OUR SYDNEY LETTER.
' I Iw'.'M I'M; n«5 C.KiUM'OXDKNT.j '' V, .lime 'J."!. 'I'm. (IcitimiN inKiKH'ol'""ri jif.ti'iilion, uufi groat liiivi been Hie kul"!' ses whii-li tliej )i:i v<> tiron.'.'til forth. Old incinl ers hftvi ti. i n n |i i'ti'l l.y wlmli-*-dr, nnil liav« lii iTi pupiT.'-od j'l liy men of whom nothing M-lialcvt r In known, except tij.it tbrj have ohtiuncrl the rndorsumi lit uf tin Labour Kieei.-ritl Lr-nttut-b. It in ratliei early in tli') 11: i v to predict n Milts, bul iliu rut iiriiM ><o f'ir I<:i vi■ tin- (lovcrnmi'iii iu n v.'i liner pusl'i"ii tli.in they <n;i• u| >i»■'; i.t.,--ioii. 'I'ht; I louse \\;ih about equally divided between Free Trader.and rrotei.tiuiiii-t-. Tho Labour party, ■vliirh in tin: ll' iv disturbing force, bus ill .placed uioru Free Traders thuu Pro ('.limn Weakening tho former moic thuu Hiß latter, jinny of tbi L.ihuur members aro Frio Trailer.", but thov cannot bo relied upon iih Governmont supporter!). Uu paper, the third partly holds tin key of tho [wition, and some of itmorn wide-mouthed and lens sensibli spokesmen threaten that they wit " l'orce " tho Government to do this and that and tho other, They will compoi tho Government, they say, to pass the Electoral Reform Bill, giving one man one vote. Then thoy 'will compel it to dissolve, and they will compel tho country to return a houseful of Labour member*, and then tLo ball will bo at their feet and they can procced to reconstruct society on the lines of tbc Wharf Labourers' Asaooiatien and tho Seamen's Union. All this silly braggadocio only goes to prove the truth of the old Baying ; " Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him." It is repeating ou the piano of legislation the ruinous blunder which received such severe and well-merited chastisement in the defeat of the maritime and shearers' btriked. If any attempt is made to put these olTenslvo taction into practice, all parties in tho House will unite to reshi tho attempted domination, just as all classes of society united to resist the aggression of the pickets. Furthermore, a large number of votes were cast for the labour candidates out of gratification that they had resorted to constitutional methods for the redress of their alleged grievances, and with the desire to give them an opportunity to show what they could do. If they should disappoint the hopes which have been formed of them, they will not get these votes next time. It is to bo hoped, therefore, for the sakr of a party which possesses many worthy elements, that it will not allow itself to bo misled by the shallow vapourings of 0110 or two vainglorious boasters. Kor the first time in the political history of the colony the Labour Electoral Leagues have made their mark. The credit for tho formation of these organisations belongs mainly to Mr Frank Cottou, and it must be confessed thai they have worked with great zeal and eliectiveness, and that to their exertions the return ot a large proportion of the labour candidates is mainly due. Mr Catton himself himself, though unsuccessful himself at tho East Sydney by-elec-tion, topped tho poll at Newton. He is one of the most favourable specimens of the new party. He has shown that he possessed ability and self-control, and though a representative of labour, he ataudi ou an immeasureably higher plane than some of tho foul-meuthed drunken rulliautj who havo also succeeded in ob» ucata. A very important clemcut in the success of tho labour candidates has been the iliviaion among the former members. The latLci have been devoting their attention to artificial issues which the bulk ol the electors did not really care a snap in the lingers about. There is federation, for iustauce, evolved not by any demand of tbe people, but by tho iuyunuity ot the Premier. Then there is the wearisome Frectrade and Protection controversy—which, in view of the tact that wc have already under ai-tallcd Freotradc almost as much Protection as is good for us, has ceased to iuterest the bulk of Mit; electors. The Labour party presented Lhemselvos with a real live issue, which awoke the most ardent aspiration of a large section of the community, and they got a solid block vote which carried them to victory. So tiuc is it that one good trick is worth a thousand bad ones, But if the party which has thus stolen a march is so injudicious as to compel the other parties to combine against it, it will not be able to repeat the perform anee. One thing must lie remembered in surveying the position, anil that is that there is all the ditlorenee iu the world betweeu imagination and fact, that, is to say, between what a man thinks he would do if ho were placed in a certain position and what be limbs lil- is really able to do w hen he gets there. This consideration ought to remove the apprehensions so freely expressed iu the city that the labour victory will prejudically alTuet the value of our securities It is true that in tin ir wilder ravings some of the more prominent demagogues have threatened repudiation. But supposing that they l eally understood what repudiation mains and meant to carry it into elfeet- wh->n