The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1885. IN AND OUT OF OFFICE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1404, 13 October 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1885. IN AND OUT OF OFFICE.

“ When the Devil wag ill, the Devil « saint would be ; when the Devil got well the devil 8 saint was he.” This couplet expresses pretty forcibly the difference between politicians in office, and politicians out of office. When seeking election and courting the favor of the working m°n, they are ready to change the existing state of things altogether aud remodel them in an ideal way ; but when they reach tha maoh-coveted Treasury Benches they forget all their former pledges, and take matters very easily, Before Mr Stout became Premier rf this colony be was looked upon as an ideal leader. He was in favor of land nationalisation : ho would not sell any of the lands of which the Crown still retained possession ; in fine he would revolutionise all our land laws. Sincehe became Premier his views appear to have altogether changed. Land is now bought and sold as heretofore, and the policy of the Government he succeeded in displacing is adhered to ns strictly as possible. But there is nothing exceptional in Mr Stout’s conduct. It is the same all over the world. The late Gladstone Government was the moat powerful that have. sat in the British Parliament for a long time. They were supported by *n overwhelming majority ; they could do pretty well anything they liked, but what did they do ? In 1880, when the civilised world was subscribing money to keep the Irish people from starving, ami when eviction notices were—in the words of Mr Gladstone—“ fading all over the country like flakea of snow,” a Bill Was brought in providing that any landlord who evicted a tenant aboold

pay Cf-m).ensalion for tlie improvements thf*. tenant had effec ed. This Bill was thrown nut, ari'i Irish landlords were allowed to continue their work of casting laraine-gtricken people homeless on the road sides, The fever-stricken, the dying, the age I, the infirm, were ruthlessly (jacted from their homes in the depth of winter—even on Christmas morning—and many died from hunger and exposure. ’J ho Irish people resented this by forming the Land League, They very naturally concluded that the Parliament which refused to pass the Compensation for Improvements Bill ; winch, in fact, defined to acknowledge the right of a man to the fruits of his own labor, wou ! d mver assist them, and so they resolved to assist themselves. To effect iln’s they formed the Land League, the olject of which was to prevent anyone from taking up any farm from which a tenant had been evicted, bu-equentlv the L-dies’ Land League was formed, the object of which was to collect money for the purpose of building homes for evicted families. For this several people were arrested, but there was no law in existence under whicit they could he punished. The Gladstone Government passed an Act to meet the case at onct —and they made it retrospective, so that, the people could bo punished for what they bud done before it was passed. It was during the passage of this Act the Irish members became obstructive, and it is no wonder they did so, because they knew the moment it passed they would be imprisoned. And so they were. Mr Parnell and a large number of his followers were thrown into gaol ; the houses built with charity rnonev by the Ladies’ Land L-agu* were in many instances destroyed, and carpenters caught erecting them sentenced to imprisonment. Mr Forster, who waa then Chief-Secretary for Irelanl, issued » circular to the police authorising them to nan buckshot in dealing with the people, and stating that if a policeman shot a man he would not be held responsible for it. It was tin’s circular which earned for him the soubriquet of ‘ Buckshot ” Forster, and such was the indignation created by it, that he had to resign. Ladb-s and gentlemen of high -ocial rank, and even children, were thrown into gaol by the thousand for doing what they had a perfect right to do. The Crofters of Scotland took up the agitation, and they too were pul down bv brute force.

All Hits was brought about on account of the Compensation for Disturbance Bill not passing. The Government found that as fast as they sent men and women to gaol there were others ready to take their places, and that as fast as they demolished charitybuilt houses they were erected again. They saw the utter impossibility of imprisoning the whole country, and so they passed a very liberal Land Act, an ! released Mr Pained! aud bis followers.

Now, this very Government have since been thrown out of office, and its members are new seeking re-election to Parliament. And these very gentlemen are advocating the policy for which Mr Parnell suffered imprisonment. It will be remembered that “ the land for the people” was the cry for which Mr Davitt was imprisoned, yet Mr Chamberlain, speaking at Hull on the slb of August, said: “ The soil of every country originally belonged to Us inhabitants —(hear, hear), —and if it has been thought expedient to create a private ownership in place of common rights, at least that, private ownership must be deemed a trust, and be subject to the conditions of a tru<t.— (Hear, hear.) The land must be owned so as to give the greatest employment to th» largest possible number of persons, and so as to secure the greatest possible return in the produce of the soil. The land was not created, and it must not be used, as mere machinery fer exacting the highest possible rent from the cutivators of the soil for the benefit of those who own it.”

We quite agree with this ; but why did Mr Chamberlain remain a member of a Ministry which i> few years ago sent men to gaol for preaching this doctrine—and why did be not include England and Scotland in the Land Act passed for Ireland ? H<goes on to describe how the County of Wilts is being depopulated owing to bad landlords, just as the population <i f Ireland was reduced by the same cause from 8,000,000 to 5,000,000. He ih n refers to the commons, which have been seized by the landlords, and says—- “ Properties over which within the ra ,v mory of man the villagers could roam undisturbed, arc fenced in and hermetically closed against the intruders. In some cases (ho owners of these pmperlies, not content with their abundance, had taken from the poor the roadside land which used to be free, and the odd corners where children used to play—(“shame”) and have stopped up public footpaths and exercised with the utmost gtr.ngency all the rights which the law affords them. As if to make the case complete, there is a great endowment left for the poor of the parish in the immediate neighborhood, which might now be used to promote their happiness and welfare, but the greater part of which is to he diverted, under the scheme of the Charity Commissioners, in order to create a school of secondary education for the middle class in the neighboring town. The poor have been robbed of the endowments that were intended for their benefit. There is only one thing that can benefit a farmer, and that is a fair rent fixed by an impartial tribunal, and with the right of free sale of tb« goodwill of big ander-

taking, just tim siime as any other trader. I'hat was only conferred upon Irish tenants after many years of hitler and of almost, savage agitation.” He goes on to speak in favor of homes for laborers at fair rents, and winds up hy urging that those who hare wrongfully appropriated land must be called upon to make restitution. All these evils were staring Mr Chamberlain in the face during the many years he was a member of a powerful Ministry, and h« never tried to remedy them. They ( listed in Ireland in ten times a more aggravated form, yet his Government sent ladies and gentlemen of the highest social rank to gaol for protesting against them. Mr Chamberlain u a different man now. He wants to gain election and reacquire power, and he sees all the evils now. No doubt Mr Stout will sec the evil effects of bad legislation when he seek* re-election, notwithstanding his blindness to their presell* existence.