The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1880.

Temuka Leader, Issue 285, 2 September 1880, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1880.

When rogues fall out honest men get their own, is nn old saying very commonly verified to those who patiently wait, for it. When the H;dl Party got into power, through the treachery of the Auckland rats, we predicted that their reign would neither be prosperous nor long. Our grounds for believing that this would be the case were based on observation of such conduct for a good many years, which showed us that crooked dealings commonly brought the deserved punishment. The factious opposition offered by Messrs Hall and Rollestou to men immensely their superiors as scholars and statesmen, when they wished the same opportunity to serve their country that they afterwards demanded when they got into power, and the unjust accusations then brought against them, with the hope of destroying their reputation as legislators convinced us that no good would com® of their double dealings. The suddenness with which their just punishment has overtaken them, however, almost makes us doid t the facts of the case. We never could see any chance for Mr Rolleston being manufactured into a statesman, even under Mr Hall’s schooling ; and as we stated that as our opinion of a gentleman otherwise esteemable in many ways, the utter failure that has over taken his fiist attempt does not surprise us. Rut certainly a somewhat better show was looked fgi* from such a well-seasoned I

crafty politician as Mr Hall.. Few beyond bis own small circle of friends ever looked upon him as one to be trusted, or capable of achieving anything great, but believed him a good tool. Sir George Grey had too' plainly disclosed the selfish monopolism!# policy of a certain class who' were, and trying to gather the landed estate that belongs to the people into their 1 own hands and for this and his expressed determination to cut down the large estates, and prepare measures to prevent capita'ists from seizing. the public estate in the North Island, he was set upon by the Hall party with a determination to drive him from power, by fair'means or by foul. They accomplished their object by crooked means, as is well-knoWn, and now they are deserted by those whom they had to thank for their ever having a place on the Ministerial Benches.- That the present Ministry had the brains to work out anything like a wholesome change in the state of the Colony we never believed. Sir Julius Yogel would never have left it in such a mess. With the chances that they had of establishing the Colony’s reputation, doubtless Major Atkinson is responsible for a large share of the bungling. This is only what was expected by those who knew and studied his former political history. But surely it was possible for the Cabinet to so conduct business as not to make other Colonies jeer at us Most people who are conversant with Mr Hall’s history when a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council, and knew the cute way in which he obtained the sanction of the Council to the renewal of the Canterbury runs, had settled it in their mind that he would be abie to steal a march upon the Liberals when he got into power. How great then must be their surprise at finding him bailed up by the very men who sat and worshipped under his shadow. During the whole session it could be seen that he was ready to reward the rats by throwing them some savoury morsel, but he was too closely watched to be able to do the thing handsomely. In his despair at the last moment he attempts giving a slice of a railway, but it won’t do ; and now that the session is at an end he will go back to his Leeston preserve, and Mr Rolleston to his lair in the swamp, like curs well beaten and ashamed to show their faces. Had the Liberals been united the Ministry would have been driven fiom their seats long ago. We expressed a hope that such would not happen this session. The Opposition seem to have been of our mind, or they would have taken the sweet revenge that was in their power. Had ; t not been that their unwarrantable attempts to blacken the characters of their predecessors, led them to such a length that it destroyed the credit and reputation of the Colony, their opponents would have given them credit fcr being actuated with a desire to raise the country from the present state of depression. . But the way they cried down her credit, to give them a chance of blowing about what they had done for her, presents every well-informed settler from admitting that even the little good they have done has been clone with a pure motive. Selfishness is too apparent at eveiy turn ; so much so that their very friends are disgusted. Even “ our own correspondent ” seems to be preparing for a flight to fresh pastures, if we can believe the warning note of his unstable organ. Now that the Assembly is over the Cabinet will have a fresh season for plotting, promising, and intriguing for a re newed tenure of office. It is to be hoped they will not succeed a second time. The proceedings of the past session have been a disgrace to a free country, as the Times says, “too much of Bellamey’s ” We recollect on one occasion the Canterbury Provincial Council had to pass an Act forbidding the housekeeper to supply more than glasses of grog to any one member in one day,, or at one sitting, The Assembly will need to pass a similar Act, making it criminal for the manager of giving more than a given number to any one member while the session is on.