OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2965, 16 July 1891, Page 4

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

■ ; l.'.M 111 U I.UN I oKKI.-rnM.KNV. > Sw.m;v, .lime :m. I:, I 1,. y I'f I .l''' the C::oi» a year, ' , oa-, il"ii 1 il," 1 Ihe number i'i canill ! 11.'- ill I in- pi''-, cut ''e el i• in, has , . , s ,'il to In- a i-eil linly. Siiiiii- iiupiii is'l: ... , IMIS |~,s i! i - ,-t iv i ■ :'i ■ I lint I iie la' u- \, , m |,|y were a - \wll_ as • ••• .-lv, and Ilia' « li'-n 1 1" V voted tifir pre ! 111 s selv. * the eoVelell hI e, Ol'.'l I'i 11 111, Ile v t-ugot t'l ineluile any Words which li-mM i" '!»•• lb- ii.ei-iiie applieab!'' to 1 ii' il 1 e Tai'li.,in- nts. It is veiy qiKsU"ii;ihle wlH'l her the Act, as it now sLanils, v. :l! "■ ai ia:il I ill' Tte.l =11 rj in paying Ihe .|■ li ne n who II ivc ill- I Itch relumed. Tii" eoiu-terir.il mn, il ii do"S not. will be ;oi „ ■ 111 i 11" terrible. However, the .--holt ami 1.1-Y way out of I he difficulty, w liieli w,v, lou'nd by their pre.leeessors, is still open to them, and there is little doubt 111,' it they will gladly avail themselves of it. Tiie circumstance all'ords another illustration, if any were needed, of the incompetence and inefficiency of the avoi':iec member of Parliament. Kither lie il'ie-ai't know enough of his own language l-o make his meaning clear, or i i ii he i- too indolent to make use of his knowledge, A houseful of Labour mem hers uouid hardly have made a more humiliating exhibition of themselves. The course that will be taken by the Labour party when the House meets is still a subject of speculation. The utterances of the professional agitators who were returned to the Victorian Assembly have been carefully But they a I ford little light, and still less encouragement to those who hope for imod government and just legislation from the new departure. A Mr Han. cock, who, curiously enough, had consented to move the Address-in-lieply, in the course of a series of extravagant assertions (in which blank ignorance and complacent self-conceit struggled for the iui.st.cry) declared in relation to some contemplated breach of faith: "All things are possible to a Djinocracy." Tlii'i was the rock on which the Shearers' Union split. They were so numerous and :,<) powerful that they concluded all things were possible to them, so they broke their agreements. Certainly this was possible to them, for they did it. lint they have not found it possible to evade the consequences of that action. They now stand branded as covenantbreakers: men witli whom it is useless to think of conferring or entering into an agreement, because as soon as it suits, they will break any compact into which they may have entered. All things arc possible to a democracy ! Does Mr Hancock think that the community ■will consent to take the inansworn attitude of the Shearers Union ?

King Demos, if lie is correctly interpreted liy those who claim to lie his si okcoiu'ii, seems to lie many degrees more foolish and more lawless, than some nl tin- ik spots of old. The merest : flioollpiiy i ui read tlv m an effective li'.j.ciii hi.'it history- When Canute's fhl.tem;; i. cured hint that lie had only U. i;aie his mandate, and the rising tide would rirr'le, lie relinked them in scathiu./ t'-niM. Tlvre are moral laws as in.'X'niiMe as natural ones. It is possible, to break them but no one, not even King i lemon, can break them without paying I lie |e iiaMy. It is the glory of a true l.ing that he keeps the law, not that he breaks it. Witness the Tudor I'M ward .'■" oiling his son-*~bful!' Prince Hal—to gaol for insulting the chief justice. And witness Henry himself, when lie ase iiiled the throne, rewarding the judge who hail punished his lawless pranks. King Demos, as presented by some of his followers, seems to be destitute, not merely of kindly magnanimity, but of eonimon honesty. The explanation of course is that these .".I'if-condemned spokesmen are assuming a dignity which does not belong to them. They are not representatives of the real Demos, lint of a narrow, noisy and sellish : eel ion which has filched his title and forged his name. The real King Demos embraces the whole community in his rare, and is as tender of the rights and privileges of each individual as of those of the powerful Unions. Most of the men who presume to speak on his behalf, are untouched by his spirit, mere narrow bigots, who wish to ride to success by tramping on the weak. However, there is still room to hope that a bettor set than this have been returned in New South Wales. A great chorus of fear and Intc has followed their election, in u-liieh I, fur one, decline to join. When tiiey o.iy* or do that which is palpably wrong then will be the time for criticism and censure. Meanwhile they may surely 1.,: allowed the pleasure of unmolested r\i,.Lenee on their new plane. Even if thi y too, are bitten with the "all thingsa i e-pn.,.ibl"- democracy '' madness, vio- ! ited law.; have a knack of asserting themhej in even louder and more unmistakable lrMilts than the edicts of King Mob. Water will continue to run down hill, as .h tei iuiuedly as if the Labour Electoral Leagues and the Trade; and Labour I 'ouncil did not exist. The minds of free I urn men willstiil lin restive under oppre siun and tyranny, whether it comes iroin above or from below. A few noisy ill legates more or less i an make little iliHei' iiee. If they are over-zealous their

