The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 244, 15 October 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1877.

After the lapse of five days Mr Larnach who, meteor-like, has suddenly flashed forth upon tbe political firmament— only, let us hope, to be lost to view with equal rapidity —has succeeded in scratching together foursevenths of a Ministry. With astonishing assurance he undertook the task, for which he is totally unfitted, of forming a Government, and has so far succeeded that he has been in a position to inform the House that Sir George Grey, Mr Macaudrew, Mr Sheehan, and himself are prepared to assume office. A visionary enthusiast; a veteran politician, to whom the advance of his pefc province is the be-all and end-all of his political life, and whose motto is, Flourish Otago though New Zealand should perish; a Smart lawyer who is excellently adapted to be iv opposition, from his readiness to discover a mote in an opponent's eye, and afc the same time is prevented by inordinate self esteem from detecting the existence of a beam in his own, clever in spe_ch and quick afc repartee, bufc who has never displayed the smallest evidence of possessing administrative ability; and a political nonentity. These be thy gods, O Israel! These are the men in whom at present vests the Government of New Zealand. And in making the announcement that he had induced three others to take office with him, Mr Larnach had the audacity to say that his efforts at Miuistry-making had proved " an exemplary success." Most men would under similar circumstances have thrown up the sponge and admitted that their endeavors had ended in complete failure, but Mr Larnach is not as other men are. The more moderate and thoughtful of those who combined to turn out the late Ministry must by this time be convinced that the action they took a week ago to-day was ill-judged and hasty, and that, m their anxiety to pull down, they had not sufficiently considered the obstacles that would stand in the way of re-construction. To depose one Government was an easy task ; to form another has proved far more difficult than they anticipated. That there was much ground for dissatisfaction with the late Ministry is generally admitted, and the Grey party observing that many of the Government supporters were not alto- I gether satisfied with their leaders, cleverly contrived to fan the smouldering embers of discontent into a flame, Mr Sheehau being the most active and most persuasive of those to whom the delicate task was entrusted. Everything that each individual required was promised, every suggestion was courteously listened to, and the maker of ifc was told that ifc should receive careful consideration, assurances were giveu that objectionable names should be omitted from, the new Ministry, in fact, the weak points of all were carefully studied and skilfully worked upon. With some flattery was used; some were urged on by the hopes of revenge upon old opponents; to secure the support of others the sweets of office were dangled before their eyes as temptingly and successfully as was the forbidden fruit iv the Garden of Eden. There were others again who were honestly desirous of removing a Ministry in which the confidence they once reposed was gradually declining. Their error was that they thought too little of what was to follow. We ali know the result. It boded ill for the future that the Opposition could not agree upon a leader to make the attack, but were compelled to fall back upon Mr Larnach to bring forward the no-confidence motion. It showed that there was dissensiou, distrust, _nd jealousy in their ranks, and this should have been sufficient to deter the more cautious among them from taking the plunge But they were urged on by the crafty Mr Sheehan and those who were working with him, and after a few hours debate the coveted seats on the Treasury Benches were vacant. Then commenced the real difficulty. In fche first place the attitude taken up by Mr Larnach was a surprise to the party who had put him forward, as they fondly believed, as the catspaw which was to snatch out the chestnuts for their special benefit, But Mr Larnach saw that he was master of the situation, aud determined to have a hand himself iv the appropriation and distribution of the chestnuts He even went so far as to nominate a Ministry, two ofthe individual members of which he had never even consulted. This in itself was quite sufficient to create confusion in the ranks of those whose sole bond of union was snapped immediately the result of tha division was declared. All this time Sir George Grey was keeping quiet. There had been a tacit, if not a declared, understanding that he was to take no part in the Ministry, several of fche members who supposed the uo-confidence motion having distinctly stated that if he were brought forward they would consider themselves free to act as should seem best to them, and in no way bound to work any longer with the party with which they were then in concert. For twenty-four hours Sir George's name was uot mentioned, but on the evening following that on which the division took place Mr Reader Wood, who had been absent in Auckland, arrived ou the scene, and he at once insisted that he who had been leader of the Opposition ever since the new Paul ia ment WftS elected had claims upon the party which could not be overlooked. Promises and understandings pronounced and implied were at once cast to the winds, and afc a meeting of the Opposition the majority decided that a seat in the now Ministry, and probably the Premiership, should be offered to Sir George. This was what he wanted, and what he, himself keepiug behind fche spepes, had through his agents been long but quietly working fop. It must have beeu a blow to him to see seven leading meu of tlje more moderate, or what is known as the middle, party leave the room and thus disclaim all allegiance to him, but undeterred by this, he, it appears, has determined to proceed with the work he has taken iv hand, \ and to-night is to appear in the House as the leader of the Government. That he will command a majority we do not fora moment believe; that he can be so deceived as to suppose that he will do an *.R pears to us equally impossible, so that what his object can be in assuming office has yet to lie revealed. That he is playing some deep game we may be perfectly sure, and it is with no little curiosity that we look for his first move, which will be made on tho House meeting at half past seven to-night. Iv the meantime we will undertake to say that there are many in Wellington who would give a great deal to recall the events of the past we k. [Since the above was in type we have received the following telegram :— Wellington, 3 p.m. The new Ministers are just being re-sworn as follows : Sir G. Grey, Premier and Colonial Secretary; Mr Larnach, Colonial Treasurer and Commissioner of Stamps; Mr Mac i ndrew, Minister of Lands and Works; Mr Sheehan, Native Minister and Minister of Justice; Mr Fisher, Postmaster-General and Telegraph Commissioner. The Hon. Colonel Whitmore has refused office.]