CONTEMPORARY OPINIONS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1284, 10 September 1872, Page 2

CONTEMPORARY OPINIONS.

The Ministbrial Defeat. , [WEST COASiT TIMES.] . ; We confess that, however^ anxious we may be that the work for which we have a Government shall not be brought to a standj we prefer that no coalition should take place, believing that an appeal to the country is inevitable unless a coalition be effected, and that such an appeal can have but ; one resnlt — that of replacing the present Ministry into power. . There is another reason also which inclines us to desire that the present difficulty should not be compromised by a union of adverse forces, and that is the desire to see justice dealt out to those who have assisted in placing the administration, of government in its present difficult position, by join,in'g the Opposition at a critical rnbme.it;, though previously serving in the Ministerial ranks. Foremost amongst these is the truculent member for the Buller, Mr Eugene J. O'Conor. The extinguishment "of such a representative of a constituency—and that he will be extuir guished we have not a tittle of doubtwould of itself be sufficient consolation for all that is objectionable in a dissolution of the Assembly. It is, after all, perhaps fortunate that he did obey the' instincts of his nature, and "ratted" over to the other side after the manner of his kind, when he thought the vessel was going down. Had he not done so there might have been a chance of hi* again securing a seat, but his defection from the Ministry, of so openly declared himself a supporter, and at a time, too, when the interests of his constituents were so much concerned in the Fox Administration remaining in power, will relegate him to that privacy from which he should never have been per* mitted to emerge.

[inangahua herald..]

Despite the note of warning which appeared in our Greymouth contemporary, indicating the probable direction in which the members for Buller and Hokitika would vote on the want <?f confidence motion, we were loth to believe that either representative would so far ignored the real -interests of the West-Coast Gold Fields as to have placed himself in antagonism'to a Government solemnly pledged to introduce a measure that would? afford us substantial relief. We were still les3 willing to think that the member for Buller would be found opposing the Government, and- associating himself with Mr.Curtis and Mr Shephard. Mr Stafford, iv speaking to his third motion, referred to the "neglect the Government had shown in not availing themselves of the information in the possession of the Provincial Governments." But we ask what would have been the result in this district if the advice of Mr Curtis had been consulted upor the execution of the works in this distric under the Public Works" Act 1 Have wo not it already inavidence that Mt Curtis used every effort to obtain a portion of the L 24,000 specially voted

for road works in the Inangahua and Grey Valleya, allotted to districts never contemplated by the Assembly, and that it was only by reason of thb Premier a visit to the Inangahua and the forcible representations made to him that the trickMi attempt was frustrated? And yet it is to nndo the policy which has succeeded in limiting the improper exercise of Provincial powers, which in this district at least has effected more good in the space of a few months, and conduced more greatly to the settlement of the country than the Provinco of Nelson has dono Bince the first opening of its gold fields, that we now find Mr O Conor's efforts directed.