"Quid Nunc " thinks tlie: following para graph which he takes from the ; Australasian applies to our present political condition : — There. is ' something grimly comic in the statement which appears this week amongst our telegraphic items, that the evidence taken regarding* the late disastrous collision between two ironclads proved that the "look-out man" of one of them was pur blind. Just attend for a moment to .the in credible folly of the position. These two great ships ' were, with others of the squadron, cruising about in a dense fog. Their saf sty depended largely on the effici ency of the look-out, aud yet, although on the Vanguard they probably had some 400 or 500 men on board to select from, they chose oiie who, whatever ndight be his other physical, mental, and moral qualifications for the post, was deficient iv. the indispensable one of sight. One i_ tempted to ask by what extraordinary prin ciple of selection such a choice is made. Doubtless there is seme highly satis'actory official answer, some invariable stupid task fell upon that man at that moment, and which could not he departed from, however the safety of the ship might be jeopardised. It Is easy to understand a 1! this. And indeed, curious as the position at first sight appes-s, it is nothing to the folly which we see exlvb ited every day in political ]"'fe' There also we have to select some look-out men who have much to do with steering the state ship, and it is not necessrry to say much on the choice we make to show that it exhibits absurd''ties quite equal to that of the Vanguard. Let anybody run through the I*st of our mem bers of Parliament, our assemblage of the wisest, aud ask himself if in the great majority of cases they are better qualified for their position than that unhappy pur blind look-out man. For such work', the guidance of the political destinies of the community,' we want the best, and loftiest, aud brightest minds we can find, and we get a collection amid wh'oh one who is only purbliud.and not wholly bhnd and incapable, is at once taken as a natural leader. 