The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1202, 23 February 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1880.

WttEX Mr. Downie Stewart appeared before the electors of Dunedin he was not well versed in New Zealand politics. But he was.a candidate for a position in Parliament, and as such he was expected to propound his political views. He did so, and, as they were based upon the dethronement of Sir George Grey, the chief corner stone of what was called the Liberal party—by friends as an indication of professed cardinal principles, and by enemies as a term of reproach—he became a member of Parliament, with all its responsibilities and honors. Mr. Downie Stewart has been to Wellington. He has appeared in Parliament as the avowed representative of a section of colonists; some of the secrets of the "lorious institution granted to us by a liberal constitution have been opened to him. He has looked behind the scenes of that chamber all the habitues of which are honorable men ; but he has caught a glimpse of the wires that move the puppets who boast of their voluntary action. Mr, Stewart, the representative, is a man of political experience. He had heard that political immorality had sapped the very foundations of Parliament, and transformed a representative institution into an exchange where the people's patrimony and the heavy taxes extracted from their pockets were bartered to keep governments in power. He did not believe it until the truth was forced upon him in Jku sf J"?. although he has unbuiihened his mind to them, and confessed his mistake. Some are honest in their unbelief, others only believe that which suits them personally. But Mr. Stewart must have been agreeablv surprised at the altered tone of~Dunedin public opinion since the last general election. The cry tfien was " Down with what is called Liberalism and its votaries." The suspicion now is that that crv was not only unwarrantable and unjust", but that it caused radical political changes which will retard rather than hasten the Colony's progress. Public opinion that was the outgrowth of inordinate political feeling and red hot excitement, is subsiding as quickly a3 it rose. We say that Mr. Downie Stewart must have been agreeably surprised at this sudden subsidence of the surging mass of Grey haters. He had evidently prepared himself for combat with erstwhile friends and present enemies—to give reasons for his metamorphosis, circumstantially backed up by day and date and everv minute circumstance. To our mind he brought iuto requisition a man to do work that could have been accomplished by a boy. His auditors, witli four exceptions three are hard-headed Scotchmen, to turn whom half a gale of wind would be required, and tiio other was, nobody knows who—were prepared to confess that their opinions too had undergone a change simultaneous with that of their representative. From the commencement of Mr. Stewart's address there were distinct evidences of a desire on the part of the audience to make tlii3 confession, and before the address had concluded tiny had done so bv performing the second act in the poet's lines, " Welcome the coming and speed the parting guest,' with more enthusiasm than they had performed the first daring the late elections. Mr. Stewart was to have been subjected to the most severe political torture when he appeared before his constituents because of hi 3 apostasy. But the meeting was composed of apostates like himself, who applauded when he explained away every count upon which he was to have been impeached. He even dared to state that he had been entirelv misled and mistaken a3 to Sir George Grey's character, and we think that 'for this he received more applause than for anything else. The almost unanimous vote of confidence accorded to Mr. Stewart with so much enthusiasm showed that the tide- has commenced to turn, and that, although the late Ministry was loose in its management, the people think that failing less objectionable than the political corruption which is thechief ingredient inthcpoHcvofthepresent Government. The Hall Government acceded to power because itwasbelievedinmany quarters that it would bean improvement upon the Grey Government ; that there would be more" careful administration. But the fallacy of this vras apparent immediately they took their seats, and they would have returned whence they came had they not resorted to the old system of bribery which kept {.heir prototype, the continuous Government, in power. This is no romance. How was Mr. blasters' influence purchased? What about the four Aucklanders and the L1G5,000 for roads in districts where the}' arc not required 7 What about the political railways: ! that were struck out of the publip works | proposals through the instrumentality' of the Hon. Mathew Holmes, who became terrified afc the L 0,000,000 expenditure that they., would involve without any chance of paying even, working expenses during ■ the. existence of the- present •feneration ?: Wluit about a hundred other things of a like nature that we might refer to had we space? Mr. Masters may not have confessed the whole truth regarding the support that secured his co-operation, bat we think that-the matter of this telegram to his constituents is enough : "I have the moat positive assurance pf support to both railways, harbor works, Ac., from most of tjio leaders, viz., John Hall, M'Lean, Kolleston, Oliver, Atkinson, Bowen, and others," &o, fho compact entered into between the Government and the four Auckland secedora has jwl been published, and it is just as well

that the Government should hold fast to tKeir resolve not to publish it. We already know enough, and the fact that the matter of this State agreement is of such a nature that the Government deem it wise to incur odium- ancT suspicion; rather than produce it, ■will not "improvethe Government's position. .i. The railways referred to as having been opposed by the Hon. Mathew Holmes were retained amongst the proposals of the Government, notwithstanding the Colony's critical financial position, which was exaggerated, un- | justly attributed to the Grey Government, and dwelt upon to an extent that was necessary.to keep the Hall Government in power. The Colony could hot afford to redeem the native lands, the purchase of which was. being negotiated by the Grey Government when they weiit our of power, because they would cost a million, and they, with the money advanced upon them, were therefore abandoned. But it cnuld afford to embark in political railways that would cost upwards of L 5,000.000 to construct. To our mind it is not difficult to explain this anomalous conduct. The Hall Government is so constituted that it cannot approve of the Government; acquiring native lands, and it was so situated that it knew that the abandonment of these railways would have paralysed its policy and dissolved it into the elements of which it was composed. The promise of these railways did more than anything else to keep the Government in power. Nearly every constituency in the Colony was to be more or less benefited by them, and for this reason a majority in Parliament were prepared to second the Government's immoral act by an act just as immoral —that of keeping it In power. These railways alone were sufficient to have preserved the Hall Government from honest treatment and eviction ; and none but a hopelessly lost administrationwould havebackedup sucha lavish railway policy up by such a prof usion of other recklesspromisesasthose which are now mattera of history. These are the things that caused the conversion of Mr. Stewart- He went to Wellington the cry, "Anybody rather than Grey. His cry now is, " Anything rather than the Hall administration."