The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1054, 5 September 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1879.

Ir there w one thing more than another for which the Opposition i 3 notorious it 13 for consummate impidenco. This is a characteristic of nearly the whole of that party which, while professing to admire the Literal principles ennunciatcd by the Government, have done their very utmost to drive from power the only man who ever dared to boldly bring the Liberal policy before Parliamont. Having been check-mated by the granting of a disauluj tion, these "liberal professors" have been ; forest to tell tho public that thoy admire | the Liberal policy. They say that the}' will perforin the work much better than 1 Sir George Grey, if the electors will only let them do so. Some members of the Opposition have actually had the audacity to claim the Liberal policy as their own, and area some of our contemporaries have had the hardihood to make the viie assertion that Sir George Grey has purloined the Liberal policy from the Opposition. We know that it i 3 said that there is nothing new under the sun, but we were never aware that the Opposition, vhen in power, or since, possessed a policy of any kind, much less one of a liberal nature. Their only policy was to so govern the country aa to obtain the greatest amount of personal benefit. If they did possees a Liberal policy* they certainly did not take tho moat effective mode of making it known —they had sot the courage to submit it to Par-

foment, and ask the people to endorse it.Now that others have done so, it is rather late in the day for those very liberal gentlemen to declare that they have long cherished a love for those Liberal measures which Sir George Grey and his Ministry have propounded. "We can scarcely be cxDCctcd to believe such statements aa these, more especially when we remember that the leadera of the Opposition party composed the Ministry which suggested a period of " political rest" as the best thing for the country. Will they now tell us that this re3t was only proposed to enable them to secure sufficient wind to run the Liberal race? Will they deny that had they remained in power until now, the country would not have heard a single word about the re-adjust-ment of representation, triennial Parliaments, electoral reform, tho Bribery Bill, an alteration of the incidence of taxation, or any one of the measures proposed by the Government ? The thing is scarcely worthy of consideration, for the Atkinson-cum-M'Lean-cum-Bowen party are now out in tho cold, and are likely to remain in that position for some time to come. Mr. Woolcock, ex-M.H.R., has been guilty of about the boldest piece of impudence that ha 3 come under our notice for a long while. This sucking politician, who, so far as wo know has never originated anything new, save that of using his member's free pass to enable him to prosecute his commercial calling, has had the effrontery to claim the Liberal policy as his. In consequence of this, " Charles, as he is familiarly styled, has been touched upon a tender point by a writer in the New Zealander, who evidently knows the retiring member for Grey Valley. This is the manner in which ihe gentle rebuke is administered " Does this M.H.R. forget that, long before he had even thought of politics, or had been thought of as in the remotest degree likely to ever enter the political arena, Sir George Grey had elaborated and propounded the political doctrine he now upholds, and which has been the labor of half his lifetime to bring to perfect consummation ! Has Charles Woolcock conveniently blotted out from the tablets of his memory, wiped them off like a tally from a huckster's slate, that when he, in hi 3 humble, though, doubtless, honest vocation as a vendor of potatoes and small coals, laboriously acquired the art of deciphering written hand, and of spelling through the news of the day in the intervals of his barter, slowly evolving political crudities, Sir George Grey was a power in the land, an accredited authority in statesmanship, the propounder of more advanced Liberal theories than Charles Woolcock has ever yet dreamt of in his philosophy? If he forgets, there are hundreds who do not, and he treads on dangerous ground in going among his old associates and making blatant parade of his assumed virtues. The lion's skin will not hide the baser animal beneath." This is rather " rough on the late member for Grey A alley, but the rebuke is well merited, and we can only hope that "Charles" will take the lcs3on to heart, and become imbued with some 6mall amount of modesty. The voung man requires a little of that commodity. _____

Practically the election lias been decided in favor o£ Messrs. Hislop and. Shrimski, for it is impossible that the returns yet to come to hand can be sufficiently in Mr. Steward's favor to place him second on the list. The polling in connection with the return of a member to represent Waikouaiti in the House of Representatives will be held tomorrow between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. We trust that every lover of a Liberal and progressive policy will record his vote for Mr. Arklc, a3 against the " rest-and-be-thankful" policy of Mr. M'Lean and the Opposition. It 13 satisfactory to see it announced in another column that as there is no criminal business for the sitting of the District Court, ! fixed for the Sth instant, jurors will not be required to attend. The «3ual fortnightly meeting of the Municipal Council was adjourned from last evening until this evening at the usual hour. The Artillery Corps timed out remarkably well last eveniujr. when they had a gun drill under Sergeant - Major Creagh, and afterwards were put through some company drill by Gunner Lorrigan. John M'Donnell, alias Daniel M'Fec, was let off this morning for being drunk and disorderly. Mr. Shrimski was the presiding magistrate. There wa3 a very full attendance of members of the Mechanics Institute Committee at the monthly meeting last evening, but the business transacted was not of a very important nature. Some discussion took place with reference to the forthcoming bazaar, and it was resolved to call a meeting of ladies willing to as-i.-t in the movement at any early date, for the mirpose of making the necessary arrangements. We learn from a Gazette notice that Major Steward, the commanding officer of the North Otago Volimtcere, iias resigned. Wc presume this step was taken to enable him to sit in the House, as the faot of his receiving a small payment for liis services as officer commanding Volunteers in thii district would have disqualified him from becoming a member of Parliament. A general meeting of the Excelsior Cricket Club will be held at the Royal Hotel tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock. All interested are requested to attend. A meeting of ladies interested in the Oamarn Athenasum will be held on Tuesday next at 5 p.m., at the Athenariim, for the purpose of making arrangements for holding a bazaar in aid of the funds of this institution.

A person signing himself " A Plumper has treated the readers of the North Otago Times to some advice as to how they should act in voting to-day. He charge tis with desiring to mislead the country electors. Whatever may have been the appearance of onr condnct to " A Plumper's " jaundiced vision, our object was a righteous one and our method of endeavoring to attain it straightforward. Ik-fore this issue reaches onr subscribers the die will be cast as far as the present election is concerned, and we may, therefore, offer an opinion as free as the air we all breathe without being subjected to the crushing condemnation of "A Plumper." The system of plumping is iniqnitious, and it is a3 important that it should be interdicted by law as that the Bribery Bill should be passed. By means of plnmping a minority may overrule a majority, and representatives whose return hss been secured by the exercise of such a system cannot truely represent the people.