THE INANGAHUA ELECTION.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1256, 9 April 1883, Page 2

THE INANGAHUA ELECTION.

The Christchurch Press has the following, concerning the forthcoming election for the Inangahua seat : — For some reason or other the approaching election for Inangahua is regarded with an unusual degree of interest at the seat of Government. We gather this from the number of canards that are already strong on the wing about it. Whenever any political subject awakens a lively interest at Wellington, the fact is made known, not by open discussion in the local Px'ess, or by any sort of intelligent, movement, but by the prevalence of strange, unaccountable rumors, originated no one knows how, but speedily growing into accepted items of beach gossip. These wonderful inventions presently get intu the papers in one shape or another, and are solemnly believed by a good many people, whilst a good many others, who ought to know better, fail to see their utter absurdity, but give it out as their conviction that

'• there must be something in them," " Where there is smoke there is fire," and so forth. When it is born in mind that the larger Colonial topics' attract little" attention at the seat of Government, and are seldom even, alluded to in the papers there, it can easily be understood why little matters like a by-election on the West Coast are made so much of In the- present case the subject has\a local aspect for the Wellington pedple.'for two reasons Firstly, they are in the habit of patronising the West Coast as part of their own domain, a sort of dependency or feudajtory possession of Wellington, owing to the commercial relations between the two places.. Secondly, a \Vellington man is a candidate for* the Inangahua seat in opposition to the candidate whom the electors Have invited over from Canterbury. These two circumstances are quite enough to set all the politicians of L^b^QjijQuay and Willis street in a filter, and to arouse a whole flight rfi'bnall canatds. Thus as soon as it Had been decided to put Mr Shaw forward, a report was circulated, and papers, that iMr Reeves, the oandidate first in the field, had retired in favor of Mr Shaw, and that Mr Weston, the late member, for Inangahua, was also among his supporters. Considering that Mr. Reeves always belonged to the extreme Opposition, and that Mr. Weston went decidedly into Opposition last sesston, it seemed rather odd that one should retire in favor of the Government candidate, and the other support him by the influence of his popularity in the constituency. Accordingly we were not surprised next day to find Mr. Shaw indignantly denying the statement that Mr. Reeves had retired in his favor, while Mr. Weston simultaneously denied that he was a supporter of Mr. Shaw, that he knew anything about Mr. Shaw, or that he had had any communication with Mr. Shaw or his friends. Both the stories, in fact, were a pure fabrication, intended, no doubt, from the Wellington point of view, to further Mr. Shaw's fortunes by making it believed that he carried heavy metaL There is, nevertheless, one somewhat important conclusion to be drawn from all this stuff and nonsense, and that is that Ministers and their friends appear not to view with any favor the prospect of the return of experienced men to public life. The Ministerial influence is all pervading at the seat of Government, and the influence of "the Beach" reacts not less powerfully on the Ministers. It is reasonable to assume that the feeling of " the city," whatever it is, only reflects the feeling in the " Buildings " ; and that if the Wellington people are solicitous for Mr. Shaw's success, the Ministerial party have entrusted their cause and promised their support to that candidate. If this be so, ij; will give .ground for the opinion that they are not particularly anxious, to see in Parliament men of experience and inde pendence, and prefer to see the House tilled with novices, who are neither exacting as supporters nor formidable as opponents. This is of course a quite intelligible policy, and at first sight it may appear to be a shrewd one. It would mean that the object of the Government was simply to retain office and carry their measures by skilful management of a House singularly wanting in trained politicians of distinct individuality. In our opinion, however, such a policy would be bad in itself, and end in failure. The weakness of the House is the main cause of the weakness of the Ministry, and besides, no Ministry can depend on mediocrity. It has always been the aim of all great politicians to attract the best political material in the country, and to make their own impress as strongly as possible on that material. The party policy of a Government that seeks to fill theHouse with inexperienced men must end in failure, because the people will naturally revolt against an attempt to deprive them of the services of those who have already made their mark, and who have a right to be looked to as the future public men of the country. There never was a time in the history of the colony when capable, original and practised politicians were more needed in Parliameut, and we are convinced Ministers will make a huge mistake if they oppose the laudable desire of the electors to supply that defect.