z-'al will soon wear It-elf out against the iuerlifi < f th"ir fellows. Jf tiiey are foolish and ignorant, their folly and i - 'i:oi '■ iice will soon become tnnuifot, and I he eo,union sense and intelligence of the community will take steps to defend itself. l ie' same power that lias made l'i i pirty a factor in legislation c .0 eiineii.o them, anil will, if it sees .Mieient cause. J'liey have their opporiunity now, because the apathy and ncgkc.t of previous Legislatures has created a conviction that none of the searching reforms which are so urgently needed could he expected from them. Perhaps like tile frogs in the fable weare ouly exchanging King Log for King Stink. I Jut, then, unlike the frogs, we do not leeeive our Icings from a mythical Jupiter. We elect ami depose them ourselves, .mil it is our own fault if we tolerate either Kins Log or King Stork any looker ! 11 in we think lit. The ineom)i tenee and corruption of past Legislators ha: been demonstrated up to the hilt. I'h it i J the new has, at any rate, y> t to lie |> ed. I' i ; now "i lain t hat the result of the i !, el ion : u ill leave the Government in a h <pel<. ■; minority. Numbers were equally di> ideil when they went to the e inieiy. leit I lie Minislry have lost far moie 'ais to the Labour party than the iipi.o ,'e in. and consequently come hack mil nally weakened. Already, with the ic'.uins hum lour l'ro!,. ctioni.-t stroneli Jd still lo come in, the I'rotectionists li ve a il.r el, nrijoiily of four, which, i\ lien the writ■> ale all in, will almost icit iiiily be ten or a dozen. Of the 11■ • 11111i;iIIy■ Free Trade labour candidates ■I o 11iei e are many who have already Ji >\\nt!iat tiny arc not to be relied upon, they have taken an active part in s curing the r< turn ol Protectionists in etlicr eleelorate.:. II is rc;ison;ihle, theretore, to expect (hat the liscal legislation el the session will have a distinctly I'ro-teftioni.-t character, and [ my eonimereial leaders will do ucll to take note of this obvious coni ini'cney. Of course, all e'liumoditi'.s on which duties arc.' to be levied will begin lo increase in value as s'.vu as. the possibility comes to be talked iliout. Thcie are some duties, by the way, which, it is to he hoped, will be i . ,".!ed without hesitation. I refer i■ ito tlio'e which increase the cost o: i • nej ; , , wire and wire netting, and 11: is hamper the exf.en-.ion of pcriii.ineni imp:-ovements and render it more costly tii in i! iici-1 b ■ to take precautions *.-;ai»«l III" i-pre., 1 of lie rabbit p'sl. 'I he ilut\ ou kcne.i ne too, which raises the cost of the article marly KM) per e-p.t. ii an anae'ironi-m which should lie ;i 11; .I i -! i,"" I with all speid, A very small number of persons are hen, lilted by these inipo-ts, while the whole community is heaviiy mulcted, its progress delayed, and its productiveness dimini-lieil. They ate far more insensate tliau that Vic-

Lori.in product of imbecility— the duty ■in hit-.

back to tlii' position <if partirx, il is til pieetr.vlers tci note tii.it Mr bibbs has secured re-flection, I.ll.,usr!i only by tin 1 .skin of iii.s teeth. I '011- .-• ■ iHI f■ rlll v his valuable services may still l,r relied upon. The party which owns Mr 11i!.I■; a-- 11■:11!i- will lie only a few viitcs ahead of the Labour party. The latt' i', tln -rehire, claim t■; hold the |, i!;inee of power, and assert tlint t-h"V will maintain either Protectionists or Freetraders in power as they may choose. In this, however, they forget that, there are two sides to a bargain. They may lie willii'.w for instance, to "Imry the hatchet" anil to support the present Mini try; hut will the Ministry consent to holil iilfieeSir llenry I'arkcs, at all events, has never .shown himself eager for oilier on such terms. To him a cross bench supporter has always been almost as much ail olleneo as an hone.st and open opponent. It would, moreover, suit him far bet ter to see Mr Dibbs dancing at the beck and call of the Labour delegates than to undertake at his advanced age a part requiring so much political agility, and such an abandonment of independence and dignity. I expect that the Governor's speech will contain a recommendation to Parliament to proceed with the consideration of Federation —a colourless measure in which all parties can unite, and that it will contain few sops to the Labour party, except "one man, one vote," which was embodied in the Premier's Electoral Bill before the Labour party came into existence. Unless the "old parliamentary hand" is going to belie all his previous history, lie will not stoop very low to curry favour with a party which has yet to learn its real value and its true place in the political economy. If, therefore, in a month's time we see the celestial Mr Dibbs duly installed in office with suitable accompaniments, I, for one, shall not be surprised.