THE PLACE OF MEETING.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3248, 29 November 1881, Page 4

THE PLACE OF MEETING.

Nothing is mora easily understood than tbe feeling of Wellington men about the question as to the place of meeting of the General Assembly or the seat of Government. To change either inflict a very great blow on the City of Wellington, as every one knows, and it is not surprising that the people there should be exceedingly sensitive on the point. We have no reserve on the matter ourselves, and should as staunchly as any Wellington man oppose to the utmost any attempt to alter the status quo. There is no doubt a strong feeling in the South, and in Auckland to remove the place of meeting to Clnustchurch, and it is our opinion that whei.ever the question is brought on, there will be a large majority in favor of a resolution of the kind. The representatives of City of Wellington interests may very quickly lose their heads over the question, and thus materially assist thoir opponents. One of them has lost his head for some time. The latest declaration of the New Zealand Times is that, because Mr Ormond is opposed to that system of Government which centralises administration in Wellington, he is therefore an onemy of the place, and the citizens are deliberately called upon to regard him as such. Poor ignorant journal ! Mr Ormond, it is well known, would be one of the very first to protest against the removal of the Parliament from Wellington. There is, moreover, as little connection between the demand for decentralisation and the agitation about, the place of the Assembly meeting, as between Goodwin Sands and Tcnterden Steeple. Kxeept in thi.. way, that it' eenlTS'lizalion were to prooee.l as it. has been doing in recent years, it might lead to the disruption of the colony. The stupidity of the New Zealand Times has passed even beyond the stage of a by-word, and people are asking what the paper exists for at all. As a toady to the Ministry it is not even respected by those for whom it is ever ready to do any amount of the work of a menial. Nothing, therefore, can be more farcical than for such a representative of Wellington interests to be placing any man in the ranks of condemned politicians. If the paper commanded the slightest influence or respect, its action in pronouncing the ostracism of Mr Ormond from ''the city" would inflict a serious injury on its cause. Wellington wants to make friends at the psesent moment —not to alienate those she has. There were hardly a dozen men in the House last session but •would have gone out of their way to have insulted, and wounded her. A powerful Opposition was embittered by the unfairness and misrepresentation of the whole of tho press, while one-half the Ministerial followers were absolutely pledged to vote for Mr Andrew's motion about the meeting of Parliament in Christchurch. The greatest natural advantages will not compensate for the incessant folly of those guardians of the city if they persist in the same game.— Wanganui Herald.