A STORM BREWING.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 462, 8 April 1857, Page 4

A STORM BREWING.

(From the ' Welliugton Indepeudent.') Our readers will remember the accounts that were published from time to time relative to the balding and equipment of,the ill-fated behomberg Unsurpassed in point, of build ardelegance, she left the Mersey iIS the finest ship afloat, and to .her was committed the task of deciding the closely contested point as to which .Nation, England or America, occupied the foremost post in naval Architecture. Her Commander had been selected on account of his

previous celebrity but, instead of maintaiiiingat;, he forgot his responsibility,'neglected his charge and brought disgrace upon himself and those whose, interests had been committed to his keeping, by carelessly wrecking his noble ship within sight of her destined haven. The reputation" of a life time thus blasted has been blasted for ever—appointed to another command the underwriters refused to insure, and a marine store shop now affords occupation to him who, with common prudence, might have continued to aspire to and worthily fill the highest command which England's Mercantile Marine had it in her power to give. Our readers will remember the interest that i was excited in every portion of these Islands during the, .construction and launch of the no less stately .vessel " Ministerial Responsibility." On what beautiful lines and after what excellent models did her builder Gore Browne promise she should be laid down, and notwithstanding her being regarded as less safe when the compartment intended for native affairs was omitted, she was, when fairly launched, a tighter •more seaworthy and goodlier craft than has j ever yet,floated on Constitutional waters. How every oiie, expected great things from her saLU ing qualities we need not say—how anxiously it was hoped she would prove herself a clipper and beat all such clumbungies as "Noinineeism" and " Old Officialism" off the line we need not stay to repeat; nor need we detail with how much painstaking a proper Captain was sought for; how first one and then another failed in his examination and showed his ignorance of the rocks and shoals besetting the track along which the vessel had to steer; how at last one was selected who had commanded a provincial craft very successfully, and was believed to have caught the spirit of the immortal Nelson, inasmuch as being thoroughly up to his own duty, he would take care to see that every man who signed articles under him should do his duty also. Since the company who had met to " inaugurate" this clipper line departed to their respective homes, how anxiously must they have turned to the newspapers to see if she had been spoken with, and to learn what progress she had made, and after the high hopes that had been raised both as regards vessel and crew, how grievously disappointed must they all feel, in the certainty that the Captain has proved himself unequal to the command and that the noble ship is being drawn into a vortex, which will assuredly end in shipwreck, and when that takes place, as take place it certainly will during the next Session, Stafford, like Forbes, will have to retire to the humble station for which alone he is fit, seeing that no future administration will permit their hopes to be blasted and their prospects ruined by a connexion with one who has proved himself so culpably incapable. All was bright and fair when the General Assembly broke up, and the Stafford Ministry were strong, but during the recess nothing seems, to have been done to benefit the Provinces south of Auckland; on the contrary, delays and quibbles, ruinous to the utmost degree, appear to be thrown in their way on purpose to impede Some of these impediments were lately shewn in the correspondence that was published relative to the purchase of Native Lands. How cruelly indifferent the ministry had proved itself towards the most vital interests of this Province surprised every one, and since then all the ministerial acts have been conceived and carried out in the same spirit. It appoints Mr. Ligar a Land Purchase Commissioner, as requested by the Superintendent, but instead of giving him independent jurisdiction, it makes him a subordinate of the central department at Auckland, forbids him corresponding with the Provincial Executive, and ties him down to one district, by making him Kesident Magistrate at Napier, and through these causes, prevents us from obtaining his services at all, until the duties of another unexpected appointment : are discharged. These impediments are b.ut samples of many which the '.Province is called upon to bear. We though^; at first ii was poli? tical jealousy and not political incapacity-which caused- our sufferings; but as' other Provinces suffer equally with ,ourselves, we have no other resource but to ascribe it to a want of ability, or both,combined. -That other Provinces suffer equally with ourselves in the questions which depend on the decision and energy of Mr. Staff-. ford's ministry, we need only bring as witness the bitter expostulation which we this day ex-tract-from the 'Lyttelton Times,' March 7th. Mr. Stafford has just YJsited the south/ but "got

no farther than Nelson, and before the earnest and significant remonstrance from Canterbury reaches the north, he will be well on his way to Sydney. ■ Mr. Sewell has gone to England, Dr. Campbell has gone to Scotland, and Mr. Stafford might just as well go to Ireland at once, for all the benefit New Zealand is likely to obtain from his services. ,The lair • weather of his political administration has gone, the dark clouds are gathering all around the .horizon, and it needs no prophet to foretell that a storm is brewing, that vvillj ere long, burst with fury sufficient.to sweep away every vestige of the present incapable ministry. , , 7