THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 1892.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3040, 9 January 1892, Page 2

THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 1892.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Oi whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political.

Tin: farmers whose crops are just ripening in their paddocks, and who .feel some anxiety as to whether sufficient labour would be forthcoming to reap and stack them, owe a deep debt of gratitude to the Government for competing at this particular time for the labour which is available. The glowing accounts

of the liberality of the paternal government has naturally caused considerable struggle to dip into the public money bag, which ia better filled and less carefully guarded than thoso of private individuals, who are under the necessity of economy in working, if their ledger at the yearly balance is not to show a deficit. We all know that it is a hard struggle to make farming pay a fair enumeration for labour and capital invested. What matters that to Government, the farmers, having a stake in the country, are not and are never likely to be supporters of theirs, They have not been deceived by the shuffling of the Premier, who within a few months uttered the most frothy nonsense about Land Nationalisation, admitted that in that direction he went in opinion even further than Henry George and that he hoped there would not be a freehold in the country in twenty years, and has since retracted and admitted he was a naughty boy. When posing in the first character he was, or hoped to be, metaphorically speaking, carried shoulders high by the town constitutencies, plumped down on the seat alloted to the Premier in the House and kept their by the same force. What a different story he told in Auckland the other day, Land Nationalisation had dwindled down to the very thin proportions of not parting with any more of the land which still remained in the hands of the Government for disposal. There is an old proverb, in vino veritas, or, to put the same sentiment in language better understood of the people, " "When the wine is in the wit is out." "When the Premier gave utterance to the first opinions, he may be said to have been intoxicated, not with strong wine, but strong politics; he forgot for the time that there were others to be considered than those who were participating with him in the political carouse, and who, while still in a state of intoxication, did flop him down on the Ministerial benches. It is true that some of these men have become sober, and regret exceedingly tho part they took on the occasion, but the greater number are still of the same opinion ; it is with those the Premier has to reckon. He has appealed to their selfishness, and utilised their ignorance. He has pointed out to them that they have very few garments in their own clothes chest, but that if _ they can succeed in getting their neighbours' upsot they may in the scramble succeed in getting a passable wardrobe for themselves. He must provide the scrambles or lose their support. Hence the payment of high wages and the attracting of the labour upon which the farmers are depending. This is, in a double sense, upsetting their chests; he is taking from them that which is absolutely essential to their well being, and paying for it with their own money—a taste of socialism which will, we have no doubt, be fully appreciated by the victims —the farmers with crops in their paddocks. What a contrast is the course being pursued with that followed by enlightened Governments. On the Continent it is usual to come to the aid of the farmers by allowing a considerable number of soldiers leave from their military duties in order that they may assist in garnering the harvest, upon which the well-being and the prosperity of a country depend. We fully recognise that public works must be prosecuted and that labour mus'; be had for the purpose; but no wise Government would issue contracts at a time when doing so is calculated to interfere with the most important industry in the country at its annually-recurring most critical stage. It is not of any vital importance whether the railway works are proceeded with tomorrow or a moiith hence, but when the grain is ripe it must be harvested. In considering the merits of the Government, we remind all owners of land that " When the wine is in tho wit is out," which, being interpreted, means that men then tell the truth. Bear in mind the utterances of the Premier when sober and when intoxicated, and apply the proverb.