The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1887. THE POLITICAL CRISIS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1677, 1 October 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1887. THE POLITICAL CRISIS.

There can be no question that m tendering the resignation of himself and his colleagues, Sir Robert Stout has taken the only step consistent with dignity and constitutional usage. The fact that Major Atkinson has been sent for opens up the earnest politician a vista of the iuture which cannot be contemplated with pleasurable feelings, for it gives rise to forebodings that the colony is about to be committed' to the tender mercies of another Continous Ministry. The short and chequered career of the Stout Yogel coalition, owing to the adverse influence which surrounded them has been little belter than a series of struggles for existence against the combined attacks of the various sections of the heterogeneous Opposi : tion which confronted them, the defection of some professed adherents and the half-hearted and like-warm support of others. Notwithstanding these discouraging surroundings, the late Ministry have, as we have previously pointed out, left behind them a record of which they may well feel proud. The people of Canterbury have reason to regard their fall with, if not fear and trembling, at least no small amount of anxiety, for the memory of wrongs inflicted on them by the last Continuous Ministry have not yet faded away.

Had the Opposition been as successful m Canterbury, Nelson and West land, as they have been m Auckland, Otago and Wellington, Major Atkinson on being sent for would have experienced little or no difficulty m forming a Ministry. But his party his old colleagues and staunch supporters — has been shattered. Messrs Rolleston, Bryce, Trimble, Conolly, the two Bucklands, Allwright, and others, on whose votes he could always depend, are not m the House. At the present time the Atkinsonian party are too weak for them to form a strong and stable Ministry from it exclusively. His own immediate following does not exceed 27 or 28, and we shall be greatly surprised if he does not recognise the necessity of combining with some other party leader, and thus giving the colony a strong coalition Ministry, Failing this we can but expect a repetition of the scenes which occurred m the House m the early days of the last Parliament A coalition Ministry, to our mind,' is the only solution of the difficulty. The state of parties here is pretty much the same as it was m Victoria years ago. Neither Freetraders nor Protectionists were strong enough to carry out a policy of their own, and Ministries partook very much of the ephemieral character of Major Atkinson's last attempt to form one. It was not until after several mutual defeats m Victoria that tbe idea of a coalition Government was given effect to, and our sister colony has never had occasion to regret the combination of Freetraders and Protectionists m har first coalition Government,