The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 984, 14 June 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1879.

Tifß announcement that the Speakership if the Legislative Council had been >ffttrfcrt to Sir William Fit-/jiorbcrt lias vpparently giren offence to the Timum Herald, arut the result is that that very .'XptimtTC journal has heaped a vtry grv.-u iniount of abuse upon the iiraH r>f the political veteran. The _ arsicitr, even :hnugh every worn! it contain.* were true, is in exceeding bad taste. Okr contemporary has lately become a convert to tht imposition way of thinking, and with tin seal of a fiewly-tleelged admirer, it seize; .tpon every possible means »>f abusing th< present Ministry, but more particularly sir Ceorge f»rey. Why this line »>f con tttct should huve been adopted is im eery clear. unle>« f indeed, we are to Jofr tn the beltef, entertained by many, that : certain metnber 'of tire House, known ti have soine control over thj; t'j>imons <> tnr contemporary, «sm s.vily dis -ippotmcd at not facing offered a ae;» ,m the Treasury Benches—those elaborate mil comfortably bc-cushiojted seats si bnaingty eyed by almost every iiu*mbe! if the Legislature. Be that as it may there is no mistaking the fact that tin Timarti Herald has of late entered stronglj npon the coarse of denouncing thi Ministry, and alt its doings ; and. w nn«yr eas'iJiV he imagined, it cotrhl riat alio? ;he selection of n successor to the late <Sii John Richard' l J> to pass without indtilg to" its condemnatory W« ihrewdty sastMct that, no mutter unor svhorn the choice of the Ministry hat Fallen, the Herald would have found soim pretext upon which to hast? a condemnatory article. We have no objection to tin Herald abusing the Ministry to its heart's content, if any good ground* can he show? for so doing ; bat we must certainly pro teat against the manner in which it has undertaken the evidently congenial taal tn the present instance. Sir W illian Fitzherbert is one of the oldest member! r>f the Legislature* he has £cr somethini tike a quarter of a century fought tin battles of the Colony manfully ; on severe uccasions he has occupied seats in Minis tries but never with loas of honor ant jtrestige, or to the disregard of political principles; he has never shrunk froit doing wh»t lie eojjai&red his duty, anc tiaji grown old in the public service. W» hold, the refute, tfmt he has been a goot public servant. That he has never sougul to use his political portion in ordei :» further Jus private twdn* i* fullj ;uovcd by the faet that lw? is ef ij •wntyarattvely a poor man, after a resi lence in the Colony of, we believe,- pvei ihirty years. How many cf our pub!i> men who hare had the opportunities >f enriching themselves by nsingr'theii political positions can say this much The remarks of our conteniponu'y, there fore, that i£ Sir William FitzJierbert is :ager to exchange his onerous and pre position as Speaker of tim Souse >f. J&epresjailuitiTes for the eas«? wit jermanency of the Speakership of th< Legislative Council,*" arc alike unjust :roel, arid uncalled for. ' It should b< xmiein mind that xrHan.the Disqualiflca ;ivu Bill was passed, renjLcriflsj Commit lioner* of Waste Lands, amongst pthfi Dublxc officers, ineligible to hold seats y Parliament, Sir" William Fitzhe7bert rather than the political arena— field . on V. powenttlaleatler—volunfnrilyrelirifjuishot the lucrative and comfortable position o, Commissioner of Crown Lands for Wed linginn. Does this prove that he on " which side his bread is bnttered," o:

