The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1888. THE LIBERAL POLICY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1763, 14 July 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1888. THE LIBERAL POLICY.

Ip the present Minister of Lands could be got out of the present Ministry, it would greatly improve their position. Sir Harry Atkinson, supported by Liberals, would, we believe, bo Liberal to a certain extent.’ His views on the land question are very liberal, and that is the main thing. What has been the curse of Sir Harry Atkinson’s life is that his followers have always been representatives of land-sharks and moneyrings, and he has had to modify his views to suit them. In 1882-3 he broke through the traces, and consequently he got into disfavor, which resulted in his defeat in 1884. He has now again broken the fetters with which the monopolists have tried to bind him, and it looks very much as if he desired to be freed of his old associates altogether. It would not be hard to create a gulf between himself and his aristocratic, squatocratic, money-grabbing followers that would’ not be easily bridged, and if ho were, once brought to the Liberal side there' would ‘ not be » brains enough 1 left' amongskthe' mutton-heads ; tb adiftinis-' ter the affairs of a second-rate borough. Could Sir Harry Atkinson be induced to place himself permanently at the head of the Liberal forces, we think it would be the best thing that could happen. W© know -the way the late Sir Robert' Stout, worked during the last election; we know the way he was able to apparently carry everything, before him by the sheer force of his splendid powers of oratory ; we know how Sir George Grey on previous occasions made similar attempts to aiwaken the people from their lethargic condition, and to arouse them to a sense of their political duties; hut we know also that when the polling day came on they forgot all Sir Robert Stout and Sir George Grey told them, p.nd voted in favor of the monopolists. What has happened in^the-past’will happen again. The people pan not be relied upon—they cannot, realise the’.advantages that woul ? d accrue to,'themselves by performing their share of the work of government in an intelligent manner. Large numbers of them still regard the election of a member of Parliament as a . good joke, and are ready"fo vote in many instances as someone else directs. The Liberal candidate is, as a rule, always'poor,', and cannot afford to bribe, agents and leaders of cliques; the representatives of the money-rings suffer from no such disabilities, and hence the reason that it is almost impossible to get into Parliament a Liberal majority. Sir George Grey had not a majority, neither had Sir Robert Stout. They held office on sufferance. The future holds out no better prospects than the past, ‘and consequently it appears to us that the beat way to destroy monopoly is to 1 steal away its brains by stealing away Sir Harry Atkinson. He may not be, and in fact he is not, an ideal Liberal leader, butifwe cannot get exactly what we want we ought to secure the best we can get, and '• the best that we can get at the present time is Sir Harry Atkinson. If Sir Harry Atkinson were once securely fixed on the Liberal side the monopolists would have no one to fill his place, and they would thus be rendered powerless. There is only one way of doing this now, and that is by the Liberals doing all in -their power, to widen the gulf between the Premier and the’ Freetraders, and by giving- him to understand that, he will get the Liberal support provided he modifies his programme so as to harmonise with Liberal views. There is enty one •impediment inr the way.' Somepf the Ministry - can never be acceptable to Liberals, and notable amongst these is the Minister of Lands. He is as obstinate and pigheaded as a . kicking mule, , and his abilities are certainly of. a very mediocre character. He went into. office to destroy the perpetual leasing system 1 ,-the village-settlement system/ and everything liberal connected with land. He has been' in ‘ office ‘ nearly twelve months, and he has beep, cotp-; pelled by the Wc|, 6f circumstances to admit wJ&oq he undertook to destroy was by far 'the most acceptable, to the! people h He has Md, frequently to . admit i that village settlements were a great-suc-cess ; and now, though be has done his best to destroy the perpetual leasing system, he Ms had 'to admit that the people will not.allow him to doit because it is the most popular tenure with persons desirous of settling on the land. And yet, ’ though he has admitted this, be still persists in doing all he can to throw obstacles in the way of perpetual leasing, and to administer the lands in favor of monopolists. .Before Liberals can give loyal support to Sir Hirry Atkinson he must-get , rid of the Minister, of Lands. - Land administration is a most important function of government, and. Liberals cannot support any one who is not truly Liberal in that respect, , The policy of the Liberals should therefore fie 'to fake the first opportunity of defeating the present Government, then accept Sir ffarry Atkinson as their leader, and form a ppjy administration which would include some pf the Liberal leaders. Sir Harry Atkinson, pf pourse ; said recently he would stand

or fall by his present colleagues. This is all very well, but if he were down it would be found that he would be glad tq get up again without bringing all of them with him. This is the best thing the Liberals could do now, and we hope they will do it.