CONTEMPORARY OPINIONS ON CURRENT EVENTS.

Evening Star, Issue 3134, 6 March 1873, Page 3

CONTEMPORARY OPINIONS ON CURRENT EVENTS.

Mr Stafford's sr fox'it,

The Oracles have spoken ! Mr Stafford’s speech was lo ked for with especial interest, but will be read with not a little diaippoiutment —containing as it docs nothing new, nothing that had pot been spoken by the same bps and spoken better, during the session of 1872, nothing that has not bpen set down over and over again in the pages of Hansard. The speech lacks not in rpwntity, but it does in quality, and contains inconsistencies which it is hard to reconcile. . Mr Stafford is right in supposing that many persons he might have said most persons—will with Iffra refuse to believe that there is only 011 c man in New Zealand capable of affministenng Native affairs, but, at the same time, we think the general opinion of the Colony is, that the administration pf this important apd difficult department pannot bp placed in better hands than ft is at present. Certainly, the sub Stitqtipn pf Mr Stafford for Mr MH.ean, notwithstanding the expressions of confidence of certain influential Natives in the former, would not, we think, in view of past events and past administration, tend to an increase of satisfaction, or an increased feeling of security. Bye the bye, we wonder whether among the influential Natives is included Mr Karaitiaqa Takpraoana, who, if we may believe a letter recently published, purporting to be addres-ed to his people, announcing the downfall of the Fox-Vogel Ministry, intimated that thenceforth Mr Stafford and him felf! wepe going to govern the Colony. , , . Thpre is this other thing tp be remarked, vis , that boweyer reluctant Mr Stafford may have been to take office, he was at least equally reluctant to quit it, and woulff not hare done so but for the firm pf and taken by Governor Bowen. We repeat that the speech is a disappointing on°, and it is so as much for what it omits as what it contains. North OUtf/o Tones.

We confess we felt some sympathy with Mr Hafford as we read his speech. Like the prophet of old, his friends scut him to curse, but faith and truth were stronger than his will, and he could only bless 1 . Instead of being able to point to the disastrous consequences that have followed the policy of his Eolitical opponents, he was forced to open is mouth, 1 and declare “ that the two groat provinces of the Middle Island were never in so healthy a condition as at present, since thcii settlement.” Surely, never was statesman or prophet in. so curious a dilemma sines the clays of Jbdaam. His attempts to play the part of a prophet of evil are simply ridiculous. A Colony with a present revenue of a mill on, to say nothing of probable increase, after having spent four millions on railways, which will certainly represent some considerable proportion of the outlay, is to he brought to a temporary and disastrous standstill, through not being able to raise the last hundred thousand pounds ! The truth is, it is the veriest claptrap in existence, and the last man who be lievca in It is'Mr Stafford himself. That he talks such rubbish at all is due to the fact that he has to act a part in which he does not believe. if it were not all a farce, what would be easier than, in the case of this imaginary evil apd its consequences, to point out that those who framed tke policy, and who have some plaim to be termed financiers,

foresaw the possibility of a temporary panic in the London money market, and provided against it by setting aside the loan guarantee ! by the Home Government, on which money can be raised at any moment, let the panic he ever so severe. But it M ould be mere waste of time to treat Mr Stafford’s speech as fit for serious cntici m. It is clear from tbc lirst that lie meat to say as little as possible of a nature to leave him open to criticism, and we must say ho snccee : ed admirably in his object. The burthen of his speech as summarised by himself is, “1 look on the pol cy as wise and good, hut I disapprove of the way it is being carried out, and think that serious consequences will follow, unless the mode of administration is changed.” Coming from a leader of the Oppositionparty, this is very natural and proper, but it is a pity Mr Stall, rd docs not tell us more plainly to what it is ho objects in the .Administration. Of course, wo know he objects to “ political” railways. So dors every member of the House, an I the public too, for the matter of that—except in the case of Ins or their own particular railway. But wil he tell us how “political’ railways are to be avoided in any general seheme ; and now that there is a chance of his coming into power again, will he agree to stake his seat on purging the schedule of all “political” railways ? If so, he shall have our very cordial assistance in the effort. It is far eas er to blame onr adversa ies than to avoid their errors ; and, certainly, during his last short tenure of office, Mr.Stafford showed no sign or intention of striking out the “political railways. Li/ltillon Tunes,