that he is a good "hand at getteng it Mattered on both sides, while professing prefer it dry 1" We think not. Had SfFWilliam Fitzherbert been desirous of obtaining a comfortable Government billet, as others have done, he might have, secured one long ere this.^.He /jnight,' Indeed, have retained gfiouslv held in prefeogfi* cqp^ £o trouble himaelfjtfboutspolitics, or he might have eaamples "of Messrs. Fit~Gerald, a tfet of othera. Sir contrary, never relinquished Mis sea£in the Legislature for the sake of obtaining the ease and comfort derivable from the possession of a high office in the Ci\il Service ; .he stack manfully; to thje task .of lecislating -'for • tlie 'good.'of the country ; and now that, in hi 3 advanced years, he •feas-aocepted the >- tolerably tion of Speaker of the Legislative Council, ic is mean and desnicable to;p£Cuse him of a desire to obtain ease and comfort at the expense" of We "country.-" Our porary thinks that- the appointment should Live been given to the Hon. Major Richmond, who has for years held the position of Chairman of Committees in the Legislative Council ; but, if our .information is I correct, and we think it i 3, that gentleman had no deaire to obtain the post, L'pon the question of whether or not it is ri—ht to select a Speaker from outside of the Legislative Council we do not purpose dwelling; it may be right and it may be wronsi. Of this, however, we are perfectlvr3ure, that in point of service to the country, Sir William Fitzherbert is of all men in the Colony, mo3t entitled to the position. He may be be a gopd Speaker, ./r he may not; 011 that point we do not profess to be able to give so emphatic an opinion as the writer of the article 111 the Herald, who has doubtless had some experience of bir "VV illiam s fitness in this respect for the post. Of this we are, however, thoroughly convinced : Sjr William Fitzherbert is an honorable man and a gentleman,?and the members of the Legislative Council have no reason to complain on that head of the'iveteran politician having been appointed to preside over their deliberations.

A paragraph in the New Zealand Herald, which, it is professed, is a counterpart of a letter from the pen of the well-known bloodthirsty Titokowaru, conveys the impression that that old warrior is casting aside the mantle of peace, and is again 011 the wnr-pnth. A telegram in yesterday's Otago Daily Times states that Titokowarn and°hi.-f adherents, rather than be made catspaws of l.y Te Whiti and fight, will allow themselves to lie shot down like pigeons. There is not much need to lear thrit Te Whiti will either himself tight or call upon any of his people to light for him, and wo, therefore, give credence to the information contained in the tulogia-.n, From the commencement of the present i dispute the natives had not the least ; intention of provoking hostilities. They | merely objected to the appropriation of land that they had so long been permitted to tiio without interference, and ploughed land which had been purchased from them, mid not confiscated on account of rebellion, and to which they conceived thev had abetter right than the Europeans. There is nothing in either of these things rhat should create surprise. They are I ditrVrent from us in character and customs, i and v.c should remember that fact in | "iving a verdict as to their conduct. What ! the ploughmen desired v/as to set in Jm> ti'<n legal proceedings which would i probably culminate in tlis whole question f of the rightful ownership of the ploughed [land being investigated. Their action I possessed 110 more political significance j than this. Te Whiti's was a more serious I otl'enco. ile incited his followers to lay claim to territory that the nrUiws had forfeited -ai.d which they understood thev had forfeited —by of their rebellion. I'ut Te Whiti was -v. goodhumored in his opposition, and treated the surveyors so gently, that their removal ' was r.ttlter a pleasant operation than ' ~t.!i>-fiyise. . AVIC '«Vf£*e;tuy iiait too much of it, and their experience litis taught them that they have every thing to lose and nothing to gain by reverting to a ' bellicose policy. Nobody is half so sur- [ prised at the preparations that are being , niadt) to thrash them—at the evidences of JJriti.-sh heroism everywhere displayed—as the natives themselves. They havo been misguided and incited to rebellion by unprincipled men. There can be no disputing this fact. We have held this view ; from the commencement of the rupture, ! | attd we are supported in it by the tenor of j > numerous disinterested reports that come 1 I from the heart of the disaliected districts. | [ 'I'll': following extract from a private letter i j to a gentlemen in Oatnarti from his brother I at Ingfowood, New Plymouth, may be j i recognised as setting f w *th the feelings of J [ the settlers regarding the dispute ; ' As tor the Maoris, wo seldom sec any of them, and when they do come thev are ever a welcome sight, as they bring nice fresh li.il 1 for sa'e. I don't think there will over .be any danaer from them, but I do think there it a clique who would like nothing batter citW - to keep others away, or that they may again get .tvajr prices in these dull times ; for money is Just us tight here as it is in Oatnarti.' and people are getting screwed vciy tightly by'the banks. Now that there is to lie a harbor New Plymouth things are looking brighter, and jjeople who were going to sell land h,-ive either withdi.uvn it troin sale, or arc asking higlier rates

What it commentary ihis letter, so briniful of confidence, is on tho t'uasiiKMs of ,1 number of men whosq evident object is to endeavor to prove at any cost what a wrefched Government ire have and wliatn. disastrous native policy is being pursued. That war will not occur will not be their fault, but it nevertheless will not occur.