The Globe. FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1879.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1528, 10 January 1879, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1879.

The report promulgated by a Northern contemporary to the effect that Sir Julius Vogel intends returning to New Zealand may be accepted as very probable, insomuch that it is well known that, under the present Government, the AgentGeneral's position has been a very unenviable one, in consequence of the continual annoyance the holder of it has been subjected by the interference of his now and inexperienced masters. When at the closo of the penultimate session the Grey party succeeded in ousting the Atkinson Ministry, it is well known that the slonder majority that enabled the present Cabinet to secure a victory was gained upon the most lavish and liberal promises of retrenchment and economy, and as their position on the Treasury benches was very insecuro even when they had succeeded in tiding over the finish of the session and gaining safely the haven of the recess, it was deemed necessary to increase the confidence of the House by protending to carry out the reforms which formed the ticket that gained their admission to office. In pursuance of this course, honorable members turned their attention to the London agoncy, and, elated with the position that made them superior officers to a man who had been their master for many years issued very absolute instructions concerning the reductions to be made in the f uturo management of this department. The position between the Cabinet and Sir Julius Vogel was then a peculiar one. There is no doubt about no love existing between them, and the Ministry were anxious to give the offico to some one of the half-dozen applicants for it in the ranks of their own party; but then it was well known that if the Agent-General was dismissed he would return to the colony and become a very dangerous opponent. In addition to which his dismissal would destroy at a blow the transient popularity the Grey party had worked so hard to gain. The safe middle course adopted was therefore to force the Agent-General to resign, and as it was rumored that Sir Julius had some thoughts of joining a mercantile firm, it was hoped that he would be completely and quietly disposed of, and his office rendered available for a friend and supporter of the ruling powors. So confident were the Ministers about the success of their line of action, that one of their party visiting home at the time —ostensibly on urgent private affairs —carried with him the appointment signed and sealed to enable him to take the place occupied by Sir Julius at a moment's notice. The game did not eventuate as anticipated, the Agent-General did not resign, and the retrenchments ordered were partially carried out. Some very amusing correspondence is published in the parliamentary papers of last'session in reference to the reductions ordered in the AgentGeneral's department. One letter in particular being remarkable for the display of keen irony on the part of the writer, informs the Ministry that ho hopes. to effect still further reductions by letting a couple of rooms in the building occupied by the agency. Sir George Grey's resolution amounting to obstinacy is, however, well known, and this has been persistently exercised against the AgontGeneral upon every occasion since the first attompt to oust him from office, and it certainly reached a culminating point on tho appointment of Mr G. M. Reed and Captain Barry as immigration lecturers. After compelling Sir Julius to dismiss men well acquainted with their business, and conversant with tho districts they required to canvass, this sending of two strangers to England to take the place of the men dismissed can only bo regarded as a direct insult to the holder of the office of Agent-General, and it is greatly to be desired that it will so be regarded and resented by the resignation of Sir Julius Vogel, and his return to the colony. There is no doubt but the administration of this gentleman was faulty, but, compared with that the country is at present suffering from, the defects are wholly hidden by tho superior traits, so that a return to the Vogel rule would certainly prove an unqualified benefit to all classes of residonts within the colony. It has been surmised that in tho event of the return of tho "Father of the Public Works Policy" to New Zealand the party at present ruling would bid high for his services. They might do so, but, we think, with very little hope of success. Tho present Premier would never tolerate a man with a will of his own in his Cabinet .while being humble and subservient to an inferior iutollect is not the part Sir Julius would care to play in colonial politics. The greater probability & tiiat upon his return- »»<* consequent election to the House of Representatives, Sir Julius would gather togotlier tho indopendent members of the Assembly and form an Opposition. Ifc is needloss to add that if this wa3 the action taken thp numbering of tho clays of tho present Administration would bo a particularly easy task.

Thkeb seems to have been rather a lively scene in Wellington on the 3rd instant, when a deputation of the leading citizens waited upon the Minister of Public Works in reference to certain sections of the reclaimed land being reserved for a site for a railway station. The denizens of the Empire City do not like losing the control of the valuable block at. present announced for sale by the Government, and, unable to secure the whole, are desirous of reserving at least a portion of the land for public purposes. The Government have promised that a passenger station shall be built on a piece of this reclamation, but the portion of ground set apart for the site is so infinitesimal that the great men of Wellington fear that they will be compelled to travel singly until the present station beyond the town boundary is reached. To prevent the inconvenience that would necessarily attaoh to this solitary system of travelling, a deputation waited on Mr Macandrew for the purpose of getting at least a promise that two sections should be conserved for the purpose required. The delegates were met with with the usual quibbling, everything would be done that could bo done, but all depended upon the engineer. This answer does not appear to have pleased Mr Nathan, one of the leading merchants, who lost patience, and told the Minister the following wholesome piece of truth. He said the citizens of Wellington had a right to demand that the railway terminus should be removed to a position nearer the centre of the city. He thought, in fact, that the wishes of the people should be consulted, because it was they who would have to pay for the work. He did not think that it was for either the Government or any of their engineers to say whether or not the land referred to by the deputation should be reserved. He knew that the merchants suffered considerably in consequence of the goods station being so far from town, and they had to pay as much as half-a-crown for the cartage of their goods from town to the present railway station. They would save the expense if the station were nearer town. He remarked in conclusion that while Otago could get all she wanted in this respect,- Wellington was neglected, and he did not see why any part of the colony should be treated in an exceptional manner. This naturally aroused the Ministers' ire, and called forth the following reply:— " Mr Macandrew said he had no intention of speaking from the stump on this occasion, and he thought that Mr Nathan might have saied all his virtuous indignation. Mr Nathan's remarks were entirely uncalled for, and he (Mr Macandrew) had done nothing to warrant them. The gentlemen who had charge of the railways were the moßt competent to say what was required, and what was not. It seemed to him that the deputation wished the whole of the reclaimed land to be reserved for railway purposes, but no such thing could take place." The latter portion of the foregoing speech contains a very palpable truth. The Government requires every pound it can raise, and is not likely to lose the chance offered by this sale of the public estate for the replenishment of the Treasury chest.