THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1291, 18 September 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1872.

If we are well-informed from the seat of Government — as we believe we are — speculations as to Mr Curtis's successor as Superintendent of Nekon, or as to the successors of the other two Superintendents who are members of the new Ministry, may with propriety be postponed. The session is not near its end, nor is ended the struggle between parties which has temporarily placed Mr Stafford once again in "the position of Premier. As has already been said, the numerically and intellectually powerful minority who voted against Mr Stafford's resolutions, are far from being killed outright. They are, in fact, only Blightly scotched. Without any desire to be familiar, we may vonturo to say that " there is life in the old dogs yet." It was stated (some days ago, that those who composed the minority on the occasion of the recent division had at once met and resolved to act as an organised "constitutional" I Opposition. Since that date they have not been inactive, but have apparently been gaining adherents, and determining upon tho course they are to take, with considerable prospect of carrying it to a successful issue. Yesterday, we understand, the members of this Opposition had a second meeting, at which it was resolved to oust from their fortuitously acquired position the present weak and incongruous Cabinet, and to substitute for them a Ministry which is much more likely to represent the spirit and sense of the' majority of the people of the Colony. To their numbers and influence, it is said, an important acquisition has been made by Mr Waterhouse, one of the prominent members of the Legislative Council, consenting to become Premier, should the party succeed in their design. In the event of such success, the Hun. Mr Fox, j we are told, will not again seek office, and Mr Yogel is bouud to become, as he well deserves to be, the leader of tho party in the Lower House. The other members of this prospective Ministry have nut been mentioned, but there is little doubt that Mr M'Lean would be one of the number, and again the Native Minister, for, had a vote of want of confidence in him alone been either constitutional or possible, he would undoubtedly have been retained in office by the unanimous voice of his fellow-members. As conveyed t 0 us, the statement is that the Opposition confidently expeot to gain a majority i n

favor of the establishment of a Ministry thus composed, and we may as confidently assert that the country would be infinitely better satisfied with a Ministry containing the two members of the former Cabinet, Messrs Yogel and M'Lean, than it is ever likely to be with a Ministry composed of Messrs Curtis, Gillies, and Fitzherbert. Many as the shortcomings of the late Ministry may have been, the sentiment of the country as a whole, judging by its expression in the public prints and otherwise, is in no way favorable to their successors. From every quarter the cry has come for coalition, rather than for the introduction of altogether new elements, and if such a coalition as that which is now proposed can bo made an accomplished fact, it would be vastly more satisfactory than the retention of office by tlioso whom Mr Stafford has nominated as his assistants. Coalition, indeed, it can scarcely bo called, if the phrase is ' applied simply to the amalgamation of parties, but it would be a coalition of men considerably superior to those who now constitute the Cabinet, and the promise of Mr Waterhouse to become Premier would probably secure the votes of many members who, in the last division, voted with Mr Stafford, yet not for him. | Before many days or hours pass, an announcement of the programme of the new party will, no doubt, be made, and again days and hours will be occupied with the discussion of the merits of parties, but few will regret the. delay of the business, of the country if the debate should end in the relegation of Mr Stafford's friends to the "cold shade" of Opposition, and the return to power of the men whose Naiive and Colonial policy they have adopted, on the impertinent presumption that they, and they only, are the persons capable of giving that policy practical effect. Of Mr Waterhouse, the Premier in posse, comparatively little is known in these parts, but he is not without history or a prestige in connection with Colonial politics, and his elevation to office in New Zealand has several times been suggested by both of the political parties represented in the Assembly. Writing in contemplation of his probable alliance with Mr Stafford, the Otago Daily Times, for instance, says : — " The announcement that the Hon. Mr Waterhouse had joined the new Government would be received throughout the country with unmixed feelings of satisfaction ; and in the Assembly wo are inclined to think that there are many who supported the Fox Ministry in the recent debate, who would not hesitate to accord a fair trial to any administration in which the Hon Mr Waterhouse had a seat. There are few members of the Legislature whose utterances receive the same amount of attention and respect that is paid to those of the late Chief Secretary of South Australia. This arises from the fact that, although possibly not superior in ability to some of our leading [statesmen, yet ho has never belonged to any party in New Zealand. He has no 4 wretched past ' to look back upon. He had no voice in the raising of the three million loan ; nor has any action or vote of his contributed one way or other to bring about past complications with the Native race. It cannot be cast in his teeth that he caused this outbreak or that war j and it cannot be urged against him that he has ever courted popularity by means of promises that remain unfulfilled. Although he gained considerable Parliamentary experience, 'and proved a successful administrator, in another Colony, his acknowledged worth as a statesman in the General Assembly of New Zealand has not been due to the reputation ho brought with him to this country, but rather to the sagacity he has displayed during the few years he has sat in the Legislative Council. His merits did not remain unrecognised by the members of the late Cabinet. When the Hon. Mr Sewell seceded from their ranks last year, they induced Mr Waterhouse to take charge of the Government business in the Legislative Council until the close of the session. In intimating to the Council that he had consented to represent the Ministry for a few weeks, he stated that he had no desire to hojd a Ministerial office, and that he had simply joined tho Government temporarily with the vieur of expediting public business, and enabling members to return to their homes. . . . We earnestly hope now that Mr Waterhouse will rescind his determination to decline office, and resolve upon giving to New Zealand, for a time at least, the benefit of thoso talents which have already been successfully employed in administering the affair 3of another Colony."