The Ashburaton Guardian. Manga Est Veritas Et Prevalebit. TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 1888. THE SILENT POLICY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1817, 17 April 1888, Page 2

The Ashburaton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 1888. THE SILENT POLICY.

The studied manner m which Ministers and their supporters decline to take ' the publio into their confidence as to - their views and intentions is very re- ' markable. Never before we believe has a recess passed over without a single i Ministerial address, and never before ■ has there been so singular a reticence exhibited by the members of any party as that which is persistently preserved by tho party at present m power. Were the case reversed, that is to say were the Liberals m power there would ere this have been a chorus of protest from Opposition journals at this entire absence ot light and leading, and all sort-; of conclusions would have been drawn as to the motives underlying this policy of silence. But to the view of those journals, which are now the Ministerial supporters, nothing that Sir Harry and bis colleagues can do can be ought but • the very acme of wisdom and propriety, hence they are perfectly content » with a silence on their part which would be unendurable were their opponents the ! occupants of the Government benches. For ourselves we are curious to know what is the meaning of all this mystery and can scarcely admit that such reasons as have been put forward are satisfactory. For example, wo have it that Sir Join. Hall doesu't intend to addiess his constituents because " thero ib no great principle involved m the legislation of last session " Indeed. Is there no principle involved m tho altered basis of the representation of the people, nothing worth talking about m connection with the altered system of railway management, or m the amendment of the land laws, or the changes made with respect to our .Educational system? Surely there is, and surely Sir John has some opinions on these points which aro worth hearing. But if not, if there is nothing that he has to '* say worth saying about the past, what [J about tho future ? Js there to be no light jl or leading as to our future fiscal policy, ;t as to the furthering of settlement, as to taxation reform and half-a dozen other important matters of policy ? The fact is the excuse is so lame that it can't stand for a moment. Let us see what the Premier has to say about the matter. '* We find it m the Wellington cor- ' 0 respondence of an Auckland paper. The writer says : — " A well-informed politician here, and supporter of the Government, told me this afternoon that he recently had a conversation with the Premier, who rather deprecated tho notion of propounding any set policy, for the reason that the duty which had been imposed upon the Government was altogether a duty m regard to mattors of detail, and precluded all merely formulated questions of general interest. " IJo ppnsidered this should be the position assumed untj.l tho colony should have recovered from its recent depression. Nothing v»as to bo gained by further expansion until the improved tone of public feeling justified it. The present attitude of the constituencies was one of expectancy, 'i hey were justified m expecting . that to bo done which their reprcsontait tives undertook to do. So far as relates r to tho members ot tho North Island this r accurately represents tha general sense of the political situation ; but the news received from tho South appears to n indicate that there is a ' seething of the political cauldron ' which must end m a ' boil over/ The lookers on, however, and the political cooks have no incliuad tion at present to risk the acute pain of being scalded. Most of the young and new members represent Sou thorn constituencies, and there will not be any disinclination to air their rhetoric. This, however, will assist tho Government rather than otherwise. The inconvenience would be to y.ac them a political text, and it is this 0 inconvcnicnco which tho Premier t would gladly" avoid at present. Ho o stands by the letter of the commission which tho country (ho says) gave to him and bis colleagues. He believes that ho will be able to meet Parliament with tho ' satisfaction cf having performed a most difficult and unpleasant process, and fulfilled the promise given by him and them upon taking office The questions of general policy must await a later and more liberate discussion." This lets the cat out of tlio bag, the words we have italicised shoeing plainly that the policy of silence is a policy adhered to with the view of giving Opposition members nothing so take hold of as critics of the Government, while the objection to for-] mulata any set policy ia an indication' /•that the Premier and his colleagues are fc waiting to sec how the wind blows that I thoy may bo able to trim tlieic sails » accordingly. This may bo clever party j * nianceuvreing but it isnot statesmanship,