THE RAINBOW MINISTER

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8356, 17 February 1913, Page 6

THE RAINBOW MINISTER

That “ consistency is the refuge of fools ” is a point upon which the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher has insisted on several occasions. We fear the Minister has so absorbed this catchy phrase that anything approaching steadfastness of purpose is necessarily rejected by him as unwise. Perhaps- this helps to account for his kaleidoscopic political career. Perhaps also it assists to explain Mr Fisher’s judgment of Sir Joseph Ward. Wo may now bo permitted to point out another common refuge of discomfited politicians when driven into a corner. It is that they have been misreported. Some years ago an English Tory of much tonnage, having said something he should not have said, ox* that he was sorry for, adopted this rather overdone avenue of escape and blamed the reporter. Ihe latter, however, resenting tJio imputation on his professional capacity and honour, made a verbatim transcript of the great one’s speech and posted it to him. The result was a withdrawal of the charge, in a letter frankly apologising, and, moreover, thanking the journalist for having made a good report of a very inditterent speech. Now wo have' Mr Fisher at this ancient game. Finding that his Hokitiko utterances regarding the late Prime Minister have evoked considerable displeasure and very wholesome criticism, this hater of consistency tries to throw all the responsibility upon the poor reporter, pours what looks' very much like a new (and rather improved) speech into the ear of a “ New Zealand Times ” representative, and well, there you are I Now, this point arises. The telegraphed account of Mr Fisher's deliverance at Hokitika comprised something over a thousand words. Is it all unreliable, or are the alleged inaccuracies confined to his recorded estimate of Sir Joseph Ward’s public services and qualities as a party leader ? Was Mr Fisher misreported, for instance, in that part of the telegram in which ho clearly offered to cure the evil of land monopoly by dumping landless men and women into tho swamps of Hokitika? Is tho credit for this marvellous evidence of statesmanship to go to the Minister or to an obscure newspaper man on the West Coast? Again, we should like to know whether or not the “ Hansard ” staff has done Mr Fisher injustice. “Hansard” asserts that as recently as last February the member for Wellington Central observed: “I have said on the public platform, and I say again, that as a leaseholder I would not accept a position in a freehold Cabinet.” If this is a faithful report, what is Mr Fisher doing in a Government which is so rabid on the freehold that it is deliberately squandering the national estate? We should like to know whether our versatile friend accepted office to gratify personal ambition or to provide a glaring illustration of tho connection between consistency and fools.