but I .must say .that tho-tono that has gradually, come, and is coming, into the Parliament of Now Zealand—indeed, the tone that his been extending since the advent into, it of one to whose appearance I looked forward with very much pleasure—l mean the Premier of the colony—is deteriorating and degrading ; find, instead of discussing matters fairly;npon their merits, half of our time" is taken,up with bitter personalities, in hurling charges'of jobbery and corruption at each other—things which do not tend to-the advancement of

public business. Many of tho charges I believe in my heart to have uo foundation in fact'; and if they had, I say they ought to be proved when- brought forward. I should be the first then toistand forward—l care not who the man might be—topuuiah improper action if proved. ' If a man has done actions which do not entitle him to bo present in tho House I say ho ought to be expelled ; but do not countenance a style of debate which is lowering aud degrading tho Parliament of Now Zealand.”

Yes, Sir George Grey surrounded by his friends and myrmidons has made his mark on our Legislature. Any man who cannot enjoy the atmosphere the Premier loves must be hard to please ! and yet there are mean spirited people who cannot appreeate the infinite variety provided both in the House and the lobbies. A sense of public spirit will keep many from leaving the cards under the control of the bullies; and, .however ugly the immediate prospect, there are men sanguine enough to believe that a Grey will not be allowed to lower tho morale of. the N'ew Zealand Legislature “forall “time,” But, in the meantime, we are losing good men. It is much to be regretted that Mr Reid did not see his way t.o reconsider his determination, at thegeuorally expressed wish of his constituents. But he probably felt that, after his lengthened services,they should have been more ready to resent the calumnies with which he was pelted last session by his opponents; aud that he was not called on to sacrifice himself any longer, when so many of his constituents had shown an inclination to trim their sails to the prevailing wind. They are sorry now, and will be still more sorry that they have lost such a representative as Mr. Donald Reid ; but if they had been more ready to defend and stand by their well-tried champion when he was in the hands of the Philistines, they might not now have had to appeal to him in vain to fight their battles for tho future.

Some time ago wo discused the question of party government under the conditions presented in the colonies, and we ventured to express doubt whether the elements existed here, from which a satisfactory system of party government could.be educed. Mr. Reid’s experience has at any rate not led him to respect that form of party government which consists inmere adhesion to individuals. Hesays : I believe that very much of the obloquy cast on myself is, because I have not been what is called a strong enough party man. Ido not ignore the use of party government. I say that party must he the foundation of government under the genius of our constitution, but I say also that if there is to be party government parties must have principles, and the leaders must not require members to j vote simply for party without respect to principle*, and without respect to the objects which they wish to achieve. I say that the system of party government which is being initiated in this colony by Mr. Stout and others is one that will have a moat injurious effect on political affairs, and .will degrade politics, i The system of party government they wish to establish is that men shall have no principles of their own, that there shall be one or two great leaders, and that all members shall be elected by the constituencies to support those leaders, no ; matter what i they may bring forward, or whether it is right or wrong. I‘ have here a short extract on the effects of party government, written by a master hand who has studied and seen the effects of this kind of government. It is as follows:—“The party man is a dangerous politician. He has associated bis ambition, his interests, and his affections with a party. He prefers, doubtless, that his side should be victorious by the! best means, and under the championship of good men ; but rather than lose the victory he will consent to any means, and follow any man. Thus,: with a geueral desire to be upright, the exigency of his party constantly pushes him to dishonorable deeds. He opposes fraud by craft, lie by lie, slander by counter aspersion. To be sure, it is wrong to mis-state, to distort, to suppress or color facts; ic is wrong to employ the evil pas-ions, to set class against class, the poor against the rich, the country against the city; the farmer against the mechanic, one section against another section. But his opponents do it, and if they will take advantage of men’s corruption, he must, or lose by his virtue'. He gradually adopts; two characters—a personal and a politi al character; All the requisitions ot his conscience he obeys in his private character ; all the requisitions of his party he obeys in his political conduct. In one character he is a man of principle, in the other a man of mere expedients. As a man he means to be veracious, honest, moral ; as a 'politician he is deceitful, cunning, unscrupulous—onyt/any for party. As a mao he abhors the slimy demagogue ; as a politician he employs him as a scavenger. As a man he shrinks from the flagitiousuess of slander ; as a politician he permits it, smiles upon it in others, rejoices in the success gained by it. As a man he respects no one who is rotten inheart ; as a politician, no man through whom victory may bo gained can be too bad. As a citizen he is an apostle of temperance ; as a politician he puts his shoulder under the; men who deluge their , track with whisky, marching a crew of brawling patriots, pugnaciously drunk, to exercise the freeman’s noblest franchise—the vote., As a citizen ho Is cons derate of the yoimg, and counsels them with admirable wisdom ; then, as a politician he votes for tools, supporting for the magistracy worshipful aspirants, scraped from the ditch, the'grogshop, and the brothel; thus saying by deeds, which the young, aro .quick to understand, ‘I jested when I warned you of bad company, for .you,, perceive. none worse than those whom I delight to honor.’” Gentlemen, I could almost imagine that the writer had in .view events which have occurred ini New Zealand during the last six or seven mouths. (Laughter.) , ■ , We have quoted these remarks at length because they afford matter for very grave And'anxious consideration, especially at a time when another irespected member of the Legislature, Mr. Button the member, for Hokitika; has thought fit to leave the field clear to those whose views he cannot support or approve of. He has ini fact admitted that a personal party cry, such as",that raised by Sir George , Gkby, : is so powerful in his district at the present time ..that he prefers to ..leave ; the field - rather than oppose what appear to bo the wishes of the majority of his constituents. He- cannot and 'will; not trust the present Premier,' but ' he must give way to. some one who will promise to do so. If this is to, bo,;the outcome of ' the version of party politics j now adopted in Now Zealand, if a representative is to bo turned into a delegate,! and is to yield to every whim, of his fickle many-headed masters, then, indeed, there .will be a: wooding-out of overy independent . man in Parliament. We ; ; fancy, however,, that,: Mr. - -Button,:: ;like |Mr. Reid,, was ■ sick. of politics: as at present conducted ; ho wag not prepared to make further sacrifices' for an unwilling constituency, and to be calumniated and abused by the roughs and' time-servers of the House for, his pains. He is another good man gone.; and although we. cannot approve .his ,decision, .. wo can sympathise with it. m,..,

Happily, if .we wish to measure the probable duration of a party craze—of a delusion' like “ Greyistn ” for instance —we must not, judge.'by the apparent intensity of 'the' furore , .but by the moral weight of the men who sustain It. Wb saw 5 an' experiment tried lately with startling results, and we recommend it,- as-both profitable and interesting, to our readers.. Tak i a list of. the members of the House of Representatives as {published at the end of last session, and write down iu two separate columns, first tho names of those who are prepared to support - Sir George - Grey, and then the names of those who refuse to trust him on any terms. " Then count ' in. eaoh“list tho number of those to whom a prudent man would, be prepared to. entrust tho conduct of any important private affair ; and note the result, “forprivate information only,’’, ..