VICISSITUDES OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS.

Inangahua Times, Volume V, Issue 12, 24 December 1877, Page 2

VICISSITUDES OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS.

[FROM THE SJKlttit/KN-rc AKOa*.] Our Victorian Constitution has entered upon its twenty-second year, nnd though ifc has attainel this hop, ifc would appear Irom current evpnfcs still to be> cm its triil One defect cannot; be alleged again.-jt it. It affords no luck of variety. Sineo the 23rd November, 2855, vve have had the honor and privilege of being governed by nine Parliaments and by eighteen MinHtries, the average duration of a House of Assembly being two yeara and six months, and of a Ministry one year and three months. And during this time, two hundred and ten gentlemen at different times have been swum in ns Ministers of fcho Crown. Sir Jnmrs M'Culloch, as the recent elections demonstrated, is under a cloud no«*, buc he may be lermed the most successful of our publio men, for his periods of olhVe give j a total of tpn years and eleven mon'hsso that since responsible Government wax established, ho has heen in power sis tnonlhs out of twelve. Sir James M'Culloch has been four limes Prenv'er. Sir John O'Shanassy three times. Mr Berry twice, and tlio late Mr W. C. Hainps also twicp occupied the same position. Since the Constitution was first proclaimed, it has grown. .Vlanb ol suffrage has been establi-hed, the pro-* pprtv qualification of members has been abolished, and nn unpaid has been transformed, pro tern. into a paid .legislature. The latter is ibe last innovation, and whether the experiment should give way to a perwahent system, or should be set aside as a failure, is one of thu burning questions of the hour. An oft-debated «-übjeet if, whpther our constitution Ins broiigh*" good men to Ihe front. The natural tendency to pra's. pa-*t times is a disturbing elemen', but some light i.s thrown on the point by contrasting the namp«* of the Ministry of 1853 with that of 1877. 1855 1877 W. ( \ Haines G. Berry W. F. Sta well H. Le IW Trench T. H. Fellows J. M. Grant C. Sladen ]\ Lilur C. Paslpy E. Longmore H. 0. E. Childers W. V. Smith Andrew Clarke J. B. Patterson R. Molesworth H. Cuthbert W. H. F. Mitchell. Mr Hainps is iv his grave; but all his eollengues have made their mark in history. Sir F. Sta well, Mr Justice Fellows, and Mr Justice Molse wortii constitute a tie present moment the acling Supreme Court of Victoria. Of Sir C. Sladen nnd W. H. F. Mitchell, and the position they occupy, it is unnecessary to -peak. Sir Andrew Clarke and Colonel Pisley have risen to high portions in the Imperial service, and the Right Hon C. 10. Ch Idprs bas bepn a Cabin Q t Minist-'r in one of the strongest Governments Great Britain has ever s^en. We should be glad to believe that the members of the present Government, or of any Ministry which seems immediately possible, were capable of carving ont for themselves v fiifuru os brilli-nt as Ihe one just indicated, Imt any such supposition is impossible. The work that lies to band is to provide tuat we do not descend from bad to worse.