SYDNEY LETTER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2959, 2 July 1891, Page 4

SYDNEY LETTER.

[from our own correspondent.]

Sydney, June 10. We are now right in the thick of the election fray. Tho flurry and confusion iu more intense than at any similar occasion which I can remember, and it is, 1 feel bound to say, much more intense than it need be. because of the llludvisud action of the Government in hurrying the elections through at a pace which precludes the possibility of proper preparation. There is no time for issues to be defined or candidates to stato their principles. Everything has to bo done iu a, breathless haste, which almost excludes the idea of due deliberation or explanation. The Labour party is going to poll a formidable vote, but it remains to be seen whether it will be heavy enough to return mauy of tho candidates to Parliament. The most hopeful eases, of course, are those in which the chosen representatives of Labour are also selected by the Fro* toctionist or Free Trade organisations of their respective electorates, and will therefore receive the support of previously established parties, as well as of sympathisers with the labour cause. In such circumstances as these, it is a gain ti the Free Trade party when the Labour candidate is a free trader, and again to the Protectionists when he is a protectionist. But where Protectionists have their own candidates in tho field, and a Labour candidate professing similar fiscal views is announced, the result ia far more disastrous than if the Labour candidate were a free trader. In the latter case, he would split the Free Trade voles ; in the former he splits their own. Heuce we witness the paratlox of Protectionists intriguing to secure the nomination of free traders and the withdrawal of .protectionists, aud vice versa, we may well believe, with free traders. This state of affairs has culminated at South Sydney iu a highly sensational exposure of a shameless attempt at bribery, substantiated by the evidence of four witnesses, who heard the degrading oiler made. The candidature of Messrs Higgs and Flower, two labour protec liouist;;, threatens the success of the Protectionists bunch—Messrs Dibbs, Toohcy, Edmunds and Traill. A prominent wire-puller of the party informed Mr Hipi',s that he and his labour colle.iguu would be paid it large .sum of money if they would retire in favour of " the bunch." Mr Iliggs at once jumped to the conclusion that it would be a grand 111i>ij» to demonstrate to the public the un .crapulous nature of (he tactics that were being employed. With an astuteness worthy of an a-naleiir do teetive, he arranged for an inter view at his own office with his would-be tempter, aud took care to have .ioveral wituesses concealed where they could hear every word that was said. The emissary duly presented himself, accompanied by another person high up in the counsels of the party, and after a little preamble made a point-blauk and categorical offer of £50 each to Mr Higgs and Mr Flower with the promise that the columns of the Proteutiouist paper should be thrown open to support them in their candidature for any other electorate. Mr Higgs has proclaimed iu public the names and occupations of tho two persons who approached him with the offer, aud his account is corroborated by his witnesses. It is eminently a matter in which it is for the public good that the whole truth should be known, in order that the (, Imin of the attempt may be visited on the proper parties. But, although the whole town is ringing with it, I doubt whether it would be wise, in the present anomalous state of the libel law, to give you the names of the persons implicated. Mr Dibbs and his colleagues in "the bunch," as well as the editor of the Star, have denied that they had any knowledge of the attempt, much less any complicity with it. Their denial must, of course, be taken, as the lawyers say, ti'iautum vakat—lot as much as it is worth. Meanwhile, there can be no doubt that the exposure has had a very damaging effect on Protectionist prospects. More damaging than any ephemeral scandal of this kind in the minds of those who are seeking for justice to labour, is the fact that the encouragements afforded by protection are to go into the pockets of the manufacturer, not into those of his workmen, aud that while competing products are to some extent kept out by respective tariffs, competing labour is not. Most of the labour candidates see this clearly enough, and declare accordingly for free trade. They call to remembrance, too, the fact that it is from Victoria, the home of protection, that unemployed labourer.] in any conceivable quantity can bu obtained to render futile any strike which may bo entered upon for the sake of raising wages or securing iuprcuiacy for iabour organisations. I have no sympathy with these organised attempts at tyrannical domination any more thau with the intimidation and violence to which they so naturally lead. But lam bound to say that, according to their lights, the labour party are muru consistent in supporting Free Traders than Protectionists.

