FRIENDLY ADVICE TO MINISTERS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5468, 5 October 1878, Page 2

FRIENDLY ADVICE TO MINISTERS.

(From t:3ie Timaru Herald.) There seems to be but one opinion as to the proceedings in Parliament during the present session, and that is that they are of a highly unsatisfactory character. When the session began, two months ago, Ministers made a great parade of their desire to bring their measures forward at the earliest possible date, to take the decision of the representatives of tho people upon them, and to enter in good time upon the practical work of carrying them into execution. The Colonial Treasurer especially boastel that he delivered the Financial Statement earlier than it had ever been delivered before, and a great,show was made of having all the leading public business in an unusually complete and well prepared state. Long before the session began, we pointed out that it wonld be impossible for Ministers to have any of their measures carefully enough considered to form part of a well-balanced or trustworthy policy; and, in spite of all their boasts and all their pretence of preparedness, events have amply justified our prediction. The Electoral Bill may or may not have been discussed ■ and agreed upon beforehand by the Cabinet. Tf it was so, and if they all approve of the measure, they have ' certainly displayed a wonderful faculty of mutual conoesion. Our own belief is that it was never agreed upon at all, but that the At-torney-General had its conception and preparation pretty well all to himself, and that his several colleagues only assented to it with very large reservations. That belief is fully borne out by the fact that the Bill met with a great deal of opposition which it would not have met with if all the Ministers had been in accord, and further, that on some of its leading principles, notably the plural ■ property vote, and the arrangements at elections, the Ministers became free lances for the nonce, and voted on different sides. The finance is admittedly a thing of very recent birth, and no serious attempt was made to answer the statements of those who pointed out during the debate on the Land Tax Bill that until within a few weeks of the session nothing like the proposals now made had been decided upon by Ministers. Several of them ore in fact, directly antagonistic to the declarations of individual members of the Cabinet during the recess, and it is impossible to believe that Mr. Ballance is at this moment at all heartily supported by bis own colleagues. Above all it is manifest that even if Ministers have come to some sort of general understanding among themselves as to the Bills which are supposed to embody the “liberal policy " they certainly have not taken any pains to secure the accord of their party in those Bills. There has literally been no opposition this year. Last year the Atkinson Ministry were condemned, and justly condemned,, because they were unable to carry their measures. In their case, however, there was the obvious excuse that they were faced by a vigorous, indefatigable, and uncompromising Opposition, numbering nearly half the House, who were doggedly determined to assent to nothing that the Ministry brought down. This year tho circumstances are entirely different. No Opposition has been formed. On the con-, trary, those who might naturally be expected to lead such a party have persistently declined to act against the Government in any organised way ; and have shown every readiness to afford facilities for the progress of' business. Yet the Government, powerful as they appear to be in the mere number of their followers, seem powerless to carry forward oven the measures which form the cardinal points of their policy. Week after week slips away, and nothing is done. Whole days are frequently occupied in unprofitable discussions on minor subjects, carried on for the most part against the Government by the professed supporters of the Govern-: ment; but ho effort is made to proceed: with the real business of the year. Thera is a strong, feeling prevalent amongst all sections of tho House of dissatisfaction with the Government proposals; yet it suits too well the views oi the great majority that the Ministry should remain in office for some time longer, to admit of that feeling being expressed explicitly. In short, the Government are only strong for party purposes, and are as weak as water for political purposes; Each Minister has his own little following, who have their own little objects to serve ; but scarcely one of them all is actuated by any admiration or enthusiasm for the Ministry or the Ministerial measures as a whole. That such a state of affairs is lamentably demoralising, is unfortunately only too patent; and it would be useless to deny that the House, in the present position of parties, are far more likely to do harm than good. The less they do, therefore, and the sooner they separate, the better. No regret, wa are sure, would be caused in the country by the withdrawal of the whole of the financial scheme, land tax, beer tax, companies tax, arid all. Even the revision of the Customs tariff nobody cares a fig for, and the “ poor working man" would not consider himself injured iu the least, if the extremely problematical free breakfast table were postponed for another year. It would, of course, be inconvenient for , poor Mr. Ballahoe, after standing for nearly a fortnight “ in the foremost ranks of colonial statesmen,” to be obliged to confess that he is what we always thought him, a mere solemn windbag, no more capable of conceiving a financial budget than he is of composing a Greek comedy. We do not think it is at all important, though, that Mr. Ballance’s feelings should be considered, He only got into his present position by the merest accident, and by the most questionable means. Having resolved to play the part of Judas to the Atkinson Ministry last year, he had the good fortune to turn traitor in the nick of time"; and, having carefully avoided identifying himself with the Grey Ministry until they were clear of their early perils, he complacently swallowed whatever principles he had formerly professed, and jsined them as soon as they were safe. It is not, therefore, to be supposed that a politician who never found it any wrench to abandon friends and associates who were far too good for him, wquld feel severely the abandonment of a few paltry Bills which are too bad even for him. To speak of the Colonial Treasurer as being sincerely attached to anything, indeed, is ridiculous; and we do not wish to make fun of a subject which is altogether void of the comic element. The best thing the Ministry can do is to put Mr. Ballance and bis finance into the background, let Mr. Stout carry the remainder of the Estimates through, arrange the preliminaries of the Public Works policy, and prorogue before the House get out of temper with them. That course, we are sure, would meet with universal approval, and would afford the best prospect of . a policy being brought down next year such as the people desire and would be satisfied with.