OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE MINISTERIAL CHANGES. [From the "Morning Chronicle," Feb. 26.]

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 551, 26 July 1851, Page 3

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE MINISTERIAL CHANGES. [From the " Morning Chronicle," Feb. 26.]

The information which on Monday morning we exclusively published, that the task of forming a Ministry was once more confided to Lord Stanley, will have excited an alarm by uo means unreaaonablc in every portion of the kingdom. Among politicians and Members of Parliament it is easy to express a wish for u solution which would simplify parties, and which would probably strengthen the cause of Free Trade. But men of business, and the groat mass of the country, are neither able nor willing to speculate on the possible contingencies which may result from placing the supporters of ii pernicious policy in power. A Government formed by the acknowledged chief of the Protectionists will be understood, both by friends and foes —whatever may be the actual 'projects of the new Ministers —to indicate, tit least, a partial return to Protection. The commercial benefits of Free Trade consist not only in {he absence of burdens and restrictions, but in the confidence that the present exemption will be perpetual. The vicissitudes of trade proceed from causes sufficiently complicated, and include a range abundantly wide, without further embarrassing the calculation of the trader by questions as to the financial policy of a new and suspected Government. The system which has been introduced within the last ten years will never be reversed ; but it must not be tampered with, nor brought into question. The name of Lord Stanley is alone sufficient to entail the great evil of uncertainty on the community; nor will his desertion of his party and of their doctrines, as indicated by his desire to co-operato with an able and influential advocate of free trade, suffice 1o reassure the country. The alliance which he courts is evidently unattainable. Mr. Gladstone was not one of the unwilling adherents who gallantly followed Sir Jlobort Peel in his difficulties without heartily approving of his policy. ] n 1845 he resigned his office from a feeling of delicacy respecting the Maynooth Bill, which, nevertheless, as r. private member he supported. When, in the following winter, Sir ltobert Peel formed his great resolution, only one member of his Cabinet refused his adhesion. Lord Stanley resigned the seals of the colonies. It became necessary to find, a substitute who would not shrink from joining a short-lived Cabinet for the sake of accomplishing a great service to the nation. As a cordial supporter of the new policy, us a determined advocate of free trade, <he new Colonial Secretary fought at the right hand of hia leader through that long and arduous struggle, lie had taken the office which Lord Stanley vacated, because he was utterly opposed to his opinions. With the exception of the great chief of the Ministry, no abler champion nasisted iv securing the great and self-sacrificing victory. For the present, we by no means shave in the alarm which the threatened reaction so naturally i excites. Until the Stanley Ministry is formed ; and in office, we shall not believe in its final con1 otruction. Lord Stanley has neither shown the temper and discretion, nor the comprehensive grasp of mind, which ought to characterise the chief of a Government. At present, moreover, j the defects of his position possess more practical importance than the failings of his temperament or of his understanding. He is either a leader without a party, or the leader of a party which is utterly impracticable. Even if he oould secure. Mr. Gladstone's support, by adopting the thoroughgoing Free Trade policy which the member for the University of Oxford so steadily maintains, if. is impossible that he can retain the numerical strength which forms his only claim to the rank of Prime Minister. In the tar more probable event of Mr. Gladstone's refusal to take office under so sudden a convert to sound principles, it will be too late for Lord Stanley to return to the phalanx in which he has shown so marked a distrust. A leader of Protectionists, who has postponed the formation of his Ministry for the opportunity of negotiating with a conspicuous opponent of Protection, will find it difficult to revive the enthusiasm of his followers when lie falls back on their ranks in despair. If we assume, however, that Lord Stanley will defy or overcome the innumerable difficulties of attempting to select his Ministry from his own body, it is worth while to examine the materials which he possesses for the construction of a passable Cabinet. Mi. Homes, as the only financier of the party, would, no doubt, become Chanrelloi of Ihe Exchequer, with the prospect of discharging the routine of his duties decorously, according to the traditions of a quarter of a century ago. Mr. Henley, perhaps the most able of the Protectionists, in entirely inexperienced in office ; and every Cabinet Minister would havo his business to learn, without receiving assistance from a body of colleagues as ignorant of their duties as himself. Lord Hardwicke would probably be placed at the head of Hie Navy, as the mi'jnlHjr of ihe parly who is best acquainted with Ik difaiico klwoeu tlic Mem iukl stern of a

