THE Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. TUESDAY, 24TH FEBRUARY, 1874.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1553, 24 February 1874, Page 126

THE Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. TUESDAY, 24TH FEBRUARY, 1874.

It is an unfortunate circumstance for this Colony that its statesmen are so few that the whole burden of the task of conducting its affairs has generally fallen upon one or two members of the Government, their colleagues occupying an entirely subordinate position. The time is not long past when Mr M'Lean was the central figure of the Ministry, and his " native policy " the only policy they possessed—when, clinging to him, an unpopular Government managed to tide over a stormy session. Since the inauguration of the public works and immigration scheme, however, Mr Vogel has taken the leading position. Upon the success or failure of his plans rests the future'of the country, and as the originator of the scheme, he has been looked to as the one to bring it to a successful issue.

Mr Vogel's talent and ability are generally acknowledged : the Australian press has credited him with a broad and statesmanlike grasp of public affairs; and at the recent banquets in Dunedin and Nelson, some of the leading men in those provinces have vied with each other in doing him honor. That he possesses the ability to conceive and plan a bold and original line of policy is evident; but it is doubtful whether he also possesses those rarer gifts—the capability of grasping the minor details, and grappling with unforeseen difficulties—which are essential to ultimate success.

The undiscriminating praise bestowed on the honored guest of the evening at a complimentary banquet can scarcely be accepted as a fair reflection of public opinion. We think that much greater importance is to be attached to the utterances of the independent and ministerial journals in various parts of the Colony. In the latter, an undercurrent of dissatisfaction is plainly apparent. The fact is being gradually realized, even by the staunchest supporters of the Ministry, that Mr Vogel lacks both the firmness and the patience necessary to carry his schemes to a successful issue*

The article from the Otago Guardian, which we publish in another part ,of today's issue, affords a proof of this feeling, and the public anxiety on the subject, when it finds expression in such a quarter, must be great indeed* Mr Vogel "will fail," says the Guardian, " as signally as the Conservative leaders in England fail, to do more than tempo ■ rize, and carry out the behests of the Liberal majority in Parliament and in the nation, when they chance to get a term of office " —and the experience of last session is pointed to in support of the prediction. In carefully-guarded terms, while crediting the Government with the very best intentions, the Guardian brings against it charges as serious as have ever been advanced by the opposition press. Mr Vogel " to a certain extent baulks the legitimate expectation of his supporters;" he seeks to assimilate " the colonial policy of the present" with "the personal policy of the past," which is " clearly impossible." The Government "are

earnest, no doubt," but have "temporized conspicuously" on the matter of provincial borrowing, and in reference to the mismanagement of the AgentGeneral. Regarding the formation of a colonial railway estate, Mr Vogelhas "found it necessary to conciliate the provincial magnates, and the idea, in itself practical and politic, was aban-> doned." And, finally, he "narrows down the whole of these important issues" into one "absurdly inconsequent " —the advantage derivable from high-priced Crown Lands." If it had been an enemy who had written thus—-a disappointed aspirant for office—it might be passed over as an expression of envy or ill-will; but as the candid opinion of a friendly critic, it is damaging in the extreme. The manner in which Mr Vogel has hitherto carried out his policy argues ill for the future. Fearful of losing office, he weakly abandoned one point after another, and allowed a grand colonial scheme to be torn to shreds by conflicting provincial interests. With a policy of such magnitude in the control of so unstable a statesman, the prospect of ultimate success is far from being so clear as we could wish to see it.

The following telegram, which we find in some of our contemporaries, and which did not appear in the summaries forwarded to Napier, explains the cause of the riots at Launceston, described in the Australian telegraphic summary in our last issue :—" Launceston, February 6. —A determined opposition is being made to the railway rate, but in twenty-eight summonses there was no appearance. The Evandale Municipal Council has declined to allow their officers to execute processes. There is quite a riot." It is, apparently, more in sorrow than in anger, that the Evening Post writes of the Evening Star in connexion with the agitation on the subject of Sunday trains in Auckland. " Wonderful to relate," it says, " our usually sensible contemporary the Star takes the Sabbatarian view of the question "!

The people of Cromwell, in the Otago Province, who have recently elected a worthy citizen to the honorable post of Mayor, are justly incensed at the Government. The Under-Secretary has written to say that the Government have seen fit " to exercise their discretion in the matter," and refuse to appoint the newly-elected Mayor a Justice of the Peace. Nothing is urged against his character or fitness for the office; but "it depends on the position and occupation of the Mayor, whether he is appointed or not"—and the Mayor elect is a butcher! The Cromwell Argus, in an indignant article, points out that the leading men in this Colony " have . filled a variety of offices, from bullock-driving and log-splitting, to that of conducting the highest and most important offices in the State, and adds, " Cromwell has not the honor of holding the citizen whom it would elect as Mayor, who does not work, and that hard too, for his living." The Southern Mercury, in an article headed " Snobbery in High Places," points oat that " Character does not enter into the calculation at all," and asks " Would it not be desirable for the Government to publish a list of the " occupations which will render a Mayor ineligible for the appointment, and also a list of the improprieties which a man may commit without being disqualified thereby ?" The Evening Post, quotes the fact that Mayor Atk'inson, M.H.R., J.P., and an ex-Minister of Defence, avowed that he 'had for some years been a partner in a retail butchery establishment in New Plymouth. He was asked by counsel whether he did not think it infra dig. for an ex-minister to make money out of retailing beef and mntton. He very sensibly replied that he did not. We wonder, says the Post, whether in consequence of this appalling disclosure and utter shamelessness on the part of th offender, the Goverhment will call upon Major Atkinson to resign his seat on the Bench. If they strictly follow the principle laid down, that selling meat disqualifies the seller for the Magistracy, then there will be a grand clearance of the roll of J.P.'s, as nearly every runholding J.P. in the Province of Otago at least deals more or less in butchering." Shamed by the general expression of public disapproval, the Government have gone so far as to make the Mayor a J.P. for his own district, but not for the whole Colony, thus creating an invidious and petty distinction between himself and his brother magistrates.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday there was a petty civil case —Bowman v. McKay, a claim of Bs: 2s arrears of rent, and 6s, amount of rent for one week, defendant, a weekly tenant, having left without notice.— Judgment for amount claimed, and 9s costs. Yesterday, one drunkard was fined five shillings.

The New Zealand Gazette contains a return of the value of imports and exports from the several ports of New Zealand to the end of 1873. The imports at the Port of Napier during 1873 amounted to £156,165, as against £104,056 in 1872, and the total imports of the Colony to £6,462,981, as against £5,142,951 in 1872, The exports from the Port of Napier dnring 1873 amounted to £209,434, as against £243,064 in 1872; and the exports for 'the whole Colony during the year, reached £5,610,371, against £5,173,665 for the year preceding.

Mails for Wellington, Southern Ports, and Australian Colonies, close at Napier to-morrow, 11 a.ra„ t In consequence of the; increasing business in the Post and Telegraphic departments in this town, it is in contemplation to build another telegraphic o&ce, the present building to be used entirely as a Post-offiice.' The Wanganui Chronicle congratulates itself "that the Customs receipts »at Waiiganui during 1873, amounted to a larger sum than those of either Nelson; Napier, Greymonth, or Hokitika.