The Evening Star FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1872.

Evening Star, Issue 2998, 27 September 1872, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1872.

It is amusing to observe how very calmly all things proceed with a certain class of journalists now that Mr Stafford is Premier, We read nothing now of the terrible ruin that the late Administration had brought upon the Colony. All that, in their eyes, looked so dark under Mr Fox’s Administration is endured with a marvellous degree of patience. The new Treasurer accepts the old Treasurer’s Budget, and would have had it passed item by item had not some member, anxious to save appearances, pointed out that the change of Ministers was made for the purpose of setting to rights what was wrong in public finance—not to confirm the wrong. This not only threw the deranged the Ministerial plan of operations. A majority of one or two is a matter not to be dawdled with, for no one knows how soon it may dwindle to none. Politics take queer turns, and any one who takes the trouble to analyse the characteristics of the Government and its supporters will arrive at the conclusion that a more ricketfcy majority never was built upon by a Ministry. In the first place, there is no distinctive policy between the Stafford and Fox Administrations—at least, none has been enunciated. The only promise given by the new team is, that the work undertaken by the Colony shall be done for much less than by their predecessors. The country can surely have no objection to this- if the work is done. The danger is, that Mr Stafford will foil into his old error of going the wrong way about a right object. He tried his hand at cutting down expenses once before, and has the hardihood to maintain that he succeeded We are not inclined to dispute with him whether he in any year effected the reduction in expenditure he promised. Perhaps lie did, but at what cost? At the cost of disorganisation of several departments, and at last of a Native war. Many years ago, a rich old farmer in the North of England took it into his head to reform the expenses of his establishment, and to cut clown wages wherever possible. Among other black-looking items that he marked out for reform was the cost of sweeping his chimneys. He was sure the work might he done more cheaply ; so in furtherance of this economic project, he experimented on his kitchen chimney thus:—He procured a wisp of straw and tied a rope round it, so that one end reached the kitchen, and the other emerged from the top of the chimney. He then caused his son to mount the roof and draw the wisp upwards, and stationed his daughter in the kitchen to pull it downwards; while he himself gave the word of command, “ Pull away, Jack: sway away, »Sall.” The result was that the chimney was cleared of soot, and the old man saved a couple of shillings—the only drawback being that between the two sweepers I.he chimney was pulled down upon the roof. On witnessing this unexpected consequence, he quietly retired into his own room to calculate what was the cost of his new mode of chimney sweeping. If all the men of New Zealand could act as he did, and sit down and calculate the cost of Mr

Stafford’s retrenchment plans, based upon precisely the principle that actuated the farmer, we do not think they would be very ready to trust him with the management of sweeping our departmental chimneys. The way Mr Stafford set about his work forms a striking contrast to that of the late Ministry in the only department in which comparison is "possible—the Native department.. He reduced the Armed Constabulary so much in number that they were utterly useless; he allowed them to become lax in discipline, and did not attempt to utilise their labor by the formation of military roads. The consequence was the surprise at Patea, the escape of Maoris from the Chatham Islands, the gathering together of a force of two thousand men or more, sweepings from all the riff raff of all the Colonies, a long series of sad disasters, and a harassing guerilla war. Ho had pulled the chimney upon the roof with a vengeance. It is quite possible that he may perceive his error, and resolve not to commit it again. The difficulty in all such cases is, however, twofold : the first is in the man himself: the second in the position in which he has placed himself. His idiosyncracy displayed itself in his mode of going about saving. He did not seek to call to his aid the best men that could be obtained, at rates of remuneration equal to their talents, under the conviction that efficiency does not depend so much numbers as upon pertect organisation and discipline. The late Ministry, with about one-third of the number of men that he ultimately found necessary, have maintained the peace and sustained the honor of the Colony, simply because they selected competent agents, and adopted the best methods. But the position in which Mr Stafford has placed himself necessitates some meddling with the departments, because he has acceded to office on the plea that there has been gross mismanagement. He must therefore either do something, or be self-convicted of having misled his followers; we do nob believe he has misled the country, or that its sympathies are with his party.