The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY). MONDAY, JULY 14, 1879.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5706, 14 July 1879, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY). MONDAY, JULY 14, 1879.

Whenever political information of an authentic character is very scarce, it is, as a rule, undoubtedly safe to infer that the deficiency will be made good somehow or other. Canards of the most contradictory character concerning the organisation of the Opposition are afloat, and rival lobbyists have rival lists of future Ministries at their fingers’ ends, and are bursting to deliver themselves of the burden of the portentous secrets committed to their care. 1 It is evident that until the majority, of the members of both Houses had met together that it would have been difficult, if not impos-

sible, for either side to marshal their forces for the coming fight. Recruits for the Opposition are known to be numerous, but many of them have not yet taken the recruiting sergeant’s shilling, or agreed in whose regiment they shall serve. Drilling has hardly commenced, and among the raw levies discipline andobedience to the officers cannot be enforced at once, and can only be secured at last by the exercise of much tact and good management. The whips on both sides will have hard work to convince those under their charge that every man is not expected to act under the orders given to Daddy at. Donnybrook fair—“ Whereveryou see a head—hit it.” The publication of the Government programme to-morrow will tend to make the line of division between the Ins and the Outs somewhat more marked than at present; trimmers will seize the opportunity provided them of laying hold of some point in the policy proposed which renders it absolutely impossible for them to oppose or to support (as the case may bo) the present Ministry any longer. But pending the delivery of the Address in Reply, we are inclined to believe that the real position of affairs political may be guessed at but will not be known.

The Hon John Hall is looked on as the most likely man to be chosen Premier if the Ministry is defeated. As to his fitness, men of all parties in the House are singularly unanimous, and the outside public are also inclined to favor the same view.’ It is exceedingly doubtful whether if the post were offered to, or even pressed upon him, he would accept it. His health is not robust, and it is always difficult for a man in the Upper House to act officially as leader. But the present position of parties in the Lower House would be apt to prevent any other man being heartily accepted by a majority of the members as their chief, and the difficulty might possibly be evaded in the manner we suggest. Mr. Hall has earned the respect of all parties. He has held office under Mr. Stafford in 1865, under Mr. Fox, Mr. Waterhouse, and latterly under Major Atkinson, although without a portfolio, and only for a day or two in the last-named case. He could command the services of almost any man of repetition in either House, but it is morally certain that ho would try hard to be absolved from undertaking the task.

The appointment of a Chairman of Committees is expected to give rise to a sharp skirmish. Mr. Thomson, the member for Clutha, and Mr. Bunny, have been mentioned as the Government candidates. We decline altogether to believe that either of these men will ultimately command the support of the party. Mr. Thomson is said to have been only brought forward as a dernier ressort at the last moment, because the Government discovered that no one would support Mr. Bunny. We expect that the election will be made by the House in some measure irrespective of party. The first and most essential qualification for the office is an unimpeachable impartiality, and in order to secure a man of character and reputation, members are likely to vote irrespective of party distinctions for the occasion. We believe that the appointment will lie between Mr. Seymour and Mr. Bryce. The former is a gentleman of well-known character, and has also a strong claim on account of his former experience in the office. He was then known as a good and impartial chairman, with many qualities to recommend him. It has been reported that Mr. Bryce refused to allow himself to be nominated for the office on the ground of ill health. We do not believe that there is any truth in this report; the nomination offered to the member for Wanganui was made by a caucus of a few members, and not by body which could be considered in any way to represent a majority of the House. Mr. Bryce’s health, though not robust, is sufficiently good to enable him to fill the duties of the office satisfactorily, and if he is generally held to be the fittest man iqv the post, it would be, to say the least, only a graceful act of courtesy to offer him the refusal of it. That he commands the full confidence of the House is undeniable, and his unanimous appointment as sole Commissioner to inquire into the Bay of Islands electoral scandal was proof positive that his independence is both known and appreciated. It is simply absurd to suppose that such mediocre men as Messrs. Thomson, Kelly, or Bunny would be in the least likely to secure a majority of votes for such an , appointment, so * long as either Mr; Seymour or Mr. Bryce were candidates, or eligible for the office. In spite of all the rumors of political struggles and rivalries, public interest is far from being attracted in the same degree as it usually is in the parliamentary proceedings. Men of all classes in the colony have their hands pretty full of their own private business just at the present time, and politics are a secondary consideration. After the great Grey agitation and stumping tour which ended in smoke, et prefer ea nihil, the sayings of demagogues, either in print or on the stump proper, command no attention. The sham political storm which was raised about two years ago proved to be the forerunner of a social storm of unusual severity and magnitude, and the public are now chiefly anxious that the men to whom the guidance of the State is to be entrusted, shall be those who command the respect of all and the support of most. A moderate Ministry is earnestly desired, and though political rest may be sneered at and reviled, at the present time a long-continued state of political unrest would be particularly objectionable.