The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1026, 4 August 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 1879.

TfCE electors wilt shortly be called upon to (steel; men to represent them in I artiament. The period ha* at length arrived when will be decided the fjuestiou whether what is called " Liberalism t.-> to bo altowed tn live or to be crushed out of existence. If the people approve of Liberalism, as being opposed to chicaner} . aggrandisement. and political lethatg} in everything that would promote the Colony's welfare —if they wish to show their disapproval of the exponents of a policy ttnder which the country suffered and groaned for years —-they wit! proclaim themselves to be on the side of those wh<>, whilst heavily handicapped, have fought long and bravely for progress and the jitafc treatment of ever}" section of the people by distributing the burthens t>i taxation so that rich and poor may be called upon to contribute their fair »jtiot« towards the cost of public works and the government of theCofony: they willstrengthen the party on their side and weaken that—for the sake of everything that is 'dear to them—that has done its best tsap the vitals of the Colony and with whom selfishness and spleen are paramount. lit not to the interest of the Colony that thi smallest possible amount of trickery an<l the greatest possible amount of honest government should exist in our Legislature t For several years a coterie oi monopolists and enemies tn general progress tampered with the Colony's affairs. The wrong being done to the country was so tlagrant that it attracted the attention of a number of those in the North Island who, being in the hotbed of swindledom—.the heart from which (lowed the corruption which has since been exposed—pos- ; 3«se*ad facilities that were denied to residents of the South of watching the course of event*. They every day met the vultures that were feasting and growing fal \,n the vital# of the Colony—that which ahcntlet provide subsistence for this and future generations. Tliey saw the land tn which lay our future prosperity, the land the acquirement of some of which helped materially to swell our national indebtedness, and for which a number oi ottr most worthy colonists laid dot. n their lives— they aair this land being alienated from the Crown in great slices by unfair means, siul at prices that in some instances scarcely paid the expenses of survey—being alienated to friends oi those itv power. ?*ot an objecting yoke !wa» raised against this wholesale and daylight robbery in Parliament. More 1 than this, the candle was being burned at both ends. Whilst our legislators were with one hand robbing the people of theii land—the thing which, with the blessings and liberty it is capable of conferring, brought the best of them to this colony—- : they were, by an unjust arrangement oi the burthen of taxation, being made tn pay their own and a large proportion oi their more opulent fellow-colonists' share r f, e colonial liability. These are the i circumstances that brought what is called the " Liberal " party into existence, and it was this party's denunciation of the wrongs that were being perpetrated thai gained it tho ascendancy in Parliament.

But that ascendancy was gained with difficulty. It was not an easy task to P upset the tables of the money changers tl and to uproot usage 3 which had so long 1 bfc- ii established. Nevertheless a bitter fl struggle ended 111 the first being done and v an attempt being made, which was by no J means barren. to do the second. Political reforms, like all others, are not effected in a <l:i.v. No party could have worked liarder, and have gained more ground under the 11 pvrpetttal tire ro which they were subjected than'he Liberal party. T:i>.-y have been j■■ rwirtrrt with talkiir.; n-'iiMn.-e. "1111 insin- j tvritv. and maladministration, until weak- , 1 minded partisans. fearfui that tney would :-ink with the ship, or wishing not, to nsk f their chances of being politically famous, d.-sorted ill.-m. The tirst charge is, if ' rrite at all, «>itly true as regards the they have sometimes used, tlic . end sought to be attained boing in accord _ with the sympathies of the people, who ] know what they are about. If " Liberals '' , have allowed the stupendousness of the , subjects upon which they have spoken to carry them into the regions of . exaggeration, the advocator of opposite j principles have laid themselves open to the charge of attempting to perpetrate systematic jobbery and corruption by an\ means in their power. The charge of insincerity cannot be applied to Sir George Grey and his party. Insincere men do not fight as thej" have done, and as they will yet do. The charge of maladministration is a more specious one. On the surface it might appear that the Government is responsible for the nonfulfilment of numerous promises. We believe that, in this respect, it is not free from the failings of other governments ; but the artitices of the Opposition to renderitsadministration abortive, although clever, will not lead the people off the scent, as it has led certain weakminded and unscrupulous members of Parliament to desert their colors. The people the real Government will now have to decide who are and who are rot worthy of their confidence. c would not be surpiisod if an attempt should Le made to swamp the House with such men that if what is called Liberalism should exist there at all it will be so crippled as to be unable to assert itself. Candidates may come 1 forward at the approaching elections whoso docility and honor may appear to be unquestionable ; but such men should be ' crucially tested. We have met such before. They will promise to be faithful to-day in order to beat their opponents ; to-morrow, when they are in their seats, ] they will snap their fingers at those <>f > whom they are supposed to be the embodiment. With all its failings the "Liberal' party deserves the warmest thanks and ' confidence of the Colony, and only those . who have been true to its principles, and who vi ill undoubtedly be true to its principles, should he countenanced by the * people. _