POLITICAL PORTRAITS.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 105, 5 January 1881, Page 3

POLITICAL PORTRAITS.

[r _. L; .Ji;HE f *joh(. ' MAJOR:, ATKINSON, ; ,!TKB iCSAMPJON jQI 1 THE IREPTOIa/TION; v."".' '■''' '-'-.vy'V, . J..^..#4Rty. ,-. „'.«.!"...; Major i.tWnsoa ip * truly Representative ..nan,, aithougk,;not m the fullest ssnie of ,~ .th«,|er t m. rifl He i« tbe^hesfc representative pf a constituency whioh New; Zealand pos „ $esses. o ; (TSfhen.iie wept* across; the floor of , r^be.^ouaeatyogers solicitation, ;h« not pnly - „v ^arga(n»d, t foi;,^poytfoJ:io( .(or < ; himself, but '1., for, the •ndo.if i ment-fo*,thf(, Nevrj (Plymouth '^ Botrd. .He, attempts to., condone m {;r^he f mind of, ,hi.j constituents ihis political by',, the {substantial endows .vßients he obtains io^jhis dieti-ict. And! although, the Oblpnial Treasurer first.repro.^•i^.thf.Colonial legislature Harry Al ber.t At|citißon and Taranaki interetts, ar« "the ipplo 6t Harry Albert Atkinson's eye. . But £is representation 'ends jidt here. He .fcas a tender regard ; for the interests of his ' -relatives. TKus "when the Colonial -Treasurer i»'in office, the Atkinsons and Hursthouses and Eichmonds, and their uncles, their <JOUBinj^ndJj;heiraunts,-all ileave like barnacltCto^he ship of State. As to represent: igl^Nej^aland^inikajiy ca ! paci!fcy;-he has made thekttempt, stekmgvpnly to >ibtain th* confi'df nee and^ supppjrt of-Tara-naki, an4-tP prJonde . P"ans for his relatytes, The credit of the qolony has suffered grendus callHnnies at his hands for whic^; be cares not a doit. The iihief article of hi{ politicar-CMed ii that starry Albert Atki|sOTm|sithe family should." be m offioe and if ceiye government pay. "The Arabs •imported was <' There is no Gbd but God, and ifalfomefcJi his prophet," The political -oreed^fJ^heaclQf the Hpuße of Atkinsoni. •um;Hursthouae=cum-Ilichmond > is " There is no 1 JFamiJy.htjt .pur, family— after us the . ' TarajiaJk^H'arbor^agd "after both of us the i 2 J?*H&'' flHMl^ Intense Jxeljeien ifi himeelf. There is »o combination of circura- : r ft^ftces wMtdh^^l^ i^uce: nin» to" believe that it was neceisarj f or him 'to relin'auish I ihoffieei UAle^s^n^ipatriotip^ifew'Zeaianders u --^ere-t6 : 'di«^hd-td-leaT«-hitn-«-large-suin of . jponeT, Place haa.not , ch»rmß.for hirq,.witlis qufcpay,; Th>reare no pplitical prinoiplos * f h« would not espouse to retain office. There 'wnof political combination of which ha i wpuldnpt be. willing to form a,q ingredient i for a seas- opitha 'Treasury benches. He J " pipfferjid fiiriievricea to. the GjTey Government','in the same' mahrier. that he had. made >„jPTerlures to Xogelan.4 McLean. He would i\ hiye Taunted the patriattem, of Grey as • & loudly. Mj a fish fag wpiild cry stale, fish, haki ii^ie been paid for doing s.Q.£;dEEe has; made , ""EmselfilTffiingii to ' aU'tq'e'Q' who will have i . "|n^thing:fado^^ jvi_th"him. In this manner • 4ieisKrepres«ntati7e man. Mr. De Lautour told the Souee last •essipnthatthertrwaßjonly one man m the chamber^ fit tolead, an?oppositioq, a.nd that was the Colomal Treasurer,. He went ;;.■_; on Ufi&j ['fcha^whdn. the Major was m Opposition, he challenged everything, and gaye « „ r . jig political opponent qredit for goad inten- , , i^wns. r Th»,reat,the Qptonial Treasurer, called tl T9 ttt , JSBW*ly ;; Hear-iC H«ar ! ! But the meni- :■,!: ,l)A^li^M9]in^X'c|» >^ith...that. tenderness he ha« displayed towards the Government — always excepting "Honest John "—only r -lainHy^^sletchea-tnls aspeofi of the Treav: idipiyncfticyi )' From ,^n! ana.lya'is of •■ t^hii o,wn. i|ature^j|e.i believes m Ino,; man's at /hon«!«ty.j 5 Kp.eyrirfg the -devious character ihufit bilOira^olioj^hejgivea.jCa one. credit for i9&tl:mtpntlbXHa 'Ah questions a.re.aubrn^fcted