they spoke, the mere fact of being endued with political power would work au entire revolution 111 their ideas. To placato ibe working mini who hail returned thorn, tbey would need to advocate fresh lixinn. But. it is evident that application])) for fresh loans would bo fruitless as long lis there was any talk of rcpmli.ning the old ones, Even a I ii American republic docs not begin 1 . ulk repudiation as long as it has any hopes of being able to obtain fresh advances. The two ideas aro incompatible, and each excludes tho other. This is putting the matter on tho most sordid ground. But supposing that a handful of hot ■ headed demagogues should really lose sight of common Loiicsty aud good faith and of the obligations of tho community to the public creditor, it surely doos not follow that tho great majority, who are not hotheaded demagogues, would loso their honesty aud common sensa also. Surely wo aro not so afraid of these wild and visionary idoas as to rcfuso thera expression. Far bettor that they should come out iuto tbo open, whero they can bo ombatted, aud their dishonesty and folly exposed, than that they shonld fester away in secret. An additional strain will bo placed on tho manhood of those who nro neither fraudulent nor foolish, and tho result can hardly fail to be a tracing of the moral and patriotic fibre of {,'ood citizens, which will bo in the highest degreo beneficial. Another feature of the election has made itself promiuent even at this early stage. I refer to the taxation of that portion of laud value which ia due to the presence of the community and not to any outlay or enterprise of the owner or occupier. All the labour candidates are pledged to it aud the Colonial Treasurer has for the first time confessed that it has entered the domain of practical politics by stating that if he remains iu powtr he will iutroducc a measure for the purpose. Truly, we have fallen upon times when events march quickly. fjo far us can be gathered from the rsuults already beyond doubt the Oppooition bj.ve evtu less grounds for cal- ' culatnig on the support of tho Labour party tliau tho Ministry. Thoir organ, the Star, ridicules the land tax, to which the Labour members arc pledged iu terms el the most unreasoning aud bitter hostility. Aa regards Free Trade aud Protection, thorn aro already fi.'l Free J Traders returned, againat 30 Protectionist. If the Labour party were not to vote en bloc, Freetraders and i Protectionists together, on any other than fiscal issues, the victory of - thn Ministry would bo uneijuivocal. As it i«, however, Ministerialists j c inn o hope for an absolute majority, and nl'bough they will, no doubt, do all in their power to conciliate tho more i-fiißonablo of the labour members, they - in hardly be expected to submit to the 1 domiriatinrii of their l<wlorii. Fnlcfis '
\vis»T f«t!< 1 iiior". temperate counsels provail .imoiif! the latter, the outlook is rather lor ;i series of irritating deadlocks Mian for the transaction of really useful legislation. Federation in regarded aa fafc by its most enthusiastic advocates. Most members have expressed a guarded kind of approval of it, in most cases complicated by impo-:<ible reservations and conditions. My own opinion is that it will be •><|UO'Y.ed out by more and more vital problems, In any c.i°e, the idea might not. to be uitcrlaiurd on any other than that which will preserve to this colony the precedence due to her teniniity. Unless it is clear that, the capital of the Federation is to be in NeW South Wales—preferably in Sydney—it is clear that the Mother Country will bo iu danger of being asked to surrender more than is just and right. All other matters have been eclipsed by the election, which bids fair to be a pivotal event in the history of the colony. In music we have had a vis#t from Mr Ernest Hutchinson, a young artist of i»reat merit, and who is moreover an Australian boru and bred. His piauoforte playing is of the highest order of merit, hut the public did not roll up in any great numbers. For one tiling the weather was unpropitious, and for another thing, the young pianist has not yet achieved the maeicattraction of notoriety. Madame Bernhardt will get a large audience no matter what the weather is, ami notwithstanding the fact that nineteDths of her hearers will not understand a word she says. Commercially, everything is very dull. The tightness of money, owing to the failure of colonial loans, and the continueneo of Government expenditure, failures in Queensland, general distrust and hesitation, crowned by the wet weather which in many parts of the country has rendered traffic impossible, have all operated adversely. An improvement is looked for with the advent of fine weather, and it will not come before it is needed.
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Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2963, 11 July 1891, Page 4
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1,722OUR SYDNEY LETTER. Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2963, 11 July 1891, Page 4
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