THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1881. THE POLITICAL CRISIS.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 227, 21 July 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1881. THE POLITICAL CRISIS.

Homme propose metis Dieu dispose. In other words, events often take the most unexpected turn. Nothing could bo truer than such a proverb with regard to the present state of political affairs in Wellington. That there would he difficulty ahead with regard to the local government question was foreshadowed by the speeches made by Mr. Wakefield and others early in the session, but the Representation Bill was, even after these warning notes, considered the rock round which the Government would find it the most difficult to pass. And this was the opinion, not becanso the local government question was underrated, but because all sensible men recognised that the question was one merely of how funds were to bo raised for the local bodies. That there should be any question of a change in the nature of the local bodies, which have of late been doing their work so admirably, considering their means, was not thought “ on the cards ” by the public at large. Least of all was it thought possible that a return to the worn out and senile system of provincialism could bo gravely advocated with any chance of success. But the game of politics is the most complicated game in existence. It is so easy to influence events by a side issue, and to take advantage of the heat of party warfare to advance personal interests, that the most sensible calculations are frequently

upset. In the present instance the case may bo broadly stated as follows. The Government brought down certain pro posals for local self-government, sensible in the main, but which may not have altogether commended themselves to everybody. For ourselves, the most undesirable feature in the scheme appeared to be the constitution of the Board which it is proposed should be formed for the allocation of tho various sums to be granted to the local bodies. The choice by Parliament of the three members who are to sit, along with the Minister of Public Works, does not appear desirable, because it would practically mean the choice of the members out of tho dominant party. We should much have preferred to see some plan by which the members of the Board should have been chosen by tho country at large. But this might well have been arranged in Committee. The principle of having a Board independent of the Government and tha Public Works Department is sound enough. Then again it may be possible that much of the Native lands may have been reckoned for rating purposes at too high a value, but this also might have been arranged in Committee. But we repeat that the proposals as a whole were statesmanlike and practical. They were well worked out —and that is a great point, for however much our contemporary the “ Lyttelton Times ” may admire legislation effected by a few vague scratches of the pen, calling the said scratchiness “ simplicity,” thoroughness of work is a great desideratum. The cry of the country was for funds for carrying on local works, and to that cry the Government responded. The country did not ask for a change of system ; it wanted hard cash. And the machinery for obtaining such was planned out in the Government measure, which embraced the sound principle that all land, whether Government or ■ Native, which henefitted by local rates should pay something for the benefit received. Bat the Opposition immediately took up the position that the existing system has not worked well. Any discontent that may have occurred through a want of funds was laid to the door of inherent defects in the system itself, and Sir George Grey brought in a Bill so very wild in its proposals that, had it been the sole mainstay of the party, its chance would have been small indeed. Then Mr. Sheehan, recognising the lameness of tho expedient, proposed i a return to provincialism pure and simple. This, in his turn, he was forced to drop. Positive proposals having failed, that most shifty of politicians, Mr. Ormond, turned on his party and tabled a resolution “ That the proposals of tho Government in respect to local government and finance are unsatisfactory,” and the Opposition have, of course, eagerly caught at tho opportunity. Mr. Ormond is no novice in politics, and it is hardly conceivable that, in bringing forward his motion, ho was unaware that it would bo treated as a vote of want of confidence in the preeent Ministry. He must have seen that the form in which his motion was cast precluded altogether any arrangement of the proposed plan by the House in Committee, and that tho consequences would be either, on the one hand, the strengthening of tho position of the present Government by a victorious defeat of a noconfidence vote or a successful campaign in a general election; or, on the other hand, the return of the management of public affairs in the hands of the Grey-cum-Sheehan party. It cannot be credited that Mr, Ormond thinks that ho can manipulate affairs without throwing in his lot with one or the other party. There is a fluctuating body of members, indeed, which is not willing to bo bound by party ties, and does not understand tho meaning of the word “ compromise.” Does Mr. Ormond think that this body is powerful enough to form a party out of, over which he may rule and on which he may impress his opinions whatever those opinions may happen to be ? Wo can hardly think he is so foolish, Tho truth of the matter appears to bo that Mr.Ormond is an intensely bitter politician, with a large amount of bad temper and with no judgment. And he is being made a catspaw of by the Grey party. His natural allies are the present Government, but he is playing into the hands of their opponents. No politician has of late played ducks and drakes with his own reputation to tho same extent that has Mr. Ormond. He has been developing tendencies which stamp him as shifty, unreliable, and sour, but never before has he taken such a plungo as the present one. His case is infinitely worse than that of the Government. The latter may possibly, and indeed probably, bo beaten on the present occasion, hut, if they are, they will resign or go to tho country with an unsullied reputation for tho highest legislative success and admistrativo capacity. They have lifted the country out of a slough of despond ; they have taught it to live within its moans; they have settled an apparently hopeless Native difficulty with the greatest skill; they havo raised Now Zealand once more to its proper position in tho rank of nations. Tho Hall Ministry is conscious of its own worth and of tho valuo of tho services it has (

rendered the country. It can well afford to point to its past and to its plans for the future as answers to the attacks of its opponents.