MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2617, 20 April 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

MELBOURNE GOSSIP.

(:'ko'<i on: own <'oiiiii:s;'ox;>i:nt). j Mo.-.T oi the poh'ieil o ;■ mictions .vf in motion in .••:,;..I'.icu.'c of tho gen -ral ckv.iimi;, :;t uli'd with Mio idea of accomplishiiK- great tiling.-, each independently of the otlr. ■;-, have come unhappily to grief, ;iuil in po-nt oi f.iet may be slid to have defeated their own object. When I sneak of political organisation.! I of course allude to what may lis' called public institutions which have had a sort of entity of a more or less solid character. Each of these had, from the very nature uf thi:u:i, to stai t working the election on separate and distinct lines, and with different motives —and as it is unnecessary to add without k'l-'wiug one another. V'.w. fun of tiie tiling, however, is that without knowing it these selfsame organisations worked in the direction (if the very point it wa-; their desire to avoid, and plaved into the hands of another bod,- (if individuals who were smart enon-h to foresee the consequences, and encouraged them to rush on blindly to tln-ir political ruin. In a word, they secured the return of a majority of Government candidates. Amongst other of these organisations to winch I have referred were the so-called National Ik-feuee and Property League and tho Licensed Victualler:' Association. The League was started some time a«o for tho express purpose of upscttiug the present Government in relation to tho legislation pa.-sed nft'ectinir publicans, and inasmuch as this body of men is controlled by a single politician, and that politician, although a supposed liberal, is essentially a eou>ervative aud a colleague of men like such free-trade champions as Murray Smith and Edward Laugtuu, it is easily understood why tho League, instead of opposing Mr Gillies iu tho Eastern suburbs, worked tooth and nail on his behalf. In point or fact tho Licensed Victuallers were sold, and their efforts, as it turns out, assisted most effectually tho game of the Coalition Committee. From the Licensed Victuallers' point of view the wholo thing was a fraud ; for the trade was sold, as J venture to assert, by tho very man upon whom it most relied.

And now that I have alluded to tho eastern suburb* election I may bo permitted to state that Mr James Maloney would havo beaten the Premier had it not been for the " No Popery " cry raised by tho Age at tho last moment. When every other watchword fails this invariably serves for tho purpose of rallying tho Liberal party, And it was on the present occasion used by tho democratic organ with a vengeance. It was once said of a man that he relied upon his memory for his jokes, and his imagination for his facts. In this instance the Ago wns never known to havo exercised its imaginative powers to a greater or more scandalous extent. Reading tho articles in that journal that appeared immediately prior to tho election one would have supposed that we were having an unknown Guv Pawkcs in our midst, and that the Houses of Parliament might at any time have been blown into elements. To the initiated Ihe ridiculous diatribes of this organ of truth served only to amuse. To the public, however, it was otherwise, and the chances are that to the tactics pursued by the paper iu question, the Coalition Government owes its new lease of power.

Au impression formed by the result of the goneral elections is that the strengthening of tho native element in the Assembly will exereiso in timo a decidedly disintegrating effect upon the stability of tho present or future Ministry. It is hinted that a plan of reconstruction is fixed upon. Mr .7. B. Patterson and Mr Walter Madden are to be taken into the fold, in lieu of Mr Nimnio and Mr Dow, while in all probability Mr Zox will be seut to the customs. The natives with scarcely au exception have proved assertive and.talkative, and ready at a moment's notice to display their independence, and although the"ob.--truotiou in the last Parliament may havo got rid of the persons of Mr Gaunson, Mr C. E. Jones and Mr Vale, it is quite possible that tho now Assembly will have to deal with representatives with capacities capable of being used in a direetiou at which even MiBent or Mr Gaunson would have stood aghast. The persecution to which the city fruit hawkers have for some time past been subjected, is it seems at an end now. It is quite possible the general public would never have been troubled with the grievances of these individuals had they not brought down the price of good fruit, wild duck, etc., to a reasonable degree, and thus inspired the opposition and anger of the shopkeepers, who, iu order to pay the extortionate rents demanded by their laudlords, make their customers suffer. These hucksters are all licensed, and should be permitted to ply their trade freely so long as they douoi unnecessarily obstruct the tnufio. The opportunity to purchase good fruit and lisii ut a figure within their means has proved a boon to many a poor family, who certainly ought not to be debarred from obLaiumg these little luxuries in order to put money into the pockets of wealthy property owners.