The Evening Star SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2588, 3 June 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1871.

The new Ministry is formed, that is to say three gentlemen have consented to take office with Mr Reid, and report says two more are to be added to the list, Mr Reid has had plenty of raw material to work upon, and he has availed himself of the privilege. Whether he has succeeded in selecting those who will command the confidence of the House and the country, remains to be seen. We by no means suggest that the recruits whom he has enlisted have not ability to fulfil the duties of the offices they have undertaken. They may be gifted with penetration above their fellows, and like some giants in intellect amongst our ancestors, whose fame has come down to us, they may, for aught we know to the contrary, be able to do by instinct what others have to acquire by long and patient training. But we who are of the less gifted class, and who, moreover, are accustomed to think there is such an element, as law in the acquirement of all science, social, political, and physical, know only one rule by which to judge—a rule as old as the ancestors of Solomon, amongst whom no doubt it was current—“ Even " a child is known by his doings.” There was something after all in that doctrine of king-craft in which King James used to pride himself. Most men seem to think politicians like poets, are heaven-born. But even granting that to be the ease, like heaven-born poets, they a.ie all the better for a little training. Even Mr Reid himself would have been no worse if he had been brought up to the routine of business, so that he could have slipped into the intricacies of deplomacy with the ease that familiarity with routine alone can confer. In his choice he has evidently been mindful to have no one about him who knows better than himself. We do not think he has neglected the lesson we gave him the other night, when we warned him of the danger of being made a tool of. He has profited by it, at any rate, to the extent of associating himself with those who have all to learn. He has now an excellent opportunity of breaking them in and teaching them their paces. The only danger is that while they are learning their new tricks, the business of the country will be rather deranged. It is invariably the case when men enter upon, to them, new and untried tracks of enterprise, that they or their employers suffer loss while they are learning. They have, to a greater or less extent, to grope their way; and although they may be quite conscious of their own power and mental resources, the country likes to know what foundation there is for confidence that its affairs will be safer in their hands than with the Ministry so unceremoniously superseded. We confess we see nothing gained by the change. The people did know Mr Cargill and Mr Turnbull. They knew that both had deep interest in the welfare of the Province, and were able and trained men of business ; and they knew also that Mr Haughton had had great experience in the goldfields, and had had a good drilling in official duties in the North. But we have no such guarantee for business talent in those who have taken their places. Mr Reid has had about two years of office ; and although it would give us great pica sure to compliment him on his success as a political leader, in the face of about ninety-eight thousand pounds deficiency it would be pure hypocrisy to do so. To help him out of this slough of despond into which he has plunged the Province, he has obtained the services of Mr Bradshaw, of whose financial talent Otago knows nothing. In fact, in Dunedin, that gentleman is chiefly known as the nominee of Mr Stafford on the goldfields, at the time when the delegated powers were withheld, and when there was every disposition to bring Otago under the absolute dominion of the Central Government. Mr Cutten is said to be a gentleman of high_talent. We all know he has

had much experience officially, and that the duties of office are not new to him. But then he holds no portfolio. He neither controls the treasury, nor public works, nor land and survey. Neither are his politics particularly well known, for he has not taken a very active part in public affairs for many years. Probably Mr Cutten is the most able member of the present Ministry. Of Mr Bathgate we need not speak. Everybody knows Mr Bathgate, or if they do not, it is not his fault. We hardly know a more useful man. Equally at home in the camp, on the platform, or in the courts of justice. Mr Bathgate has power to turn attention to any variety of subjects, in any succession of moments. If a meeting wants a chairman, he is there. If a board wants a chairman, he is there. li the volunteers want a leader, he is there. If the cadets require a lecture, he is there. If the Chamber of Commerce meet, he is there. He is equally at home in the lecture room, at the bar, in politics, in the Sunday-school, in public works’ construction, at a review, on the stump, or in the bank parlor. In short, no matter what, when, and how, if men are perplexed in mind, body, or estate, he is there to help them by his advise and counsel. He may not always hit on the best way of doing a thing, or take the most correct view of the subjects submitted to him, but still he is ready to lend a hand, whatever his assistance may be worth—and everybody ought to be willing to thank him for his good intentions, even if they add to the pavement below. We suppose it is on the ground of this flexibility of genius that Mr Reid has appointed him Provincial legal adviser. It is not often that law prospers in the mind of men so versatile. There is too much hard logic about it to attract them. We do not think that Mr Bathgath is an improvement on Mr Haggitt j but such is the Ministry. We are curious to know how such an unbroken team will pull together.