The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1869.

Southland Times, Issue 1145, 21 April 1869, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1869.

Yestebda.y at noon three candidates ! offered themselves, and Were nominated, for the representation of Invercargill, in the Provincial Council. The proceedings Were liOfc very imposing, the speeches were not very powerful, neither were the candidates, if we except our townsman, Mr Mitchell, exactly of the stuff that senators m civilised communities are generally made of. True, in very young communities this can, perhaps, be scarcely avoided. Indeed, in the comparatively flourishing colony of Victoria, the right men do not seem to be in the right place* The very Assembly of Victoria is at this moment onits trial; nay more, the very existence of parliamentary government itself is jeopardised. As many of our readers j are no doubt aware, a system of cor. ruption unparalleled in the history of constitutional government, has existed in the Victorian Assembly. In its own defence, and in defence of the best interests of the country, the Assembly is now called upon to strike and spare not. For the guidance of all representative men a brief narration of this, the latest outrage, may be useful — it certainly points a moral, if it does not adorn a tale. Some time ago, a society was formed in Victoria for promoting the interests of the holders of land under certificates, and this Committee adopted, as one of its modes of action, the bribing and undue influencing of members of Parliament. The report of the Committee, appointed to investigate this monstrous case, states that the Hon. Mr Jones, late Minister of Railways, and a member of the Cabinet, received money secretly from the said Association ror, or in respect of, his services and action in Parliament, and also, that he received, from the same source, £50 after he had become a Minister of the Crown. Now it is clear, from the voluminous evidence, that this Hon. Mr Jones is a study in real life not often to be got at. There is a distinctness, as well as deftness, about him, valuable as an illustration of Victorian politics. Moss Alexander, the man from whom Jones received the -£50, is a companion study, and worthy Of his fellow. He is as distinct, and as well defined, if not as deft, as Jones. The one is worthy of the other, and they have a common idiosyncracy which easily dispenses with the ordinary principles that govern the actions of common men. The axiom propounded by "Joites, during his municipal career, : " pudding not patriotism," is apt, accurate, and astute; shows that he understobd the spirit .of the time, and had fulfilled the first condition of success by knowing himself. Mr M. -Alexandeb might appropriately qucte that vulgar but suggestive saying, that it " takes the likes of him to know the likes of Jones." They understood each other, without doubt, and can settle the personal question between them by affidavits , if such, things are conducive to peace of mind and a q*iiet conscience. It is true that no two things are exactly alike in nature, and this is true of Jones and At.bxa.npeb. The politician is conscious of wrong when it is doing, feels the distress of the transaction, arid the natural disgust of a clever man at having to go through with ifc. Not so with the agent. The huyer of men's consciences, the bargainer for members of Parliament, is as utterly unconscious of the degrada(ion of the traffic as ther harueiied slave?

trafficing in human flash. Fortunately, these creatures, sooner or later, are sure to heiouud out. T11033 who know them, aud^with whom, they must operate to do th^ work required of them, will not t*£iist them. Just as rottenness begets rottenness, ao the*absence of good faith besets distrust* and tfie tools that are* to be bought xre only acted with when there is some dirty job to do, or something to be wrought out that requires a coarse and unscrupulous nature to perform, or a time serving one. to share the plunder -and -conceal the operation. This may explain some of the ministerial appointments ?*i Victoria. When, to all appearance, wefiud associations composed of respectable and honorable men countenancing proceedings that add to the Victorian scandal it is high time we asked ourselves whether such things are necessary to political action? "Whether political vitality cannot be preserved without such tactics, and without such tacticians ? If politics, instead of being the science of government, the profoundesfc study of our best men, is to be the mere management of political parties for personal or class j benefit, then' political trickery will take the place of statesmanship, every man will come to have his price, and be assessed by the Alexanders of the time. At one end of of the ladder you will see the political knave exalted, and at the other end the political corrupter \ grinning at his handiwork, and doubting that there is any such thing as political honesty in the colony, after having done his best to destroy it. Those who think that corruption cau be used for the benefit of the country, for the advancement of good government, and the development of the true political life and intelligence of tho people, are committing what ?i public affairs has been pronounced to bo -worse than a crime, a blunder that will do more harm thau any; one; cau see or live to tell. Why have we discarded from the ethics of common life the principle that " evil may be done, that good may come?" because man's ken is too limited, his judgment too fallible, his powers too weak, to enable him to grasp all the issues, all the results of any act or deed. Therefore the true man holds on to truth and. honor, and leaves the devil's children unemployed, for only by recognition and by service to. others can their vices be developed, and become baneful to any community. We can still afford to stand by the right in the trust that true men will be found tb carry on the everlasting fight against wrong, in the hope and belief of continued if not complete victory.