THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1893. THE HON. W. ROLLESTON.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2596, 19 December 1893, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1893. THE HON. W. ROLLESTON.

The Honorable William Rolleaton is enjoying “ease with dignity” on his estate at Ran git at a. Few there are in this colony whose labors better entitle him to rest than the honorable gentleman, for few have performed more important public services. We have felt it our duty to criticise bis actions frequently and fearlessly and freely, and we may do so again, but now that he is, as we might say, “ down on hia luck,” there cannot be much harm in remembering his many virtues and forgetting his faults. That Mr Rolleslon has rendered to this political services deserving of recognition, will be admitted by all, and now, we think, is, a fitting time to express appreciation of them. His appointment to the Legislative Council is at present pjjt of the question. When the present Liberal mwprity in that Chamber is converted into a majorjty, we shall be most happy to see such men as Mf - Rolleston and Sir John Hall given seats in the Legislative Council, but in the meantime, under no circumstances must any but true and trustworthy Liberals be appointed. Our attitude towards Mr Rol--1 ton this: We should like to see his long and services recognised, but not in a way that ™P ede Progressive Liberalism, and the Deo.' 18 can be done is by conferring upon him honor of knighthood. We hold that he is perfectly entitled to it, and believe thau if his claims were intelligently represented in the proper quarter there would be no difficulty in the way of his appointment; that is, if sterling* merit and a long and honorable public career constitute a claim to it. With the earlier part of that career we are but imperfectly acquainted, but Mr Alfred Cox, in his « Men of Mark of New Zealand,” has given us a brief, but sympathetic glimpse of it. From this we lesri that Mr Rolleston landed in Lyttelton an the 15th of November, 1858, and became & runholder near Lake

Coleridge, whewS it fS sal< * he used to swear at his bullocks in thd Latin. Five years later he was appointed # fir em " ber of the Education Commission, &ud has been practically in public life ever since. A highly educated and cultured

man hitaself, he has always taken a very intelligent interest in education, and in that respect, at any rate, h,as assisted m conferring on this colony a splendid educational system. In 1861 he became j Provincial Secretary, and in 1868 Superintendent of Canterbury, which position he was elected three tiines in succession, and which he retained p.utu the provinces were abolished in 1876 In 1868 also he was elected a member of the

General Assembly, and represented the Avon district until 1884, when he was elected as member for Geraldine. He has been Under-Secretary for Native Affairs, Inspector of Native Schools, Minister of Education, Minister of Native Affairs, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Mines, all of which positions he filled with credit to himself and ad-

vantage to the colony. As Superintendent of Canterbury, those who were personally acquainted with his administration speak of him in the highest terms of praise, but we prefer to deal with that part of his career with which we are acquainted. That part is his land administration in the Whitaker-Atkinson Ministry during

the three years previous to the election of 1884. Determinedly as we have opposed

Mr Rolleston recently, we supported him with equal fervor in those days, for without a doubt his land administration was extremely Liberal. Ten years have made a great difference in public opinion, and what was regarded as Liberal then would not satisfy the demands made at the present time. Considering the time and the cirqumetaaces, Ms RollestWa in the

three years we have referred to, did great 1 and good work, and he had no more genuine supporter than this paper. During these years he initiated the perpetual leasing system, and established village settlements. It is true that his conception of village settlements was not so large-hearted or so generous as we could desire. The areas were too small, and too much close-fistedness entered into the whole administration. There was an absence of the generous open-hearted sympathy which characterised Mr Ballance’s later efforts, but we must remember that Mr Rolleston took the initial steps in establishing a system which has won the admiration of and is now being copied by the other colonies, and if he did not go into it with the dash and courage of his successors it can be pleaded on his behalf that what he did was simply experimental, and consequently it was desirable that he should feel his way. At any rate, Mr Rolleston initiated both the perpetual leasing and the village settlements, and they stand now as a lasting monument to the memory of his land administration of these years. It is to us a pleasure to recall these years, and bear testimony to the excellent work Mr Rolleston did then. It was the excellence of that work that brought on him the disfavor of the Conservatives. They saw what they considered the thin end of the wedge being driven into their own privileges and interests, and they determined on punishing the Ministry who had thus trenched on what they considered to be their pre-emptive rights. The Stout-Vogel Government came into power, and they were kept there for three years to keep Mr Rolleston and his friends out. Now we do not care to criticise Mr Rolleston’s subsequent actions too closely. He is one of those who, as Goldsmith puts it, “gave up to party what was meant for mankind.” His broad and generous sympathies aud ripened experience were “ meant for mankind,” but he allowed himself to stifle the natural promptings of his own judgment in the interests of his party, to his own and his country’s loss. Mr Rollesto a has one great fault, and that is that he sees, or affects to see, nothing but what is vile and wicked in his opponents, while those on his side are in his eyes as pure and as stainless as angelic cherubs. It is not because he does not understand ; but because he conceives it to be the duty of an Opposition to turn out the Ministry and in furtherance of this project he has frequently been very unfair. Practically, later Liberals have done nothing more nor less than extend and elaborate the land schemes originally introduced by himself. Yet no one has criticised them more bitterly than he has. He has denounced them as socialistic, etc., but, really and truly, the first step in socialistic legislation was taken by himself. But let us forget his faults, for be they what they may his virtues completely overshadow them. There are few institutions in Canterbury which are not deeply indebted to his foresight and kindly impulses; museums, hospitals, asylums, schools, and colleges have always enlisted his sympathies, and for the promotion of their wellbeing he has worked indefatigably. We are glad to bear testimony to his good works now, and we think thal , his public services and the great benefits he has helped to confer on his fellowcolonists entitle him to the recognition we have suggested. That he was always honest, upright, and honorable is borne out by the fact that though he had extraordinary opportunities he did not turn them to his own benefit; even the land on which he now lives was bought secondhand at a very high price. In this respect we have been very fortunate in this colony. There are few, if any, of our public men who have been guilty of turning opportunities to their own advantage, and fewer still have been so free from any suspicion of self-seeking as Mr Rolleston. For these reasons we should be glad to see the distinction indicated above conferred on him, and we feel sure that the great majority of his fellowcolonists will agree with us in saying that his sovereign has honored in a similar way, many men whose public services were certainly less deserving of such recognition.