The Oamaru Mail SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1254, 24 April 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1880.

Rcmors have been rife in this district [ since the close of last session that Mr. |T. "W. Hislop, our senior member in i Parliament, hacl paid his last visit to "Wellington in that capacity, at least for a season. "We are not in a position to state what are Mr. Hislop's intententions in this respect; but we have reasons for thinking that he will make them known in good time. There Is one fact in regard to this matter that should gratify Mr. Hislop—the rumor of his retirement has elicited expressions from his constituents of satisfaction, on account of his past conduct ns their representative, and hope that he would reconsider such a determination, if he had ever made it. That Mr. Hislop's withdrawal from activity in politics would cause a gap in the ranks of the Liberals that would not be easily so well filled is indisputable, and it is equally certain that this district would experience no little difficulty in securing the services of another man in whom the rare qualities of devoted ness, ability, and honesty are combined to such a rare extent. Mr, Hislop lias always been an excellent member. He 1 appears, thanks to his previous training, never to have gone through the chrysalis stage so irksome to young politicians and so unsatisfactory to their constituents. From the first moment that he set Jiis foot upon the boards of the Parliamentaiy Chamber he gave evidence that he had ideas and knew how to give expression to them. This is one phase of the subject, from a constituency's point of view. There is another—that which Mr. Hislop will probably take. He is a lawyer by profession. True, lawyers of good character and ability make the most useful and brilliant statesmen; but it is also true that the time of such men is just as valuable to themselves as it is to their fellow-colonists, It requires no effort to see that an absence from business of four months during every year for several years nwst entail a great sacrifice to any business man; and nothing bat a sincere desire to endeavor to participate in the good government of the Colony could have induced Mr. Hislop to enter the arena of political strife and remain in it so long at so great a personal loss. Unfortunately" in these days of commercial absorption, money-making, and sickly ! patriotism, there are few men to be found to emulate Mi". Hislop's admirable example. "We are doing members of Parliament no injustice when we assert that they are too great strangers to disinterested self-sacrificing patriotism. Let those who are inclined to be sceptical on this point—if there are any such—review the proceedings of the late session, the main features of which favor our opinion, and stand out

in such bold relief that we need not recount them here. Meuwhoaresuiiieiently hone&t, independent, and courageous to stand aloof from the perpetrators of

the gross collusion that characterised the proceedings of last session, and which have disgraced representative Government, are the salt of our Parliament—they are the rare gems that are set beside the " paste" in our constitutional diadem—the only moral safeguard against national disaster and degradation. We have already confessed that we do not know what Mr. Hislop's intentions are. We would fain see him - and his party go on from conquering to conquer. Nothing but a too great personal sacrifice should induce him to abandon a position which he has adorned, a party which needs cementing together now more than ever, and a career which bids fair to be as useful to the Colony as it will be creditable to himself. Bat rumor has already been actiye. Here and there the names of probable candidates for Mr. Hislop's seat are mentioned. We shall not, however, in the smallest degree, be participators in the appointment of a successor to Mr. Hislop until lie has hopelessly entombed himself in political obr scurity, "VVhile there is life there is hope, and it' inay .be that, if Mr. Hislop has actually resolved upon taking such a step, some fortuitous circumstance may arise, even at the eleventh hpHi> to avert such a calamity.