NEW SOUTH WALES ELECTIONS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2958, 30 June 1891, Page 4

NEW SOUTH WALES ELECTIONS.

(KICO.M OUK OWN COKKKsroNHKNT.)

Sydney, June !>. If ATI! Kit lardily the dissolution of Parliament was proclaimed and until it appeared there were some doubts whether the versatile Premier would not execute another of those remarkable lours de fore- of which he has lately been so prodigal. However, all doubts are nov. set, at rest, and all parties are pegging away in dead earnest.

The insiiu before the country is : first, Dibba or Parkes; secondly, Protection or Freetrade, the latter, however, considerably discounted by the fact that the party which advocates it expresses its intention of joining a Protectionist Federation, if permitted by the electors to do mi. Then! is therefore a ele;i,vage in the ranks, some Freetraders in their hostility to Federtion supporting Mr Dibbs and some Protectiou^tbelieving that Federation will ni">t surely ensure the triumph of their favourite fiscal nostrum, p'U-ting the present Ministry, I'his is I lie tiiv-t. confuting element, which tendoi-H it difficult to predict tin! result. Hut over and beyond this element of dissension there is a very powerful fourth party which styles itself thi . Labour party. This latter cares little for Dibbs or Parkes, for, Protection or Freetrade, or even for Federation or isolation. It- is u veritable wive, of Adulluui. It comprises all shades of opinion from tho Socialist who wishes to proscribe to every man by la.w his work and wages, his recreations, and his marital and family conduct, and tliu Anarchist who doesn't believe in any law at all, but who thinks that I he. Government and police should be disbanded and every man and woman left to his or her own sweet will and tin: tender mercies of their fellows. Ketveettii these there are all shades of opinion,: German Socialists, State Hociali-tts, Trades Unionists (who think tlint the benefits of police protection ought to be denied to all who do not submit to their demands), single taxers, and prohibitionists, each reaolvcd to run " amok" on his own particular hobby no matter when or what, he triuuplus upen. Should tho Adulliimites achieve power it is obvious that they would break up like a rope of saiid. Their tenets are far more at variance with each other, than they fire with the present state of affairs and as soon us any one of the conflicting sections, attempted to bike action it would bo'withstood by all the rest. .Hut at present this curious seething lnr.vtureof oppusites aud irrcconcilablcs is held together by a common bond of discontent and a common inclination to revolt. It has, moreover, the advantages of organization, hastily conceived perhaps, and crudely executed, but still an organisation which can reckon ou tho adhesion of a large number of members. It is further united by a common ■' platform '' but this is not so much aa element of strength as it might appear, seeing that in its formulation and after it was adopted, the elements of discord of which I have spoken made themselves unpleasantly conspicuous, and, at the by-election at Wellington, the platform which was to ensure unity of action was trampled under foot altogether.

Apart from this platform on which tin. , labour party profess to agree, but don't, the most powerful find dominant motive among them is a frantic desire lo iivcngc upon the Ministry the defeat of the great strike at the end of last yum , . In this point they .are also beyond the reach of reason and piT.siiasion. Yet it is plain to ' yvery one (who is not an embittered partisan) that tin; labour party themselves,(had they been in power) would have T>eer> compelled to do what Mr McMillan iiin:.l Mr Bruce Smith did. and what SSir Thomas M'll wraith and iSir Samuel Griffiths are doing in Queensland, ov else to make room for others who would. A Government li'presents a whole community, not a single fanatical srction, and no civilised community will long tolerate the ft.vistoiic of o Government which allows organised intimidation to run ri.it. Thifi discontent, however, is proof .igftiust all considerations of this kind, aud as it will be reinforced by the a'/eiiinulated grudges for which every Government which lias been any considerable time in power gives occasion, it will be seen that tho forces ranged against Kir Henry aud his colk'ligucti are in this respect more formidable than those which they had to face three years ago. Unless, therefore, the friends of law and order ami ot individual liberty rally more strongly to the support of the Government and nioro freely than they h<! ve (iono in other elections there can Lo little doubt that the parly of i':Voiigc will triumph. after all, it would not be an unmixed evil if they were to triumph. The responsibilities which political power brings ■with it would give them un education i"ui ii discipline of which they are n.vAly in need, and almost anything is better than the perpetuation of the vested iniquities whose extortions we have come to look upon as a matter of course.

