Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1889. THE DIVISION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 279, 20 August 1889, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1889. THE DIVISION.

Friday night 'witnessed '-he close of the debate on tho Pro'pet ty Tax mmidment Bi'l, and resu! ted as might have been auticipate.l in a small majority for the Government. Wv. say that the' result might have been anticipated not because tho Government are strong or useful, but because of the many d. verso interests agitating the miuds of the members of the House. If considerations, of future advantages could be prevented undoubtedly the Go vernment would upon a verdict of the House h»i.« c been found wanting in most of tho essentials for being permitted to wield power, and would hay had to take a seat iv a less promin'. n '~ position, »'. r what little ree rd they have managed to make h*is been the reverse to creating cou fidence in theit abilities or di-int r I estedn< ss. We notice thut the party I whom »Sir Harry Atkinson treated with such scant oourtu&y lust soss on, | the Fre ?tt nde party, f *r snno reason I bes' known to themselves, voted in a body to retain the convert to I rotection in power. The mora be; -. of this party may possibly have been placed in the awkward position of choosing the least of the two evils prese .t before them, but their aetiou 43 rtainly savours of more Chr stian charity than is generally exhibited in a political atmosphere. Wo must now look forward io the Government ret • ining offico until tue genoral election peii_hts the voice of the eleotors deciding that which, the members now their representatives, find so hard, -mougst th-* majority in the division will doubt less- b.e found rae übera who haye 1 'a,et their hearts on gett : ng the Otago

Oentft-il tfattway at all costs a project which the Premier at the com- * meneement of the session promised • to secure, but the effecting of which • he diplomatically puts off till all 1 troubles are removed irom his path. \ Tho closure is in debate nothing so powerful as tho holding over members the carrying out of rtotiiQ pet project. Yet after aU, does it not seem a degradation to the colony that important issues aro not to bo decided by what is the opinion uf the p op c's representatives, but as to hetlior voting for or against the Government may prevent, for a few months, the carrying out of some local work. Yet to this state of degradation have tho present .Government divigged the colony. With tho view that we Jhove had of the actions of the Premier during the last two sessions tho electors will coinci !e with tho picture presented by the Hon. Mr Gisborne of that gentleman in his book of New Zealand Rulers and Statemen " He writes re the proceeding of 1883. " Major Atkinson, Who had Yen throughout Colonial Treasurer, took the reins into his own hands, but ho was only able to hold them for about twelve months. Public confidence in him and his colleagues was fast waning. Finance had becomo omharassed; substantial local self-go-vernment was still in abeyauco ; procrastination was the chief JjbHey | demoralisation of Parliament by' a political sliding scale of grants of money for public works in various electoral districts was growing into a system. Tho besetting sin cf Major Atkinson wns more and mor. manifest in his sacrifice of principles to love of office. Place*, with or without power* was his " political motto. He almost began Jto believe that he was New Zealand's only Treasurer." In 1889 there is no doubt but that his belief in himself has gathered strength with added yeaw, but in the exact reverse proportion havo the electors lost their cmfidence in him. There would be a change mado if there was any ono man in the House sufficiently strong to lead, but the possession of the power of purse and place, gives more enforcement to the arguements brought to bear on doubting ones, by a Government, than is possible to be used by one who has yet to reach that position. The division shows how remarkably woak the Government is, when with all the odds in their favour theycouM on'y secure a majority of four, after also obtaining the support of the Freetrade party. The record of this session should, and we believe wi I, sound the death knell of the Government at the general election pending, as they will bring the present session to a close as speedily as possible, fearing a further crisis, and the result wi : l show weeks ot dreary talk and not a measure proposed by them at the opening of the session, carried. We must not now anticipate the indictment that wil be prepared against them, but there has beon evidence that the Government, in tie Premier's eyes, is Sir Harry Atkinson, and the other holders of portfolios are merely placed in that posi* tion out of a sort of deference to public opinion. The. events of the past two seas. ons have not surprised us, they have only endorsed the opinions we exp-essed at the general elee ion, which were, that from .Yin jor Atkinson the electors would never get " true retrenchment, a sat sfactory enquiry into the working of the Education Act, Freetrade, or a decent Local Administr ition -*ct ;" ! and so far this has proved prophetic — — — —^— ■*■— i