vessel. Mr. Disraeli will constitute one of the principal difficulties which will encumber Lord Stanley's airangements. It is only by entire distrust of his versatile colleague, that the expectant Premier's eagerness to secure the services of Mr. Gladstone can be explained. It is easy to understand the reasons which might induce Lord. Stanley to wish to dispense with Mr. Disraeli's assistance; but the hopeless mediocrity of the -rest of the party makes it impossible to reject his pretensions unless he is replaced by an abler substitute than any member of the Protectionist body. It i 3 well known that Mr. Disraeli has never been liked or trusted by those who have followed his guidance. Many attempts have been made to shake off his leadership ; but the Spooners and : Newdegates were too hopelessly unavailable to supplant the i unpopular orator. He leads the party because he chooses to lead it, and because I it has neither a speaker nor a statesman in it ranks. In a subordinate office, or as an unata tached adherent, he would soon push himself intthe place which no rival has any pretensions to j fill. It is principally, we believe, for the purpose of checking his ambition, that Lord Stanley would secure the alliance of Mr. Gladstone; and the failure of the attempt ought clearly to lead to the immediate abandonment of the task which lie has ■undertaken.

(From the "Morning Chronicle," February 27.) Our anticipations have been justified by Mr Gladstone's refusal to take office under the Protectionist leader. The high feeling and the attachment to principle which dictated his refusal have been shared by his former colleague, Lord Canning, whose presence in the Foreign-office would have relieved Lord Stanley from one of his principal difficulties. In both cases, the unhesitating rejection of high office from a Premier whose opinions were known to be unfavourable to a liberal commercial policy will be generally appreciated as it deserves. Lord Stanleymußtnow either relinquish his task, or proceed in the desperate attempt to effect it without the aid of a single experienced statesman. His position is, both personally and politically, isolated. He will neither find a capable colleague, nor enjoy the countenance of any section of Parliament except that which, in the House of Lords, has followed his lead, and which, in the Commons, has acted with Mr. Disiaeli. The difficulties of his situation are aggravated by the refusal of his adherents to give up the question of protection. Lord Stanley would willingly have waited, in the hope of conciliating support by incidental measures of retrenchment, accompanied by popular financial proposals ; but the obstinate determination of the bulk of the party has forced the leader to hoist hie true colours. The Protectionisms must assume the government of the country with the avowed purpose of checking the Free Trade system, or they must finally renounce their pretensions. We still believe that the duration of the experiment will be measured by_ hours rather than by weeks. Lord Stanley has hitherto displayed no eagerness for office ; nor can his attempted negotiations with Mr. Gladstone have been dictated by feelings of conscious power and security. Seeing the hopelessness of permanently establishing his party in power, he will probably once more recommend them, to wait, and will leave it to experience to teach them that the present is their last opportunity. It may be that the confession of failure will be veiled by some formal progress in the distribution of offices^ in tl c expectation that circumstances or conflicting personal clams will furnish, at the last moment, some plausible excuse for abandoning an impracticable experiment. Until the Miniati'y is formally in office it will be unsafe to speculate on its final establishment ; and it is probable that the crisis will jet be terminated by some arrangement by which the most eminent supporters of Free Trade may form a united Cabinet.