I nod hardly say that tho influence of the Labour Electoral Leagues will bo swelled iu tho present election by the trantic efforts which the majority of (ho candidates will make to catch thoir votes. But this influence also will Lo discounted by the excessive number of eundidates who are announcing themselves. Next to having no candidates, tho surest way to be defeated is to have too many candidates. At present, thanks to the 300 Rolid reasons which the last Assembly voted itself, there urn no loss than 121) candidates in the Hold for IK) seats, and by far Hie greater number seem to base their hopes of success on the dexterity and adroitness with which they can pander to tho rebellious itchings and insatiable demands of King Mob. They are likely, therefore, to defeat their owr. object by their very numbers, and by the unanimity with which they neglect the great fundamentals of national prosperity— namely, tho supremacy of law and order for the protection of liberty, Jifo and property. They are, moreover, so divided as to the particular nostrums which they advueatu a3 substitutes for these fundamentals, that I believe it would bo easy for candidates who would advocate a broador platform to carry tho whole vote of the intelligent and thrifty section of tho community as :ignin3t this shiftless and incoherent mob of innovators. How many sontilili' mm cro there, for instanc, who know tfi.'.T tlii" , stuppago oi :i!ii'ited immi»i!ttion wns a retrograde ntvp of the crassest folly, find thai, the prosperity <"'F tlio country lias never been on as smiiidand nourishing a basis sinrr! it, w.i" stopped as it was when it whs in full swing!" Would thoy not vote for any otherwise eligible ca . Hdate who should havo tho cow'pvi of his convictions in preference to r,.turning the misornMf trimmer* a" i tricksters who seek to jiiAm Into Parliament by flattering the ipnoTfttce fuid pnndoring to the

unreasoning prejudices of the rif rafl and the rabble!'

P.iif whether candidates of this class are forthcoming or not, ami whether or not they command effective support, it is jn-i'tty evident Unit, the Parliament about to be elected will dillcr from nil its predecessors. Tlie personnel of the members, judging from the personnel of the candidates, will liD much lower. Ignorance will b" much morn nbun.'liiwt, and vory much mori: ]iresiimpfnous. Nounce and ■bluster will be much more self-asser-tive, and very much more offensive. However, the stars roll calmly on above all, and it is some comfort to reflect that even the edict of King Mob won't make water run up hill. The folly of reducing the productive value of labour and increasing at the same time its cost, until the cost comes to exceed its productive value, is already patent and obvious to every one who cim observe and reason dispassionately. In due time, it must become obvious even to whose who are evi.-n now most holly maintaining the contrary. They won't, believe that lire burns until it burns them. Hut it will burn them it' they persist in rushing into Hie middle of it, no matter how franfieidly they may assert that it -u-ill not. The increase in the number of unemployed is only a foretaste of what will come when tin; inducement lo employ labour is still further diminished. The agitators fondly believe (hat when Unit time arrives the community will be ripe for a general spoliation of the "Haves" by "the " Have-nots," under the name of Socialism, Communism, or what not. But long before that time arrives it is reasonable to believe that the workers themselves will discern the suicidal nature of the teaching by which they are now beguiled, and will return to the paths of common sense and good citizenship. The Government have, of course, the. power of managing the elections. Three years ago this devolved upon Mr Dibbs, and it will bo remembered h<; so arranged it that a large number of Protectionists were returned in the first batch. The eft'eet, of course, was to make a large number of gentlemen (who were carefully sitting on the fence) imagine that Protection was really coming with an overwhelming majority. The present Government, in my opinion, are not managing quite so wisely. They have fixed the polling day "for the first batch of elections oil Wednesday instead of on .Saturday, the latter day, of course, being the most convenient to the working classes. Even if they reduce the vote of their unionist enemies by these tactics (which is very doubtful), they will lose more by the handle they have given to their opponents. The latter freely assert that the Government intend to snatch a victory by trickery and by talcing their opponents at a disadvantage. A feeling of resentment will thereby be fostered which will increase the difficulties of the position.