thereby will it pay himself, and his constituents. In the House the nature of his utterance* is fashioned by the exigency of the heur. Their truthfulness, or falsehood is an after* con iiderat ion. . He, never made' a f ranker 1 confession 'of faith, than he did last session when he said " Ministers must tell the trpth once on- a while." His financial statement* 'are the most .fallacious things known out of banking business. His Eleven Million return of Grey expenditure was one 'stupendous falsehood, colored to look like truth, fie thought no one would find him out., It is one of the greatest treats conceivable when a matter of finance is before the House to see the Major rise and m volley of figures across th» floor. They fall on the heads of the members like the hail of musketry on a slate roof. The worst of the mischief is, that he controls the cable and sends his figures home and there men are found to whom this Taranaki Cagliostro is unknown, who are prepared to believe what he says. WeV feel very indignant here at newspaper men m England questioning our. solvency, and our willingness to pay our debts. Who gave them tha cue to do this ? Why, Harry Albert Atkinson. When Yogel took. Atkinson by the hand, there were men m the House of Bepresentativos who . thought- that .Atkinson's honor was proved lost. Experience of his character has proved how unfounded was their fear, because a man can never lose that which he : never possessed. When Yogel took over this lean Cassius of the Stafford party, the member for Mount Egmont wanted help.: This modern Cassius was not only lean — not only hungry — bub he was viciously ungrateful. v When Vogel's travelling expenses came before the House. Sueeban andiPyke (both anti-Vogelites) had to hunt up men to get them passed despite Atkinson's opposition. He tried to bite the hand that; had regaled .him", with; the food of office. He seems never to have forgiven Yogel for dragging him almost by the necks' from 'the ranks of the unemployed. Yogel understood finance — this man's system seems to.be based upon the Fifteen Gem Puzzle. Yogel had many, and not always selfish ideas— ihis man has but one. His architectural photograph may. be seen on the door of a Presbyterian Church, m one of the main street's of Wellington "I •m that 1 am." Yogel when he got to San Francisco talked wildly about the federation of the Anglo-Saxon race ; this man never looks beyond the Taranaki roadstead. Yogel unwisely pledged largely the credit of the colony — this man has wasted loans obtained for Public Worksj r in : the vain^ endeavor to provoke a -war. By his accursed compact with M'Lean to give 2§ per cent of ; of the lands lying between Stoney River and the Waingongoro to the New Plymouth Harbor Board, 'he has sullied the honor of the Crown, and' brought shame upon our race. He basely promised a well-known half-caste £500 to persuade the wretched Natives of the legality of the.confiscation of their lands ; and then more basely, refused to pay the fully earned, though perhaps iniquitous wages.' A copy of .Major Brown's letter, offering the guerdon and which was written, it states at Major Atkinson's direction, (copied by ourselves, from the .original) is m our possession. It was written at Patea and witnessed by Mr Sherwood. This is a sample of his official actions. And yet the Major ha* , his redeeming qualities. It is no Pharisee. No man ever heard him make pretensions to public virtue. If the jelly fish has consciousness and scien*. tific knowledge — and who will lay that it has not — it knows right well that vertebra spinal marrow are not found m its organization. The same principle may account for tlie' Treasurer's modesty, ijnlike some of his" colleagues he does not- even seek to assume virtues he knows he does not possess. He is leal, moreover, m public, to his colleagues. No difficulty daunts him. There is no statement requiring contradiction that he will not contradict. There is no cause, however iudefensible, he will not champion if hi*' interest is concened.;. After, finance his great forte, is West ■ Coast Native Affairs. It was necessary for the interest of his district to represent Te Whiti as a man of war, and a lunatic. Sis-representa~ tiohs m the House on tkis- matter betrayed an artistic 'skill unexpected m a man who had spent a life time'in . * .disastrous failure to understand figures. . They so nearly resembled iih« truth that even 'the well informed were .m danger of being imposed upon. ,The fears of men being heightened he played upon their imagination as a musi* cian Would upon his instrument. Hearing him thus play-you forgot the venality of the player — that he was playing for pelf— and liked the performance. Ho has played for its'" and we all have-danoed to his music fogetting that the days- of . payment, and mourning were to come. : '" • The financial distress of the colony is largely due to the Colonial- Treasurer. By reducing the £4000,000 loan m 1877, to £2,500,000, he kmew, that before another loan could be floated, grave financial emharassment would arise which would recoil on his opponents. By his wicked and intemperate, speech on , the '(state of our finances m 1879, which was duly trans* mitted to England, he impaired our credit, misrepresented our position ; and depreciated the .value of our debentures. .By insist - ing that' we' had' incuW^d liabilities to the extent of a million and a. quarter for the purchase of native lands,< he' stopped public workß, m order that an armed force might be kept, at Taranaki. By inducing . weak men like Sounders to believe his statements he created Hhe ory'- of /repudiation, and founded a party that will hereafter be known as: Repudiationists. Should he live another ten years we may probably see him leading a Repudiation party. It is bis dimness of honest perception that makes him so devoid of shame. No sketch bf the i Major would be complete . wit hout,a glance at his military qualities. We have never met with any ' man who could give jet an account of his prowess. His military, achievements have been performed like other men's acts of charity — by stealth. He may have done doughty deeds, but they haye'had no chronicler. His detractors say that he was a man of might among Maori cattle during, troublesome times, but the voice of unkindness has a bitter tone. No man we know ever saw him fight, except with the weapon of a woman, We all know how shrewish Is his tongue —how vixenish his manner. He spoke very valiant words at New P'ymouth when the surveyors were turned away from Waimate. He is entitled to their merit, as he is not pot-valiant like the member for (Jeraldine. In these degenerate days be most resembles a soldier of for-tune. When Hans Breitman returned from the fort his comrades found that Providence had blessed him with teapots and spoons. The teapots and spoons are. the Major's incentives to martial honors. His prowess it wisely displayed, when: numbers are between him and the enemy, instead of behind him. There isao doubt the Major would capture Parihaka with 1000 men, now the roads are made, if he was certain no resistance would be offered. . We heard the Ma> jor's brother Mr. Decimus one day assert that ha would march into Parihaka and destroy all the people- there if the Government would give him 150 men.- But . " Decy " dresses m a semi-military costume and ' wears a foTKge cap on one side of his heac^i.tp malts manifest his military charaoter. Their, is one, thing the Major wants to maintain a martial reputation, His heroism might then pass unchallenged, We mean. awUfary toJ\QXi'~-W ! airaraqa Standard^