r am pleased, however, to note that enlightenment is making headway, even mi tlii* vexed question of Kreelradc and I'rotrniinn. The number of IVoteetionists ■\vh'i rail at. Kreetrade :is somethii);.; bad in it.irlf and who cry lip Protection as 'itn.-Hiirii; [jood in ilsrlf is diminishing. And even Freetraders are beginning lo Miii-peer, ilint although I'Yoetrade, like peace, would be the normal condition of perfect communities, yet, under present condition?, a spice of the opposite quality may be necessary to secure the niaxi-lim-'i of its benefits, just as some preparation for war and a well understood readiness to fight, if necessary, is absolute'y ijecessary to protect a peaceful etatc against invasion, Tlioro is a parallel between the doctrinaire Ti-..trader and tlie peace-at-nny-price

politician, as there is lietwcen the thorough-going '-chain across the liarhour " Protectionist and the professional warrior, whose only aim is to perfect the art of war, and whose best idea of industrial notivity is that it furnishes a supply of " food for powder." Freetradc, the good and beneficent, so far as practicable without loss or injury ; Protection (none the less an evil because sometimes it may be requisite) only so far as may be absolutely necessary and after careful review of the whole surroundings. This i 3 tho dominant note of the addresses of many candidates-some of whom call themsclres Freetraders and some Protectionists. I must confess that to me it seems possible on these lines to arrive at a scientilic compromise between the rival claims of Freetradc and Protection in the case of any given community. The question of taxing the unearned increment in the value of land will also have more students and more advocates than at any previous election, I refer, of course, to that portion of the rental value of land which is derked from the presence of the community and not from any outlay or industry of the owner or occupier. It belongs to the community, and the community ought to begin to take steps to take it. It takes instead a substantial proportion of the outlay of those who have erected buildings or improvements. Consequently enterprise is penalised and a premium is offered to land monopolies to hold it with as little outlay as possible for years, in order that they may secure this unearned increment which really belongs to their neighbours collectively—that is to say, to the municipality or state. Injustice always works wrong ; this injustice works the wrong of looking up land —the source of all wealth —from labour and capital alike, and thus directly tends to commercial paralysis and deptession. Here, to, the doctrinaires are beginning to abate their claims, and by abating them, are bringing them nearer realisation. It used to be maintained that the whole land value due to the presence of tho community past, present and future, in case of small as well as great, must be taken at one great coup. This at once gave an effective handle to opponents to cry out against the injustice of confiscating that which in the shape of mortgages on deeds a gigantic fabric of credit has been reared. But now it is proposed to take only the increment that shall accrue in the future, and only a portion of that to begiu with. It is proposed also to exempt small occupiers and owners who are the bone and sinew of the country, in the same way that small incomes are exempted from the operation of an income tax. In short, an increasing willingness is shown to introduce the thin end of the wedge rather than the thick one, and the prospects of success are improving accordingly. There is room to hope that the advocates of labour who, with equal abstract justice, are maintaining that labour should receive all that it truly cams, may take a leaf out of the same book and begin to endeavour to commend themselves by their moderation and rt-asonableness, as some of them have hitherto been doing by their obstinacy and fanaticism. Before this is generally read the result of the first batch of elections will he made known by wire. The labour party has an immense advantage in the concentration of its voting power, in no case running more candidates than are needed to fill the vacant seats. The "old-school" vote, no matter what it calls itself, is more split up by superfluity of candidates than has ever been known before, and I confidently expect some startling developments in the shape of the rejection of candidates who were considered absolutely safe, and the election of others who were not cousidered to " have a show." There are many, for instance, r who cordially sympathise with the efforts of the labour party to obtain due representation in Parliament who would withstand to the utmost all their efforts to dominate the situation by conspiracy anil intimidation. They opposed the pickets, but they will vote for labour candidates. The largest waves are to be found off the Cape of (Joed Hope. Kxi'khiknck has l'uovED that the mist economical Tea is Arthur Nathan's " P».eliahle " Packed Tea. You cun either have Ceylon, Indian, or the favourite Blended Tea, at 2s and 2s lid per lb. Those who have not tried them should do si at once. Yes ! It is certainly true. Ask any of your frienils wlto hp.ve purchased there. Garlii k *.ii.lCri.!-.v,Tllli.ive iii:meri.iis im.nkr.l for am] f.'LVnurablo i:omrai:i;ilalions from country customers on tlit-ir e-.r.-l'.ent packing of fur-m----ure, Crockery, and Gb>s, t>r. Larlies and gent!eni»ti alrout t-i furnish should remember .hat Ci.-ulif.kaail C'r.inwe!l's is the Cheap Fiiraishinc Warehouse of Auc.-kl.iml. Furniture to ;uit all class..-.-; .''so Carpc.Lt, I'lour Cloths and -ill Hoiee Ne.:cs:;:rries. It yout new house is nearly linbhod, or, you are jTomir to jret married, visit Garlick ami Ci inwell, Queen-street irel Lorne.-sireet Am-Maiid. In'endiiiK pnrr Riser: ran haw- a r.talnirnn sent Irre.