THE PEOPLE AND THE PARLIAMENT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2683, 21 September 1889, Page 2

THE PEOPLE AND THE PARLIAMENT.

TO TUB KlilTOlt. Sill, —I am not aware whether Mr (lermann intends to contest the next Waipa election ; intuition, or instinct, tolls me he perhaps may do so. If so, lam afraid that by his boldness in giving his views on retrenchment and reform he has hurt his chance. As yet the people are not educated up to the political wisdom of having that which is for their good. Pure retrenchment and iv.form are what all people here in New Zealand want, but they only want it in theory, not in practice ; although nil are agreed in speech that retrenchment is necessaiy for our salvation and existence, but practically there is not one whn is in thorough earnest. All shout Rntn-nch-ment, but every one personally is willing, nay anxious, to rob the country to benefit himself. This is our ruin, and (ill we are possessed of the wisdom that each one singly by himself must submit to what is for the good of the whole ; till th.it knowledge arrives to us, all will bo plunder, logrolling and jobbery, which will end in great disaster to the State, and individually to ourselves. It is all nonsense our blaming our representatives, although, of course, they are to blame, but we must also blame ourselves, for it is us true as that the nun shines, that a politically dishonest coustituency will return a politically dishonest representative. How can it be otherwise? Can impurity produce purity ? Mr Editor, wo are all ready to do a gross swindle to benefit ourselves, forgetting that each of us is a unit and that the whole is composed of units, and we forget that each one of us singly by ourselves compose a part of the whole, and as the whole is bad we each of us are. 11 part of that badness. The Thames river in rendered impure and unfit for use by the whole inhabitants of London, but each inhabitant contributes his quota of impurity ; therefore, each inhabitant is responsible for the impurity of the river. From what I have said, members, our own amongst them, may perhaps take comfort to themselves and say they are not to blame ; they may say, "we are as you wanted and wished us." But, not so fast, my dear Major, and ye others. The very fact of ye seeking to be a representative implies, if not to others, at least yourselves, that ye are above the common herd of mankind.' The people, as a whole, and it is no discredit to them, are not supposed to be fit to make laws to govern a country ; the people have other things to think about, they have their bread to earn and their business and professions to attend to, and, as a whole, we, the people, are politically uneducated, and don't know what is good for us. But the fact that ye seek our votes and aspire to be leaders, implies that you lire to guide us and lead us in what ia right. Do yon do so ? No, you do the exact opposite ; you trade upon our weakness; ye pander to our want of political education, and in si-.oking our votes you say to Dick what you think will suit him, and five minute's afterwards you say the direct opposite to Harry. Is this acting the part of a guide or leader? And when you do get elected you, in the House, say what you think wiil please your constituents, and so gut to be members at the next election. No matter, though you should be saying and upholding what is wrong, in fact right or wrong is no consideration to you. Is this your duty as a member ? No. Ye are traitors tn your country, and your constituents ; your diit.y is to do what is right, get in or ii"t get in at the next election. Mr Editor, many idols have I set up to myself from junniigst the present members ; they were i luls of gold, but to my shame, grief and indignation I found them idols of clay. I will give you instances of one or two of them; I will not take them from the political pigmies, who by button-holing and by small artifices degrading to the nobility of man, do got elected. I will take them from those who, as men, are really what wo would call the best of men, and that these best of irien are fallible, and to a certain extent, far from having grand nobility of soul. That these men are so, is a lesson to us to be very humble, and not have vain-glory and conceit. We the higher animals ! Alas ! alas ! we are not very high. I will tako Mr Saunders ; he is a man of intelligence, his words are words of wisdom, for years he, in

a wisp., able and far-seeing manner denounced our follies ; but a tiinn came when Canterbury wanted a gnus job dime, a job which ought not to be done. If Mr Saunders had not been a Canterbury man, how he would have denounced the granting of the Bill that enabled the Midland Railway to be constructed ! Well, it wanted Vogel to work the oracle, and first of all he, Vogel, hud to be elected, and Mr Saundors supported his election, and by doing so, foreswore all his former wise sayings. Of course, all people when going to do a v/rong thing, have f .o find an excuse, no matter how spurious that excuse may be. Mr Saunders' excuse was that Sir J. Vogel was :i good leader, if there was a steady shatter. A precious steady shatter Stout was ; a wild unbroken colt he was, who ran off with the load, composed of the well-being of the country, and kicked it over into a precipice, and himself galloped off with the profit, and Sir to his name, at the expense of the load. Now that Canterbury has made us 3 of Vogel, Mr Saunders is once more, in an able manner, denouncing the folly of puolic works expenditure. I suppose when another oracle is to be worked by Canterbury, once more will he say, Vogel is a good leader, if he has a steady shafter. I will give you another instance of one of my idols: Mr Scobie McKenzie is a giant among pigmies, a triton among minnows in political knowledge. He is fearless in denouncing our follies. Well, Ifondly hoped that if Atkinson was not true in retrenchment, that he, McKenzie would come down like a thunderbolt, and hurl him from power. But what do we find ? Why, that he and Atkinson are hand and glove in working the great swindle, the Otago Central; he, like Mr Saunders, has also ti find an excuse for sacrificing the country to the profit of Otago. He says he sees in the making of this railway, a means of ending tho public works expenditure, which means when Mr McKenzie gets the Otago Railway, he will again denounce the making of public works. 0 Scobie! how inconsistent thou art ? and how thou hast fallen from thy high pinnicle is enough to make angels weep.—l am, yours truly, Haiiapipi, Harapipi, September 4th, 1899.