THE NEW COLONIAL SECRETARY—FAMILY GOVERNMENT.
[From the Nelson Colonist July 11.]
Pkobably no more unpopular appointment was ever made by any Ministry in this colony than that of Mr Richmond, and at a time when men of proved ability are specially required it is no wonder that the public is surprised at an appointment of this kind. It is one of the strongest evidences of the rule of a family party, which looks more to itself than to the well-being of the colony; Judge Richmond, formerly Colonial Treasurer, and a man of eminent ability, is a great friend of Mr Weld's, and at an early age became raised to the bench, and now enjoys a comfortable competency for life, and the honorable office of a judge, which, it must be admitted, he fills with ability. Major Atkinson, who is brother in-law of Mr Richmond’s, and admirably suited for what he was, captain of a company of Bushrangers, has been raised out of his sphere and made War Minister ; and now Mr James C. Richmond, the rejectted of Taranaki, when a candidate for the superintendency there ; brought forward a few mouths ago, and ready to accept a similar office in Nelson, but dropped, by his warmest
friends on the first essay of canvassing for Win ; a man of whom his friends cannot point to a single thing he has done well; and whose recent exhibitions as a Provincial Councillor have done him no little damage—this gentleman has been made a *• peer” of New Zealand, and given an important and responsible office in the Ministry. It is a disagreeable dutytohave to say such things, but they must be said, and we regret to find so many journals in the new capital silent on the merits of a question which in England, every newspaper deserving the name of political organ, would have fully discussed. The people of New Zealand will be blind to their own interests if they do not exert all their powers to oppose the system of family influence, that misdirection of patronage which gathers relations in a happy family of paid Government officials. An appointment like the present is a serious matter for the colony. We do not blame Mr Richmond for accepting it, or for rating his powers of administration higher than anyone else who knows him. As was said by an elector at Wakapuaka last week, amidst the laughter of the meeting, it is human nature to prefer .£IOOO or £I2OO to £4OO. But what shall be said of the Ministry who makes such appointment, and places powers affecting the whole colony in hands, the testimony of whose competency is, to put least strongly, entirely negative ? Well may people regret the departure of Mr Fox at a time like the present, and easily can we understand the growing dislike to politics of able and honest men, when they find the Ministry of the day making such appointments. If the present one were not grievous it would be ludicrous ; but the matter is far too serious for merriment. We must now wait until the Assembly meet, and see in what light the collective wisdom of the colony will view Ministerial movements.
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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 291, 24 July 1865, Page 1
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532THE NEW COLONIAL SECRETARYFAMILY GOVERNMENT. Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 291, 24 July 1865, Page 1
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