Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1893,

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4429, 27 May 1893, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1893,

Wb can hardly now discriminate between ■politicians by tlie old terms " Conservative and Liberal." For all practical purposes we have now to divide them into men of the right colour and men of the wrong colour. In tbis electorate matters keep very quiet, and Messrs Hogg, McCardle and Pownall are still regarded as the probable candidates. Of the three, Mr Hogg is the oaly ono who can claim to be of the right colour, for Mr Pownall, by appearing in the field against Mm, must necessarily go over to the Opposition in company with Mr McCardle. There will, therefore, be from this point of view two Opposi» lion candidates against oneMinißterial candidate. This consideration will be distasteful to leading members of the Opposition party in the electorate who, while failing to find a man after their own heart, will get a couple saddledon tothemwhotn they certainly do not love. It is probable tbat the Ministerial and Opposition parties are pretty equally balanced, and tbis be-

ing tbo case, the popular Ministerial candidate will have the advantage of the two Opposition men. We should not even be surprised to find some Opposition electors, assuming they cannot bring forward a candidate after their own hearts, giving apreference to Mr Hogg over his two opponent on the ground that he is true to bis colours and tbat the Government whioh ho supports is proving somewhat less mischievous than it threaiened to be in the first instance. Snob electors are likely to prefer the de'il they know before the de'il with whom they have not become Acquainted. Indeed with manymembers of the opposition party Mr Seddon is thought as muoh of as Mr Kolleston, Party bitterness is dying down somewhat and many people, who, at one time would not tolerate Mr Hogg at any price, now regard him with more oomplacenoy. If might almost be said tbat the Member for Masierton has sobered down and that of late " Considsra'ton, like an ingel, came" " And whipp'd the offending Adam out ol him." In hk capacity as a representative he bus learnt to know what the needs and requirements of up-country settlers are, and he is too practical a man to let some of his old political theories, his eitreme views of former years, stand in the way of helping settlers to secure reasonable concessions from the administration which ho supports, As a new broom he was very objectionable, but now that he is getting more into working order he is less so. Mr McOardle and Mr Pownall to a certain extent ure Isbmaelites. The party to whioh they naturally belong casts them out and the other party does not open its arms to them. Practically, what we have Raid only applies to the present condition of the electorate. With the three candidates named, in the field, the re-election of Mr Hogg will be tolerably certain, because the Ministerial votes will be concentrated upon him and the Opposition votes will be only partially divided between Messrs McOardle and Pownall. Of course much will depend upon the political platforms which Messrs McOardle and Pownall may adopt. We know pretty well the lines on which Mr Hogg will run, but we can only partly conjecture thoße upon which the other two candidates will take their stand. If Mr McOardle secured the block votes of the Tempcranco Party and of the Catholic Party, as well as coming out as a champion of leaseholder who want to become freeholders, he would have an excellent chance; but these block votes are very difficult to get now-a-days, and without them be would not be a dangerous opponent.