Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1871.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1136, 3 October 1871, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1871.

The circumstance .of most importance that has yet occurred during the present session of the General Assembly, was the announcement recently made by Mr Stafford to the effect that an organ" ized opposition at length existed under his leadership. Up to that time the .dissatisfaction that existed with the ministerial measures throughout the legislature had found but partial vent in the expressed views of members peisonally, and there was consequently a diversity. and isolation amongst minis terial opponents that almost entirely deprived the whole body of any power for good. So much was this the case, that the several ultra-ministerial organs of the press in the colony, and possibly ministers themselves, had begun to hope that the session would be allowed to pass without any organized opposition being brought io bear against their measures. The declaration of Mr Stafford fell like a bomb in the ministerial ranks, affecting their principal organ in Wellington so much as to cause it to delay making the fact known in its report of that night's proceedings—the rest of the colony being informed of the circumstance through the telegraph before it was made known to the Wellington public through the medium of the evening papers. Altogether apart from existing politics, the necessity and value of an opposition in the legislature is acknowledged by leading politicians of all classes. It is in fact a necessary and an integrant part of constitutional government. Thus in the Parliament of Great Britain, Her Majesty's opposition is as essential to the good government of the Kingdom as Her Majesty's Ministers, and without such an element in a government, it is evident that government would cease to be constitutional, and merge into a despotism. Jn the present case, however, the parliament consisted mainly of new elements, and though the Ministry appeared to command a good majority in j"£, the fact could not be disguised that

there yas an atmosphere pf suspicion and dissatisfaction regarding ministerial measures —suspicion so far as Ministers had delayed to make their policy known, and dissatisfaction with .so much of it as had been revealed. The delivery of the Financial Statement, therefore, was the signal for the organization of the scattered elements of tbe opposition, as then first was definitely known what were the intentions of the Ministry; and this statement which was so drawn up as to enlist the favor of the House on its delivery, fails, on examination, to sustain its first effect. It has, in fact, driven into the opposition ranks manv who were dls posed at first to wp»k with the Government. The Financial Statement itself was a disappointment, especially from the contrast it bore to that of the last session. Then it embodied the astounding borrowing scheme, and members looked for some bold stroke—characteristic of the great financier—in this. The disappointment on finding everything common-place was proportionately great, and this feeling was intensified when it was found that the one good element it professed to contain, Retrenchment, was a delusion. There were other points, however, in which Mr Yogel's budget failed to c at isfy the waverers who had been waiting for ii before deciding whether ]they could work with the Ministry or not. One of the principal of these was the onslaught on provincial institutions. The Colonial Treasurer's wo'ild-be supporters remembered what his old opinions were on the subject of provincialism, and could not but be taken aback on finding that at length he had gone beyond his opponents in his antagonism to :t—rivalling even Mr Stafford in his resolve to effect its modification or suppression.