The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5197, 17 November 1877, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1877.

It is unfortunate for the present Ministry that it is absolutely necessary that' a Financial Statement must be brought down. If there was any possible way by which it could be avoided Sir George Grey would not be wanting in expedients. The complaint of the Ministry has been that they : have been harassed since their accession to office by the Opposition. It is hardly worth while answering this parrot cry.. We suppose no Ministry which' ever attained office in defiance of the will of the majority were quietly allowed to remain in office undisturbed, and, Micawbor-like, waiting for something to turn up. But within the last ten days the most ardent partizan of the Government could

not accuse tho Opposition of ' a factious, resistance to - , anything 'enianating from the Ministerial benches. That in reality would. have been a, difficult matter, as Ministers' have simply contented, themselves with putting on the' political garments of their opponents, regardless of how ill this procedure,became, them after their wild denunciations of the Opposition’s policy. If there was one direction more than another in which the present Government might have been expected to take a new departure, it was in their Native policy. No part of the administration of the late Government came in for a larger share of abuse than that of the Native Department. Time after time Sir George Grey and his useful man Friday, Mr. Sheehan, have not only condemned its policy and denounced its executive acts, but have warned the people of the colony that wo were on the brink of a great native disturbance—sitting on a volcano in fact, which might break out at any moment and overwhelm us. After all this solemn warning of impending danger, it was amusing to hear the Native Statement by Mr. Sheehan on Thursday night. That gentleman is not lacking in cool assurance, but he then eclipsed himself. With unblushing front he stood up and propounded the policy of the men who were in office before him, adopting it without even making modifications for the sake of consistency and his political reputation. Mr. Sheehan now states that it was owing to the policy of Sir Donald McLean that peace has prevailed since 1809. A new light has broken in upon Sir George Grey and Mr. Sheehan. It is strange that neither of those gentlemen could recognise this fact until they had seats on the Treasury benches, and were placed in a position where they were called upon to act, and where they were responsible to the Parliament and the country for their actions. But the truth is that the political principles of Sir George Grey and his henchman do not extend beyond the hour. If they can help it they will not run counter to the views of tho majority of Parliament, and will shift and turn in any direction to catch a stray vote, or allay, if possible, the anxieties of those who are afraid to trust the Hawke’s Bay Repudiation Party in power. Speaking of his connection with that party, Mr. Sheehan takes credit to himself that he had been instrumental in averting a native war in Hawke’s Bay. If encouraging the natives in tho belief that they had been despoiled of their lands by unfair practices, is Mr. Sheehan’s idea of allaying Maori disturbances, the sooner he is relieved from office the better for the peace of the country. Mr. Sheehan says his connection with the Repudiation Party was only that of solicitor and client. The Native Minister, when he made this statement, must have been aware that it was sheer nonsense. He has always been regarded as the political head of that party both by the Parliament and. the country, or at least that part of the country which has taken any interest in the matter. A glance at the columns of “TeWananga,” the organ of the Hawke’s Bay Repudiation Party, will prove that Mr. Sheehan’s connection with the party was something more than that of a mere professional adviser—that he was in fact the political mainspring of the movement, and the leader who was to fight their battles in the Parliament of the country as well as in the Law Courts. It is with some curiosity we await the Financial Statement and the Public Works Statement ; though we cannot help feeling that the Colonial Treasurer will adopt the line of his colleague, the Native- Minister, and quietly take up the policy of his prede-' cessor in office. We expect to hear a good deal about a vigorous prosecution of public works with prudence and economy; but when it comes to real matters of executive action, the Ministry will quietly endeavor to follow in the footsteps of those who immediately preceded them. There is an opinion abroad that the Ministry are afraid to trust themselves to frame a policy, and that they deem it safer to adopt that of their political opponents. But surely Sir George Grey, after his florid utterances about the rights of man and his rabid speeches about the grievances under which tho people of this colony labor, will not rest content to move along in the old grooves. It is not expected that he can work out his reforms in a day or two; but, looking at his long political experiences, it is not too much to expect that now that he is in office he should be able to give_ people some tangible idea of how he is to work out the reformation of tho country. However, we are thoroughly convinced that the Premier does not want time to prepare his policy so much as grounds of excuse for shirking the duty of laying before Parliament and the country the policy of his Government—if it has a policy other than the retention of office at any price. On the whole, wo think the Opposition have acted wisely in allowing the Government ample time to prepare their statements, though it was undoubtedly their right to use fair constitutional means at any time to oust from office a Ministry which it was perfectly certain never had possessed the confidence of Parliament.