The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1887.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2508, 26 January 1887, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1887.

SIB .WILLIAM FOX. A shout timeWgo -a .cpiTespondeiat of a - northern ■ piper wittily; alluded to Sir ■ Williaih Fox as "'ateetotal wreck." k There is a half truth in the jest which "■ aptly indicates the peculiar outcome of a brilliant political career. A gonera- ; tion back a. trio of the most notable men in' New Zealand were called the three F's. Sir William Fox was one, the late Dr Featherston another, and Sir-William Fitzherbert " the third.' The last-named haa degenerated into a placeman, the second died; in his political harness, and tße firat is appar. ently devoting the whole of his time, energy, arid ability to a Hobby. Perhaps this is not the only instance of a colonist .abandoning a distinguished position for what is commonlyregarded Ss a craze. Mr:,Mihier' Stephen, for example, in .a neighboring colony, surhigh social and political rank to wander as an itinerant healer, andi is regarded -by the world as little better than a mountebank, Sir William Fox, fortunately, • has selected a rol6 as temperance .reformer, which at least secures him from the ridicule whioh has? been freely cast upon Mr ; Milner Stephen. The utmost that can be said against him js that he has been 1 an " enthusiast jtia Bocial craze," but, is Mr William Gisborne in-his work ,on "New Zealand, Rulers and Statesmen''points out; history often ihows i that what has Jbaen called a craze has > at last bacome a great social' reform. <

If in this particular instance a great social reform is dawning upon us, Sir •William Fox may-be mora a benofac- • tor to New Zealand than' lie was wlien men saluted him; as Premier of ;tho colony,' His eminent ability, his groat exgerieii,Gojtegrity, and hi3i-'hfgh wortbr,' would make him even now.a benefactor to the colony in the political arena. .But he is contented to travel from place to place, preaching prohibibut-. th^ ( society, and co« dperatito'- of 4he ferst- iheti in • the .Oolony,- Heavowa a distinct aim-in thff'Wk' td' is devoting himself, viz., to establish prohibition iri'the Oblbnyi It "the present' time ■we-do not euppe that a tenth' of the inhabitants of New "Zealand are in favor of prohibition. To' reach; the goal at which Sir William aims, eight or nine-tenths of the people must become > Is - such a result practicable or possible? Most men would regard it as visionary, and would mingle pity with their admiration, of an apparently futile effort. But, thenj it may be admitted that a similar social revolution has absolutely been realised in communities in North America as populous .and extensive as our own. Can changes which have been brought about in the State of Maine, and in the great Canadian d'omin'iop. be effected in New Zealand ? We presume Sib William Fox, , .who. is personally familiar with the : districts where prohibition has been established haß made himself .familiar with the nodus operandi adopted there, that he is prepared to meet the difficultiesthat have to be surmounted, and has gauged the magnitude of the task to which he has sot his hand. If this be so the organisation which he is. now fostering throughout the colony will be one that will be an important factor in our future political history, An alliance which is now branching out into every electorate in the colony will, if ably officered, be a formidable power. This too is a free country, .and Sir Willing •Fox will be allowed fair play to marshall hie forces.. The present measure of local option which is in force is partly the result of a former agitation on the part of Sir William, but the result has been very unsatisfactory. The publicans adopted the local option baby as soon as it was born. They allowed the Temperance people ■ to nurse it, but whenever they thought proper they took possession of .the infant and. did just what they' liked with it, The failure of a former project will not necessarily prevent the present

organisation from succeeding, We believe that the new crusade-is a more determined and well considered movement than tbe old one and that before many years are over prohibition will be recognised as a leading political question. - At the. present time it is essentially a minor question, but two or three years hence it may come to the front aßone which must be faced by our rulers and statesmen:

The Borough Council last evening transacted practically the whole of its business in Committee, excluding the public from its proceedings. This is a very unwise procedure. In the first place the Council has no power that we are aware of to exclude the public by going into Committee, and in the second it is an extremely unwise policy for such a body to aot as if it were afraid of publicity being given to its deliberations. We fear, that Mr Eenall will again lmvato appear on the scene to teach the new Council how to conduct its business. The method now adopted by the Council for supressing publicity is one that is not recognised by law, and it is in-direct contravention of the statute under which the Council is constituted.