THE Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1891. GOVERNMENT VICTORY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2226, 11 July 1891, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1891. GOVERNMENT VICTORY.

( Tun first blow lias been struck, and the Tories have been crushed hopelessly, A few minutes previously the bombastic Mr Fergus boasted that the Opposition were in the majority, but when the No-Confidence motion, or what was regarded as such, put the question to the test, the result proved that lie had counted his chickens before they were hatched, and counted them very badly. Besides pairs, 38 voted with the Government, whilst only 16 voted against them for the Opposition. And yet the motion on which this division was taken was one for which under ordinary circumstances all the members of the Liberal party would have voted. It was as follows; “That the financial proposals of the Government would be more in^accordance with the general wishes of the people if the surplus estimated to be available by the Financial Statement were devoted to the reduction of taxation on the necessaries of life.”

This was the result of a caucus of 18 members of the Opposition held that evening, and Ave must give these gentlemen credit for much shrewdness in introducing if. Their object was not to carry it; they frud no hope of

that, but they introduced it for purely party purposes. When they come before the electors in a few months, they will say in effect; "Working men, we did our best for you; we tried our best to take the taxation off the necessaries of life, but the wicked Government which you were so foolish as to elect would not allow us." That was the object of the resolution ; it was introduced solely and purely to get up a cry. Everything else has Vailed; there is no extravagance, no further borrowing, no grounds of complaint to which any sane man would listen, and this resolution was got up to show they are the working man's friends and the Government are his enemies. Now there is not a man on the Government side of the House who would not willingly and cheerfully have voted for this if they thought it could be carried out with safety, but they know that enormous changes in the incidence of taxation have already been proposed, and they mean to wait until it is seen how these will work out before touching the Customs duties. When, therefore, members voted against their own desires in order to support the Government, it is evident they are thoroughly loyal, and it is hopeless for the Opposition to expect to win them over. This division will, we hope, teach the Opposition that it is useless for them to waste time in abusing the Government and in prolonging the debate as they have been doing. It is simply disgraceful that three weeks have been wasted discussing the Financial Statement, and that almost all the criticism of the Opposition has consisted of personal abuse of the members of the Government.

As for the idea that working men will be gulled by such subterfuges as that to which we have referred, we can tell thein that they need not build much on that. The working men, and other men too, have lost confidence in them, "We all know they are not fighting for taking the tax off tea. We know that it was the Hon. John Ballance took the tax off tea 12 years ago, and that it was the Tories put it on since. We all know that all Liberal Protectionists would take the tax off tea at once if they could, and we know also that it is against the creed of the Freetrade Tory to do it. They may as well, therefore, accept the inevitable at once, and go to work like men, instead of carrying on the debate in a manner which is costly to the country and disgraceful to themselves. Can anything be more disgusting than to find these men, who assume airs of superiority, call themselves men of culture, and boast that they have a stake in the country, carrying on this debate for three weeks in a spirit of bitterness, which has never before been equalled in Parliament. Is it to take the tax off tea they are doing this? Not at all. The £GO,OOO which has been taken off the small farmers and put on the large ones is what is troubling 'them, but they may as well accept it. It is going to be done, and no amount of obstruction will prevent it. The division last Wednesday ought to satisfy them; that was decisive, and if they carry on their obstructive tactics in the face of that they will soon render themselves odious in the eyes of the country.