THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 1882. THE RESIGNATION" OF THE MINISTRY.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2499, 11 April 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 1882. THE RESIGNATION" OF THE MINISTRY.

Ma Hall's health, at all times weak, has at last broken down under the strain of work and worry inseparable from the position of Premier, and he has been forced to retire into private life. His Ministers consequently have handed in their resignations, from the simple fact that the politician who formed the Ministry has left the scene. Every Ministry is the distinct creation of one individual, and none so, perhaps, more distinctly than Mr Hall's. He was the man who arose at a certain crisis, being exactly adapted to suit that crisis. Consequently those who thought with him felt that under him they could work with heartfelt satisfaction. New Zealand had just previously to 1879 been suffering under a plethora of loose legislation and bombast. Mr. Hall is above everything a worker, and it was good, sound, honest work, that New Zealand at that time needed more than anything else. Hence the peculiar adaptability of the man for the period. And events have proved that his party were not out in their calculations regarding his value. In the first place his choice of Ministers was a happy one. Bound as he apparently was by the absurb rule that prevails with regard to the choice of Ministers by the localities they represent, he succeeded in getting together a team of about as hard-workers as are to be found in the country. And he, together with his crew, at once set about remedying the muddle into which the previous Ministry had left public affairs. The success of their efforts is now s matter of history. They revived the credit of New Zealand, and established economy in the public service without impairing its efficiency. But they did more than all this. Their executive capacities were those for which they were originally prized, but they proved that as legislators they were capable of adding the most valuable laws to our Statute Book, and the truly liberal and useful measures which they have passed mark a distinct era in the political history of the colony. And further even this—their management of the Native crisis proves the Hall Ministry to hare been equal to emergencies such as luckily try but few bodies of men. Te Whiti Wf.s'undoubtedly a most crafty and formidable opponent, and one calculated to corner any Executive not extremely wide awake. He could trade on the pathetic aspect of the Maori question—he could bluster and threaten force. But the Ministry succeeded in doing their duty calmly and humanely to the eminent satisfaction of all but a few irreconcileables. Indeed, in all directions Mr. Hall and his colleagues have more than satisfied their supporters. The late Premier's niche in the history of the country will bo a distinct and honestly earned one. He stood in the breach at a trying time, and was found to be the right man in the right place. It is to ho trusted that ho may again serve his country, for the country needs honest and able men, but should unfortunately his health not permit this, there will be few names that will rank Hgher in the annals of New Zealand than that of John Hall.

Opposition papers havo been endeavori )g to prove that it was the inherent weakness of the Ministry that caused its dissolution. They point to the fact that Mr. Whitaker's resignation proceeded that of Mr. Hall, and that Mr. Bryce v.-o:it straight homo on his return from Auckland. They go so far, indeed, aa ta

tint that Mr. Hall's illness has heen caused by the worry of an impending break up of the Ministry. Of course, if people will argue in this cart-before-the-horse fashion there is no Aet of Parliament to atop them. But the late Ministry had -stood greater shocks than would be occasioned by a slight difference of opinion between Messrs. Whitaker and Bryce. During its existence Mr. Bryce, for instance, had resigned on a critical question, and another Minister had retired from stresß of circumstances. It is ridiculous to suppose that a question of such secondary importance as the removal of the Native Lands Court from Auck- • land to "Wellington would have occasioned the disruption of the Ministry if Mr. Hall had been able still to head his party. At the worst, the Ministry might very well have got on without Mr. Whitaker, and have appointed somebody else to watch its interests in the Upper House. Mr. Whitaker is, no doubt, a useful mentor, but bo was not one of the most nsef ul working men in the late Ministry. If Nestor had been knocked on the head the Greeks would not have stayed the siege- of Troy. As for Mr. Bryce, the Ministry have already once done without him. The question whether one Minister resigned a few hours before another is not of much consequence. In face of the fact, manifest by overwhelming evidence, that Mr. Hall was physically incapable any longer to lead his party, all other items sink into comparative insignificance. Any argument that the Ministry could remain in power when Mr. Hall, who created it, was gone, is of course ridiculous. i

It will be seen by a telegram re- ■ ceived to-day that the Governor has sent for Sir George Grey to form a Ministry. The Governor, presumably, knows his own business best. What the Crown, he possibly thinks, has to look to is the bare fact that the Ministry have resigned without enquiring into motives. Consequently the nominal leader of the Opposition is sent for. We fancy the Opposition as a body will hardly relish the news. 'Sir George's powers as a leader are not appreciated even by his own people. What he can do at the present crisis it is difficult to see Any Ministry that he could form would hardly Btand long in the new Parliament. One thing only ia very certain at the present juncture, and that is that tho sooner Parliament meets the better for all parties and for the country at large. LOCAL OPTION.

We beg to call the attention of onr readers to the fact that to-morrow a poll will be held in the City Council Chambers for the purpose of asking the ratepayers of the Licensing District of Christchurch North as to whether the number of publicans' and New Zealand wine licenses may or may not be respectively increased in that district. Accounts show us that a great apathy was exhibited in Dunedin and Invercargill when meetings for a similar purpose were lately held there, but we trust that the ratepayers in the Licensing District of Christchurch North will show that they take a real interest in the question. When power is entrusted to the people it cannot but bo unsatisfactory when they show themselves nnwilling to bestir themselves. The pollings for Christchurch South, Christchurch East, and Christchurch West, take place respectively on the 14tb, 18th and 19th instant, at the places mentioned in the advertisement.