THE LATE CHANGE OF MINISTRY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 700, 15 July 1869, Page 3

THE LATE CHANGE OF MINISTRY.

(From the Xelson Examiner, July 3.) That was well and warily done of Mr Fox, to put forward no policy of his "\vn in moving the vole of 44 want of confidence.” He has lai 1 to heart, the sound old maxim, that 44 thos< who live in glass houses should nol throw stones,” Wherefore as, his business was not to throw stones, or when stones were not to be had plentiful mud, in the devout hope that some might stick, and to encourage as O " o many others as possible to do the like, he has postponed the erection of his own glass house for the present. But erect it eventually he must, and then he will find that it is far easier to criticise what is done than to do; far easier to assail the glass house of another than to defend your own. For let no one suppose that any policy, or the action of any Government in times like these, can be unassailable from every quarter. Blunders must be committed. The only question is, Who is likely to blunder least? If, however, it is the object of Mr Fox to hold, and not merely to clutch the reins of office, it is open to question whether lie would not have done better to indicate the policy which, if successful, he intended to pursue. Possibly hy so doing he would ha v e lost some votes, possibly many votes, and he might even have failed in ousting the Staf ford Ministry ; but on the other bond, if he had, succeeded, he would at least have had at his back a party pledged to support him through thick-aml-thin, as long as he remained true to the principles which he enunciated.

If, however, Mr Fox was chary of giving his enemy any murk, his followers have not imitated his general ship. Quot homines, tot sententice, is an admirable aphorism, but it may be doubted if a majority, of which that aphorism would appear the aptest description, will be the pleasantest, or most workable backing for a Ministry i.o rely upon. This, however, it may be said is a matter of taste; a question for Mr Fox and his colleagues to determine. The colony has at least a right to ask, Whether a Ministry relying on such support, is the best calculated to steer through the present difficulties ? It will have been noticed by those who have taken the trouble to wade through the interminable prosing, and the miserable personalities of the de bate on which the fate of the Colony hung, that nearly every member who spoke on the Opposition side advocated a different line of policy. Mr Vogel, Mr Fox's lieuteuaut, was as usual bold and outspoken enough. He was for appealing to the British Government for men. He was of opinion that it that appeal was made in proper form, it could not fail to be successful. He failed, however, to indicate what course should be pursued during the campaigning season, which must elapse before British aid can come, lie failed, moreover, to show the slightest reason to suppose that the Imperial Government would eat its own words, reverse its own policy—the policy forced on it by the stern logic of facts—and send aid in any form. Mr Rolleston, an equally animated opponent of the late Government, pointed out the utter absurdity of looking for help from any such quarter, but beyond a vague mention of Maori grievances to be re dressed, gave no indication of a native policy. If Maori grievances exist, by all means let them be pointed out and rooted out; but the question of the moment is, How are our North Island settlers to be kept alive ? and to this question Mr Rolleston and Mr Vogel alike suggested no reply. Some gentlemen, mainly from the South, advocated the policy supported by Mr Bathgate and others at a late meeting i:i Dunedin, which we examined recently, and ventured to sum up as the "Devil-take the-weakest" policy. Others were indignant that the Maoris were pursued into the bush. Do these gentlemen imagine that, with the forces at our disposal, we can draw an im penetrable cordon round the huge mass of forest, marsh, and mountain which forms the centre of the Northern Is laud, and constitute the fastness of the Maori, in which he can organise his massacres, and from which he can issue as from thick darkness upon the unprepared homesteads of the settlers ? Or do these gentlemen think that il the Maori murderer be left unmolested to meditate on his misdeeds ia 0< the

forest primaeval, " that be will reappear in the clearings without the cordon, a sadder but a wiser man ? Others again supported the " Four Superintendent" scheme, by which the four provinces are to wage war or make peace as four distinct power?, each with its own army, its own leaders, its own plan of opera!ions; drawing, however, from a common purse, which of course the Middle Island will have the bonor to provide. How four independent armies will be cheaper than one ; why not one, but four Superin teudents elected for purely civil purposes, but born genera's, will be easier meet with than one War Minister selected virtually ad hoc by Parliament, these gentlemen did not endeavor to show. But however divergent the views of the late Opposition may have been, in one thing they are united—hatred of Mr Stafford. Communi continentur odio. This hatred is the bond of union—

The reason why they cannot tell, But this at least they know full well, They do not like you T>r. Pell. . The causes of this dislike, so equally shared it would appear, from the very able letter of our Wellington correspondent, which we published in our last issue, are different; in each particular case, and to that letter we refer our readers for its causes. Whether our Parliament has acted rightly in ousting a Ministry with a definite policy for one under a leader who has declared none, is a question for the country to decide. To us it seems little short of a grave political crime to have done so. The late Government had at" least the merit of having traced out a line of action, of having secured some telling successes, of recognizing facts, of seriously weighing what the Home Government would or would not do. The incoming Go vernment, if Mr VogePs utterance* may be accepted, take office with the assurance that a Ministry, of which Mr Bright is one of the leading members, will adopt a course that appeared impossible and absurd to a Ministry in which the old Tory traditions of empire and prestige still had some influence. If the things said and done by the Duke of Buckingham were said and done in the green tree, what can be done in the dry ?

We see the blemishes in Mr Stafford's political career as well as others. He and his colleagues are now expiat ing their treachery to Mr Wei I. All Mr Stafford's troubles arise from his having failed to recognise with Mr Weld the unpalatable fact that, though self-reliance was a necessity—nay, was even a wholesome tonic —still it cost money. Pie undertook to do the work more cheaply than so conscientious a man as Mr Weld could or would ; and the House listened to the voice of the charmer, and chose the cheap and pleasant path leading to destruction. He has seen the error uf his ways;. but a new charmer has arisen with the same Siren song. Perhaps he has no right to complain—but quicquid deli rant reges, plectuntur Achivi /