RESULTS OF THE SESSION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5509, 22 November 1878, Page 3

RESULTS OF THE SESSION.

TO THE EDITOR 01’ THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib, — I enclose a leading article from the Wanganui Herald (Mr. Ballance’a paper), evidently written by the Colonial Treasurer during his recent visit to the scene of his early labors in the cause of that portion of the hnman race usually represented by the symbol “ Number One.” The article is worth republishing, as though evidently intended for local consumption only, it fairly indicates the spirit of mixed spite and cunning by which the present Ministry is actuated. It is written in that tone of the “ superior person ” which Mr. Ballance and Mr. Stout assumed so offensively during the late session, and the contrasting freedom from which made Mr. Sheehan so popular iu the House in spite of failings which do not add to the reputation of the Government of the colony. The writer’s impudent insinuation that “ the failures of the session ” were “ infinitesimal compared with the achievements ” is a fair sample of the literary dishonesty to which wo have been accustomed for so many years from the same pen. A writer who invents his facts as well as his arguments has no doubt an advantage till found out, but when found out he is finally discredited. Certain persons should not only have good memories but should also have enough discretion not to economise truth more than is absolutely necessary. The writer’s assertion that the attempt to swamp the European by the Maori vote—or, as he delicately puts it, “ the Maori complication ” have been permitted to carry the Electoral Bill to the bottom,” is another proof that the Ministry is by no means a happy family, and is perhaps an indication that Mr. Ballance, having found his treachery towards Major Atkinson rewarded, would not be indisposed to play the same game again. I much question, however, if any section of the House will now be anxious to secure the services of a politician whose reputation has been so seriously damaged on points involving political honor, and whose fiscal measures were brought before the House in a manner which carried the art of blundering to perfection. A Treasurer who brought in a Bill to reduce Customs duties, and carried it through all its stages in the House of Representatives before he had made sure of passing such a measure as the Beer Tax to make up the amount of revenue required, and who bound up a tax so sound in principle with one altogether the reverse, can have very little practical ability. If Mr. Ballance, when the House meets again, has anything but a deficit to show as the result of hia labors, it will be more from good luck than good management, and it is .scarcely likely that ho will be permitted to try those further experiments in the direction of “ advanced liberalism ” shadowed forth in his article.—l am, &0., Economist. Wanganui, November 19. RESULTS OF THE SESSION. (Prom the Wanganui Herald.) The most remarkable results of the session have not yet received that attention from the Press to which they are entitled, and must ultimately receive. The first efforts of ephemeral writers are to “ hit off ” the superficialities of the Legislature—the epigrammatic wit of one, the sarcastic allusions of another, and the pointed and personal criticisms of a third. The failures of the session—though infinitesimal, they may be compared with the achievements —are fit subjects tor the vigorous attacks of hostile critics, and occupy the largest part of their powers of illustration; One would imagine, indeed, from much of what one sees and hears, that legislation and politics consisted in the flippancies, the vacancies, and the verbal triumphs of a young men’s discussion class—the inference from all which would be that the session bad been utterly barren of any practical legislation which could in the slightest degree influence the destinies of the colony. Tet is it so ? Are we to run away with the idea that a land tax, based on the unimproved value, with a £6OO exemption, is a mere matter of form to be overlooked in the consideration of the political questions of the day ? Or, again, is the tariff reform to bo accounted as nothing in our political calculations ? We do not deny that in some quarters these questions have demanded and obtained, pro and con, the gravest consideration. The large landowners who severely condemned a land tax pure and simple knew exactly the tendency of the measure which has become law. It was not without a purpose that they clamored for a “property and income tax.” -They had a foreshadowing of a land agitation, when monopoly would be brought face to face with n landless people, and when the burning question of the hour would be the breaking up of the large estates. But the flippant, abusive, and vituperative section who responded to the pull of the strings, knew nothing of the tendencies and the character of the legislation they were denouncing. To those who are laboring fora condition of society approaching to a pure democracy, who recoil from an aristocracy of wealth, an agrarian oligarchy, the men and the measure wore very accurately valued. The abuse heaped on the Colonial Treasurer and the Attorney-General for not yielding to the demand to exempt the runholders was only a foretaste of what is in store in the future for the leaders .of the liberal party. It would appear as if in the confusion of party no resolution could be taken to stem the tide, the first ripple of which was clearly perceptible to a few whose interests would lead them to erect a barrier. We might ask what was the aim of the Government in adopting the policy they announced at the beginning of the session ? We cannot suppose that Sir George Grey, Mr. Stout, and Mr, Ballance, are without a design extending beyond a single session. Their land policy we can well believe is founded on the widest possible distribution of the land. If this be so, they have taken exactly the most potent first step in their Laud Tax Act to secure their object. The exemption of improvements, the exemption of a certain value, and the consequent compilation of a complete Doomsday Book, in which the extent and number of holdings will be seen, must be the statistical basis upon which every subsequent stage of legislation shall be erected. Then with regard to the tariff, there is an attempt to construct a great liberal party on principles which are neither those of free trade nor protection, as popularly understood, but which are comprehended in a. rational removal of commercial restrictions, combined with the fostering of those colonial industries calculated to take root in the soil. The expansion of these ideas is the work of the future, but that they have found a place in the legislation of the session is beyond a doubt. That the Ministry which gave them form, however short of their full development, fail to command the confidence of the people of the colony when their action is fully understood, is hardly probable. The Electoral Bill is lost, and we regret the result. It was as full a recognition of the manhood of the colony as could be conceived. None were excluded who were free, with the solo exception that under the qualification of residence a person required to be two years in tho colony before he could register. The Maori complication was unfortunate, perhaps not very important, except on the grounds of expediency, and should never have been permitted to carry the measure to the bottom. The work has still to be accomplished to give the manhood of the colony its inherent right, and for next session is reserved the task. Surely the earnest politician can sea the beginning of a fresh political life coming over the country, the outcome of which must be the enlargement of constitutional rights and the freedom of the land and of trade. It is sometimes said that the time has not arrived for party distinctions. But tho session has proved the contrary. Call them by what name wo may, there were two parties in every decision on the great questions —there is a party of ideas and progress, and a party of selfishness and reaction. The Ministry have been true on the whole to the principles of an advanced liberalism, and their work, we feel assured, is one which marks an epoch in our political history.