Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1871.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 92, 27 January 1871, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1871.

M#- Vogel's harried departure for England just previous to the assembling of the Parliament which will annul, modify, or confirm the hasty legislation of last session, implies at the least that he has at length become aware of some of the difficulties attending the floating of his loan. His organs in the Colony persisted in asserting that no difficulty existed, and he and his compeers certainly acted as if there were none. In fact from the time of the passing of the Loan Bill the actions of the Ministry have been more like those of one that had the millions in actual possession than of one that could only assume at the utmost the possibility of their being raised. To what amount the expenditure and engagements in anticipation of the loan have arrived it is of course impossible to say, or for any out of the Ministry to know, until the returns are called for and supplied to the new Parliament; but enough has transpired to show that they are of enormous magnitude, and not of a reproductive character. The position at present appears to be the unavoidable ruin of the Colony, whether the loan be taken up or not. Less haste on the part of the Ministry in taking action on the assumption of its surely being raised might have averted the calamity, but, as it is, they have involved the Colony and are continuing to do so. It is probable that the one fact which brought the conviction of danger of collapse to the borrowing scheme home to the mind of Mr Vogel, and determined his personal visit to England, was that of the manuscript notice cautioning English capitalists against the .sellerne which was posted in the London Stock Exchange. The Government and its organs could decry newspaper articles—whether in the Times, Home News, or Economist —and hint ihat they were the production of Colonial minds personally opposed to the Government, notwithstanding internal evidence to the contrary ; but a fact like this could not be explained away. Such a notice, posted in such a place, has no ordinary meaning, and is calculated to exert an influence fatal to the scheme. No wonder, then, that the Colonial Treasurer must hasten to the spot, to remove, if possible, the adverse influence by his plausible statements.

Again, it lias been attempted to show ihat the Commissioners, Messrs. Bell and Featherston, did not assure the English capitalists that the Colonial Government would not attempt to borrow more tban the one million bearing the Imperial guarantee. Unfortunately for the special pleaders on that point, proof sufficient is now afforded by Dr. Featherston himself, in addition to all that was known before. It will be found in our Kelson telegram, from which it appears that near upon half-a-million was offered to Dr. Featherston for the Colonial Government, at the low rate of interest of 3| per cent., and refused by him, solely on the ground that the Government did not want the fnoneg.