The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER, 28, 1889. THE OAMARU ELECTION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1949, 28 September 1889, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER, 28, 1889. THE OAMARU ELECTION.

Me Hislop is absolutely safe for Oamaru. His strength does not lie in himself. It lies in the weakness of his opponent. We had hopes that the Mayor of Oamaru would hare proved himself a man capable of making a respectable debut in the political arena, but this, we regret to say, he has not done. His speech was as weak as water. He neither understands politics nor the dispute between Mr Hislop and Judge Ward. He has absolutely failed to grasp the position, and we are afraid it ’would take him some time to understand it. We regret this. We should like to see Mr Hislop defeated, for his election and reinstatement in office will be a disgrace to the colony. It will only show that a Government can do what it likes with impunity, when a member of it has only to resign and get himself whitewashed by his constituents. The office of the Colonial Secretary is being kept vacant for Mr, Hislop, so that he can step back into it as soon as he is elected. That is really disgraceful, and' if Sir Harry Atkinson does not suffer for this he certainly can henceforward do what he likes. Both Houses of Parliament have condemned Mr Hislop, and the Press throughout the colony has, with extraordinary unanimity, pronounced him guilty of very unwarrantable conduct, The Christchurch Press, the Otago Daily Times, and other papers, which have supported the Government all through, have attacked Mr Hislop with unaccustomed violence, and, in fact, with the exception of the Oamaru papers, we have not seen one which in any way attempted to defend him. Nothing has so much astonished us for a long time as the action of the Oamaru Mail in this matter. We are not surprised at the North Otago Times. We should net he surprised at anything that paper said or did, for it never had an opinion; hut it has not been so with the Mail. That paper was once conducted with an independence and spirit that made it one of the most vigorous and trenchant Liberal organs in the colony. It has frequently and vigorously denounced the land policy of the present Government; it had a great deal to do with getting the Kurow run cut up; it also did much to expose Mr Eiehardson’s action in allowing a large tract of country to fall into the hands of the Hon. Eobert Campbell; and it has generally condemned the present Government from the beginning to the present time. Now, of all the dirty deeds the present Government has done—and no Government has been guilty of dirtier—none was worse than Mr Hislop’s conduct towards Judge Ward. Yet this the Mail has been striving to polish over. Christie, in the eyes of the Mail, was innocent, Judge Ward had no right to condemn him, and Mr Hislop was perfectly justified in calling the judge to account for it. Alas! alas! Christie is an auctioneer, and a large advertiser, and hence the, secret. We had a better opinion of the Mail, and we regret to see it playing the time-server. This is really the only New Zealand paper worth speaking of that has supported Mr Hislop, and when public opinion is unanimous against him it goes a long way to prove that he is wrong. In the face of all this Sir Harry Atkinson is keeping his position vacant until he is elected, and if this does not militate against him in the future nothing will. One characteristic of Mr Hislop was brought out in the speech of the opposing candidate. He said that he met Mr Hislop on the day of nomination, and that he at first refused to speak. This is the ruling passion of Mr Hislop. He is maliciously spite, ful and vindictive, and anyone who once crosses his path is never forgiven by him. Mr Church opposed him at the general election, and he prevented his appointment as property tax assessor, According to Mr Eisher, he prevented the appointment of Judge , Ward to the Supreme Court, and he subsequently got himself into trouble iu attempting to injure the same 1 gentleman. This is really what is J wrong with Mr Hislop. He is fear- i fully and terribly spiteful and yin- , dictive, and he could not even conceal 1 it now when it would be much to his ! interest to do so. It is really ] dangerous to place a man of that dis- t position in power, and we cannot but 1 regret that it is quite possible he ] will be reinstated as Colonial Secre- f tary again in a very short time. i