The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY). WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1879.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5762, 17 September 1879, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY). WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1879.

The general election is over, and the result shows that the question which was submitted to the country has been answered very indefinitely—so much so that some members have been dieted who shirked the question altogether, and carefully confined themselves to generalities, and declined to promise any support either to Sir George Grey or anyone else. It cannot be too often repeated that the real point at issue between the G®- ■ vernment party and the Opposition was, whether the people believed that the present Ministry had really so neglected and mismanaged the administrative business of the Government of the colony that they had ceased to possess the confidence of the people.

The history of the recent campaign shows that almost onc-third of the members have declined to give a distinct answer to this question. Nor is it very surprising ; in the case of Mr. Huntek and Mr. Hutchison, between whom the battle for the second seat in Wellington really lay, hardly a placard was issued, or a hustings sp. och made, by Mr. Hutchison: or his friends which would lead any ordinary elector to believe that the above question was really the one which had been put to the country. Colonel Whitmore’s remarkable telegram to Mr. Ingles, of Kaikoura, equally ignores the point, and was a simple request to a candidate to stand in the Grey interest on the platform of the policy enunciated in the Governor’s speech. The Government organ claims a distinct Majority upon the ground that most of the newly elected members have shown no inclination to oppose the hackneyed reforms which had come before the House in one form or another often enough in the past. Most of them have been brought forward since the Grey party came into power, but they were not then deemed of sufficient importance to receive the support of the Ministry. In the list which we have published showing the political leaning of the members of the House of Representatives, we have taken the liberty of classing the candidates as Greyite and anti-Greyite. Sir G. Grey well knows, and so do all of his colleagues, that he can say with perfect truth—“ The Ministry, it is I.” Let any man picture to himself the condition of the Ministry without Sir George, and with the Hon. Mr. Gisborne as Premier, or the Hon. Mr. Fisher or Mr. Thomson as Colonial Treasurer. If Sir George were to resign, and the present Ministry could by any possibility be retained in office, they would not hold together for a week. With the exception of Mr. Macandrew, and in native matters Mr. Sheehan, they are convenient and respectable nonentities who are allowed to play at being Ministers, but whoso opinions are neither wanted nor asked for by their chief. Indeed, if rumor or his dismissed colleagues speak truly, Sir George but seldom gives anyone of them a chance of “ putting in his oar ” until long after all important matters have been definitely decided. We believe that if the question submitted to the country is again brought before the House, Sir G. Grey will still be found in a considerable minority, and we sincerely trust that some such test may be applied. Already rumors are rife that the so-called independent members are having the strength and limits of their independence severely tried. West Coast members have in some particular cases been returned not as members of Parliament, but as special advocates for a costly, extravagant, and useless railway which Sir' G. Grey has pledged himself and his Government to support. It is just possible that a truly Liberal Government, practising a great Liberal policy, may succeed in convincing the waverers that there is nothing to be gained by a continuance of an open independence, and that there is a certainty of the Grey Ministry retaining a grateful remembrance of a timely support given in time of need by an “ independent” member.

It has been said that the victorious battles fought by Englishmen were won on the play-grounds of the public schools. It is equally true that most of the Parliamentary victories have been won in the lobbies, and not on the floor of the House. An actual Ministry can, no doubt, offer higher bounties and carry on recruiting better than a Ministry which only exists on paper. With a sum of five millions in view—almost within grasp—the bounties to be promised by an unscrupulous Minis try may be made very tempting. The Ministry which could openly promise “consideration” to a candidate in their interest would certainly not be slow to promise far more substantial consideration to a lusty deserter from the opposing army at a time when the fortune of the fight might depend upon one or two votes. It is within our knowledge that many of those members who have lately been elected have only secured their seats by a distinct assurance that they distrusted Sir G. Grey. In their public speeches this may not, and in many cases does not, appear. So long as a candidate believed that he was likely to secure more votes both from Greyites and from anti-Greyites by a not too plain expression of his political creed than by an open declaration of his real sentiments, and so long as the electors did not require him to reply to the question before the country, a candidate could hardly be blamed for trying to avoid the Soylla of anti-Greyism, and the Chabtbdis of Greyism. The candidate whom we despise and distrust is one who, when challenged, shuffled and declined to avow his sentiments.

We publish in another column a list of the new members arranged according to Provincial Districts. It will be seen that out of 55 old members returned, 28 voted against the Grey Ministry on the vote of want of confidence, and 21 voted in favor of it; consequently, so far as the old members are concerned, the colony has pronounced in favor of their action. There are altogether S 3 new members. Of these, 16 may be classed as Greyites, 13 as anti-Greyites, and 4 as doubtful ; if a vote of want of confidence such as that tabled by Sir Wm. Fox were again moved, it is certain that neither Mr. Ballancb nor Mr. Turnbull would be again found voting in favor of the Grey Ministry, and it is questionable whether Mr. Bunny would not also be on the Opposition side. There are no party questions before the public. The country has decided in favor of certain reforms, and any Ministry, to keep faith with the people, must introduce them. On the question of the continuance in office of the present Ministry, and in answer to the appeal made by Sir G. Grey to the constituencies, in many cases both candidates and electors have agreed to ignore the issue. As the constituencies have declined to decide definitely who shall carry out the new policy, the House will have to resolve the point. At present the Greyites are in a minority, and in the interests of the country it is to be hoped that they may long rejaain so.