The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, FEBUARY 28, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 52, 28 February 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, FEBUARY 28, 1873.

Those who with their wivea and families, goodfl and chßtteli, hnve embarked on

board the good ship New Zealand find themselves just now in an awkward predicament. The captain has sent in°his resignation, the chief. mate is aiyay, and signs of discontent' are exhibited by other members of the crew, to whom the working of. the ship was entrusted The owner, or rather the owner's agent, knows not what to do. He refuses to allow the captain to go by himself, but says, No, if you leave there must be a general clear out. The captain, in his turn, is puzzled, : and will not accept the responsibility of recommending that the whole crew should be got rid of, but prefers to wait until the return of the chief mate, who, says rumor, has quite, as much to do with the general management of the ship as the captain. Such is the exceedingly unpleasant position of : affairs at the : present moment. But how has it all come about; why has Mr Waterhouse resigned ? This is the inquiry made on al! sides, and with only the telegrams to guide us, but one solution of the , question can be arrived at. Mr Waterhouse has at last discovered that he has, involuntarily and unknown to himself, been made a puppet of, that his colleagues have piped, and be, as though he bad no will of his own, has been dancing to such time and tune bb they ,chose to play. It was of vital importance to the Yogel party that Mr Waterhouse should join their Ministry. Bui this he had declined to do in the most unmistakeable terms. Mr Yogel, however, is not a man to be easily daunted, and every possible inducement must be held out to him upon whom the success of the party striving for power depended. Tell him the truth, of course, — honor, honesty, and all such like virtues which constitute the mo&t brilliant ornaments of political life, required that — but never mind the whole truth, and, in such a crisis, he would be a mere fool who should feel himself bound down to advance "nothing but the truth." Mr Waterhouse must have Mr Hall in the Ministry, and Mr Hall was willing to act for a time, but it was not thought necessary to mention that his tenure of office was only to be temporary. That was one of those trifles that might prove irritating and disagreeable, so it was thought better not to speak of it. With Mr Hall as a colleague, Mr Waterhouse consented to accept the position of Premier and so to add*"strength to the Yogel party. So far so good. But in making overtures to him whose co-operation it was so imimportant to secure, Mr Yogel and those who acted with him appear to have somewhat misjudged Mr Waterhouse. He had declared most positively that " under no circumstances whatever" could he be induced to join any Ministry. In the negotiations that took place with him two or three weeks later, however, he had showed symptoms of variableness, and indications of a shadow of turning were not altogether wanting. Upon this Mr Yogel acted. Tell him he shall have all he wants, and the man who publicly says to-day that "no circumstances whatever" can influence him, and to-morrow shows that he had made certain mental reservations when declaring his seeming ultimatum, is not likely to turn rusty because promises are not fully borne out by perform-! ances. All this was clever and politic, but Mr Yogel seems to have reckoned without bis host. After all, Mr Waterhouse, it appears, does possess some strength of mind, and when he finds he has been humbugged — the term is perhaps a little coarse, but very expressive, and not altogether inappropriate — be places his portfolio in the Governor's hands and declines to act any longer with those who have been playing upon his credulity, Such appears to be history of the Ministerial muddle that now- prevails, but we cannot but think that there is something more behind the scenes. However much Mr Waterhouse might feel annoyed at the little deception that seems to have been practised upon him with regard to Mr Hal), that would scarcely be sufficient to induce him to take a step which, whatever he may choose to' say,; must involve, the resignation of the whole Ministry, it having been clearly and distinctly understood at the time the present Executive took office that in the event of the resignar tion of the Premier that of the entire Ministry should follow immediately. No-, thing more, we presume, will be done until the arrival of Mr Yogel, who is shortly expected at Auckland. He is a shrewd man, and very clever at extricating himself from a difficulty. Possibly he may see his way out of that which has arisen in his absence. .

Masonic Bal^.-- -A most successful ball was givenjbyj the Freemasons of Nel^ soii lasjf iai^ht^n^tlie occasion of re-o'glb^ ing the 'Masonic Hall. About sev|rjty : were present, and dancing was kept^'up with great spirit until an early hour this morning. Resident Magistrate's. Court.— -W.. •M. Stanton v. Jacob W. Miles, in nke'epeH Colling wood. — Action to recover £9 19s 6d for a cornet and other goods purchased at different times in 1866. The debt was not disputed but the sum of 11s 6d was paid into Court (such being, the prop'o^tion of the debt which was incurred within six years), and for the balance the defendant pleaded the statute of limitations and Ihe plaintiff had. no alternative but to withdraw his case. This should -'operate as a caution to too lenient creditors, as a debt of six years standing, although indisputable, and although constantly applied for, cannot be recovered if the debtor choses thus to repay the forbearance of his creditor. — Mr Fell appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Pitt for the defendant. City Eifles — A meeting of the members of this, company, ,wa3 held- last night for the purpose of making * arrangements for receiving the. colonial representatives on their arrival tomorrow. It was agreed that, accompanied by the Waimea Eifles who are coming in for the 1 purpose, and the City Cadets, they should march down to the wharf to meet the steamer. There is a little difficulty in the way, however, which it is to be hoped may be got over, namely, that many of the members are in employment, and! their, presence at the parade will consequently depend upon permission being granted to them by. their employers. We trust; jthat this will be given in every instance, as it is but a mere act of courtesy that it is proposed to performs Two guns will be. fired from the Flagstaff to-night on' the' Wellington being sighted with the Northern Representatives on board, when members of the City companies will assemble at the Drill Shed, immediately after, probably between 9 and 10 o'clock.