The Temuka Leader. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1878.

Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 77, 11 September 1878, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1878.

Mookhousk “ has slauvhis thousands,” but Yogel “ his tens of thousands.” Such virtually is the language used by the politicians of New Zealand at the present time. Nothing, in our opinion, can be more unjust. “ Honor to whom honor is due,” has always been our motto. It. has been claimed by the ardent friends of Sir Julius Vogel that he was the originator of the Public Works Policy. We deny this. Long before Sir Julius came to the front as a ' politician Mr Win. Sefton Moorhouse j promulgated the very policy that afterwards was resuscitated by Mr Julius j Vogel. Those old politicians who were ; actively engaged in returning Mi Moor- ' house as Superintendent for Canterbury ; over Mr Lance may well recollect Mr Moorhouse’s statement in the presence of his then stiff opponents —the squatters —at his meeting m this very township. | He told the squatters his policy was to | settle, within five years, 40,000 immi- ! grants on the plains of Canterbury, and to cut up the runs by driving the iron | horse from one end of the province to I the other, yet there are not wanting | those who, at the very mention of Moor- | house being the originator of the Pub- ! lie Works Policy, unsparingly denounce | it i.s a falsehood. Why then it may be ! asked did not Mr Moorhouse carry outhis I policy ? Simply because the squatters ! were afraid of their runs being cut up and settled, as was Mr Moorhouse’s object. When the question of making ai tunnel through the Port Hills was pro/J jected by him, long and bitter was the* opposition offered by certain parties who saw that it was detracting fiom their j influence and glory. Notably in; the t list of opponents was the name of j Mr James Edward Fitzgerald, the first Superintendent of Canterbury, and now the Comptroller of Revenue./ In his bitter opposition to this undertaking he j denounced it as a work which would j turn out useless in the extreme. It ■ was frequently stated that Lyttelton Harbor was gradually rising, and that in a few years it would flood the tunnel ; by others that the hills were rising and shortly the tunnel would be like a teles- ! cope looking up at the moon, Mr Fitzgerald’s hobby, we believe, was to have a railway round by Sumner. That the tunnel is an accomplished, valuable fact is due to Mr Moorhouse’s pluck and perseverance. Doubtless his other parts of the proposed railway system would have been as successfully accomplished if time had been given, and it is a question whether his proposal to cross the plains by a broad-guage railway would not after all have been the best. Thwarted in his schemes by a powerful squattocracy he had to succumb. Is there not here sufficient proof that Mr Moorhouse was the originator or the Public Works Policy ? Mr Moorhouse had not the happy knack of pleasing the capitalists then in the colony, consequently he had to leave for another to do that which properly belonged to him and his party. Sir Julius Vogel on the other hand had his lot cast in more pleasant places. The runholders in every part of the colony began to feel a tightening of the purse strings by the banks, their tenure or lease of their runs was drawing to a close, mortgages were being called in, capitalists were shaky in their opinions of the value of their securities. A state of great depression was the result. All hands were looking for relief from some quarter, and like drowning men who catch at straws they were ready to back up any movement that would be likely to save them from utter ruin. Sir Julius Vogel, always of a reflective and observant turn of mind, saw a chance of scoring a point, and was not slow in taking advantage of the chance. The Bank of New Zealand, at that time the most powerful weapon for good or evil in the land, lent an attentive ear to the enchanter. The result was the squatters hung to Mr Vogel’s coat-tails, and by the officers of the above-named institution throwing a rope to them they were all safely towed to land. The ultimate success of the scheme was only a question of time. A low state of the money market at Home, the bo’dness of the scheme, and the growing confidence in Mr Vogel as a statesman, gave the thing a start. The circulation of public money made it popular, and the prospect of near access to markets for produce led to speculations in land, while every mile of extension of the railway system gives greater confidence in the ultimate permanent prosperity of the country, and immigration, going hand-in-hand with the railway scheme secures the settlement of the lands as well as provides a local market for the consumption of the products of the soil. We do not begrudge Sir Julius Vogel all the honors that his friends'-wish to bestow upon him.; but we

do denounce the marks of dissapprobai tion exhibited at the banquet given last week in Dunedin connected with Mr. Moorhouse’s name, when some of the | friends of Mr Moorhouse claimed, and | we think justly, the credit for that geut’eman of being the originator of the Public Works Policy. Admiring the pluck and energy of Sir .Julius Vogel j more than his economical working out I of bis plans we are ready to give him ■ ail the praise that a groat mind deserves, but we do not say there arc not others in New Zealand, or,have been, in his time who, we believe, are equally capable of doing likewise. Sir Julius in his proposals lias to thank his friends and the true patriots of the country for putting on the brake. Who was it that entered into a contract with the Messrs Brogden to ruin the country ? Who was it that prevented that suicidal policy being carried out ? Who was it that prevented the neck of New Zetland being placed under the foot of such grasping capitalists ? These are questions we would do well to ask ourselves. When we. remember the vociferous utterances of the Dunedin people when Mr Vogel appeared at the Princess Theatre of that city to enunciate his railway policy, when we remember that for three-quarters of an hour lie tried fora hearing, yet, although backed up with all the might of the magnates | of the town, was forced to leave after | fruitless attempts to be heard. We do j not worrier when we read of that volatile ; people (once canny Scots) hissing when j the name of Mr Moorhouse was men- ; tiouod. We rejoice at the success •of the through railway scheme ; for the Middle Island, and hope it will be a means of burying the petty jealousies that still exist. But while doing so we must claim greater con- | sideration for Canterbury’s able politij clans, to whom New Zealand is so much ! indebted. We do not wish to detract I from the honor that Sir Julius Vogel’s great efforts fur the good of this colony I merit. We no not for a moment say |he is not a great man. We do not say ‘ that he is not a born politician, but we ' do say that Moorhouse is also a man of ' great abilities, who also worked hard ' for his adopted country. It is not that ! we loyfe Ciesar less, but' that we love ! Bruttfs more.