MR. WATERHOUSE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 89, 14 April 1873, Page 2

MR. WATERHOUSE.

The following remarks on the recent Ministerial crisis are from the Australasian of March 29. Possibly, when that spasmodic statesman, to whom they principally refer, reads what is said of him by the leading journal of the Southern hemisphere he may be induced to wish that he had adhered to his twenty-one days' resolution that " under no circumstances whatever " would he accept a seat in any Ministry : — There is little need for comment either upon Mr Waterhouse or the latter portion of this transaction. As to the detention of the steamer, there can be, and there is, but one opinion. As for Mr Waterhouse himself, he has demonstrated so conclusively his total unfitness for publio life, that we may leave, him in that retireraeo t from which he ought never to have emerged. . His ease is only another illustration of the, ease with which men sometimes gain a , reputation which is ludicrously disproporfioned to their merits. Such, things have been and will be again. The Fairy Queen is not the only creature that can truly say, "Methought I was enamoured of an ass." „ . But there are some points in this' transaction that are worthy r6f comment. ;,)It;is very likely that Mr -Waterhouse ; and Mp Yogel were an ill-matched pair. > It wals natural that Mr ; Watertduse, feeling -'himself to be the weaker, should confess the fact; and should leave'a position whi'ch'he was conscious that he could not creditably occupy. YThe resignation of HisYcollelgue For remainder of news, see fotirMpage; § /%

afforded a fair opportunity, in the absence of any reason to the contrary, for terminating a connexion which ha<i proved to be unsatisfactory. But there were very: strong reasons to the contrary. Half the Ministry were absent; the Governor was actually on tbe move; the public convenience was likely to suffer from the change at this particular time. It was not for his resignation that Mr Waterhouse is to blame, but, first, for the time at which he insisted upon tendering it, and, secondly, for tbe inexcusable means which he adopted for enforcing its acceptance. When a man takes office he incurs obligations, both to the public and to his colleagues, which he cannot honorably disregard. No man is allowed to change his mind to the detriment of his- neighbor, and this principle applies to those cases where the transaction is not one of law, but of honor and good faith. A man cannot he permitted with impunity to accept a certain position, to induce other persons on the faith of such acceptance to adopt a course of conduct, and then suddenly and without warning to repudiate his responsibility and leave his colleagues to their fate. If Mr. Waterhouse wanted to resign and break up his Ministry, he ought to have waited until all his colleagues, and especially Mr. Vogel, were in. tbeir places to meet the difficulty. But if his colleagues had good reason to complain of Mr. Waterhouse. he is still more clearly guilty of a gross offence against the public. No officer is justified in leaving the service of his sovereign in such circumstances as to occasion public inconvenience, and no personal considerations whatever can be admitted as an excuse for such conduct. A certain amount of confidence has been reposed in him by the very fact of his appointment, and it is a manifest breach of duty to leave his post until he is regularly and in due course relieved. Very different from the course which Mr Waterhouse has pursued are the principles which guide English statesmen in their acceptance or their abandonment of office. " I have a strong impression," said Sir Robert Peel, amid the loud and protracted cheering of the House Commons, " that when a public man at a crisis of great importance undertakes the public trust of administering the affairs of his country, he incurs an obligation to persevere in the administration of those affairs as long as it is possible for him to do so consistently with his honour. No indifference to public life, no disgust with the labours which it imposes, no personal mortifications, no deference to private feeling, can sanction a public man in withdrawing on light grounds from the post in which the confidence of his sovereign has placed him." That, we believe, is a true description of the standard qf public duty which the best men of England set before their minds. How different it is from the petty meanness and womanish spite of Mr Waterhouse we need not waste time in showing. We will only express our hope that other Australian statesmen will take heed by this example, and will bear in mind that the acceptance of public office implies the absolute sacrifice of personal feelings when they are inconsistent with the duty that they owe to their Queen and to their country. -