(From <he " Morning Clironiclc," February 28.) Lord Stanley has a second time abandoned the task which Lord John Russell's weakness twice committed to him. Thus far the country has waited to know its fate with exemplary resignation. Somewhat contemptuously indifferent to the fate of a Government which went down in smooth water through the incapacity of the pilot, public opinion has been less alarmed at the threat of a Protectionist Government, than incredulous as to the attempt being risked. The crisis, however, had already lasted for a week, and it was time that something should be settled. Lord Stanley had no further reason for delay, after the failure of his late negotiations for an alliance with Mr. Gladstone and Lord Canning. His resources, fiuch as they were, lay visibly before him, and he could judge at once of the probability of success as fully as if he had employed a month in consideration. With his ovt n followers little diplomacy was necessary, unless they could have been persuaded to give up the cause of Protection. The Prime Minister might have safely drawn up a list of the Cabinet, and submitted it for the royal sanction, without waiting for the assent of the individuals whom he might think fit to designate as his colleagues. The more prominent members of the party were ready_ to take office ; and considering their general incapacity and their common absence of administrative experience, it would matter little how the departments wereilisrtibuted. It is a severe criticism on the composition of the still-born Ministry that no one at any time seriously believed in the possibility of its existence. The late Government fell almost without a blow ; but the attempted Administration has dispersed into air before it was possible to attack it. The consummation proves that the Protectionist phantom, after condensing itself into all the solidity which it is capable of assuming, is still impalpable and imaginary. Lord John Kussell found a difficulty on Monday in indicating the supposed external causes of his defeat. Lord Stanley, with a united party ready for office, and with full discretion as to his political course, may be excused from the task of elucidating his failure. It is said that he has never been sanguine of success, nor has the deportment either of friends or opponents, during the crisis, had any tendency to reassure him.

(From the " Daily News," Febmary 16.) Lord Stanley has at length the opportunity afforded him which his followers have bo frequently affected to desire. The noble Lord was summoned to the Royal presence on the afternoon of Tuesday, and again invited to attempt the task of forming a Ministry. lie asked until Wednesday to complete his list. The gate of the political orchard has suddenly been left open, and the turbulent and covetous crew that have been in the habit of threatening to scale the walls, find themselves unexpectedly tantalized by seeing the golden pippins within their reach. The old-gate-keeper, of whom they were mightily afraid, is dead ; and his successor has, in a fit of vexation, forsaken his post. Shall they rush in and proceed to appropriate what their boyish souls lust after ! Or will tne consciousness that after all they have no honest business there, restrain their impetuous leader and his unruly band? For their own saffes, some of their friends may be disposed to hope the latter ; but should the former occur, it will only be necessary to take quiet and peremptory measures for turning the intruders out again, when the proper time comes. For any sober or useful purpose, a Stanley administration, properly so called, is a mere absurdity. Think of a great, busy, exigent, and clear-headed community like this, having the direction of their vast affairs committed to the hands of a knot of dilettanti writers, distressed squires, and delicate lordings, a band of fops, fanatics, and fox-hunters I One might as well imagine a man of sound mind selecting for his domestic establishment a set of servants unfit to work, although to beg for unearned bread not ashamed, Conceive the amaze-*

merit, incredulity, and scorn which the first playbill of the Caiiton theatre must create throughout the kingdom ! As far as the mutes in the Court pageant are concerned, we doubt not the parts might be filled up as well by Tory grooms and ladies in waiting, as by those who have enacted those highly em-important characters for the last three seasons. But pageants, however well ",put upon the stage," don't draw. A discerning public insists upon having something more for its money than mere masquerading to the tune of "God save the Queen." We are a business people, and appreciate subjects of serious interest. If the Merchant of Venice is advertised, we want to know who is to play Shylock? And in the comical farce of A Nabob for an hour, we wish lo learn who is positively to play the imposter. 'But will Mr. Gladstone, for whom Lord Stanley asked the Queen to wait until he should find it convenient to return from foreign travel — will he take office in the Government that we are told is to be ? Will he go to sea in so crazy a barque, with so giddy a captain, and so untrained a crew ? Halt, lame, and blind. Lord Stanley can muster but three other individuals who have ever been in the Cabinet before — his Grace of Richmond, Lord EUenborough, and poor old Mrs. Herries. Nobody else will touch the thing. Of course it seems capital fun for would-be statesman like Newdegate, Granby, and Stafford, to be allowed to wear real political swords, and to be dubbed Privy Councillors. .But what inducement can the presence of such personages afford to any man who has ever had the experience of practical responsibility ? Our impression is very strong that Mr. Gladstone will have nothing to do "with the ignorant and incompetent triilers.