Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JULY 22, 1879. THE PARLIAMENTAKY CONFLICT

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 93, 22 July 1879, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JULY 22, 1879. THE PARLIAMENTAKY CONFLICT

The fight between the two parties in the House of Kepresentatives has begun. What those two parties are, it would puzzle even their leaders to say. We have carefully read the speech made by Sir William Fox in moving the "no-confidence" nation, and by Sir George Grey, in defending the Ministry, but fail to see in them anything that clearly defines the relative lines of policy of the two parties. The speech of the leader of the Opposition made no reference to policy. It dealt with administration, but not the administration of the Ministry as a whole. His attack was levelled against the Premier, and his whole vocabulary of biting personalities (and he is an adept at that) was employed to givo strength to the onslaught. The Native Minister had a paragraph devoted to his moral character. Otherwise no reference appears to have been made to the remaining members of the Ministry. Sir William's speech was simply a personal attack upon his old enemy. This being the case, the Premier was compelled to defend himself, and hence, instead of the two speeches being expositions of diverse or varying lines of policy, they are nothingbut lengthy diatribes between political and personal foes. Sir George Grey, during his speech, endeavoured over and over again, to impress upon the House these views, (I) that the incidence of taxation is unfair; (2) that the land should bear the burden, and not the working classes ; (3) that Sir William Fox's party had always opposed a tax on land, owing to the vast landed interests they held ; (4) that the question before the country was not merely 1 one of administration) but whether the liberal and progressive policy he had introduced of breaking up large estates, and giving the people the land, should be carried our, or whether the " landocracy" should r egaiu their power. We believe that

those four points represent the essence of Sir George Grey's speech last Friday night, and we venture to say that apart from personal questions, if the country were canvassed tomorrow upon the land question, the people would rally around Sir George Grey. Should Sir William Fox get into office — and it is quite possible he will, — what line of policy will he layjbefove the country ? Will he support a liberal land law, and continue the work begun by the Grey Ministry, in bursting up the vas' estates owned throughout the Colony by large companies and private individuals ? If not, then the settlement and progress of the country will be seriously delayed during his tenure of office. At present, we can only conclude that tho leader of the Opposition has not declared a policy, for the reason that he has none to declare. The position of affairs will therefore be, that if tho Grey Miuistry be ousted, their successors will virtually go into office unpledged as to any policy, and the individual caprices of the new Cabinet will probably show themselves in a series of inconsistencies, — both in legislation and administration.