The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 30, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 112, 30 August 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 30, 1876.

At l.T.jrt ttte Ministerial statement has hern made regarding the coveted otfiee of AgentGeneral, arid Sir Jeur* W>r:Ei. lias confirmed the greater proportion of rightthinking men in the Colony in the opinion that he la capable of sacrificing anything for his own personal aggrandisement. The Premier's statement that lie intends to leave New Zealand and .settle in London as Agent-General, has certainly not taken its by surprise—in fart, we can go 30 far as* to say that it has probably not astonished any one who knew anything about Sir .Trues and his principles. While, n<> doubt, actuate*! to some extent with a desire to benefit the land of his adoption.. Sir .Trues has been very carefully looking after .Number One, and though it was with fueling* of extreme regret that he announced in the House the death of Dr. FfivruKKSToy, it cannot be doubted but that when the poignant grief was over, lie instinctively looked forward with pleasure to the vacant office. The statement made by ttve Premier last evening that it was ! itt-health compelled him to resign his office \ niay he all very true ; but it is a singular fact thfit this last attack of ill-health j should only have been felt immediately j after Dr. Fkvtherstox's death. Of course \ pit men, whether they be Premiers or ordi- j nary mortals, are subject to illness at times, : hut in the case of Sir Jt'urs Yr.cr.L* ! health, the attacks have occurred at such ; extraordinary and convenient inter- I vats. On his last visit to England j the health got very bad just as it was time to return, and, of course, J "* Dear Por.LE>" " granted an extcn- r sioji »>f furlough. Now, in the matter ! of this Agent-Generalship, the health ! breaks down entirely, and the Premier I finds it absolutely necessary that he should [ go Home. For our part, we confess this

health business is about played out, and we hold that if a man is too unwell to look after the country's business in the Colony, he is no more fitted to look after it in England. It seems passing strange that it should have taken the great man seventeen years to discover that the climate of London* was more suited to his constitution than that of Wellington. It seems odd, too, that he should only just have commenced to think about the claims of his family. Surely a man does not take an active part in public life for ' twenty years before discovei-ing that | '"'public life was inconsistent with attention ' to one's affairs." This Agent-General busiI ness has just terminated as we anticipated. [ It was not so long ago that we predicted j the Premier would get this country ini volved in one grand financial muddle, and then carefully leave us to get out of the mess the best way we can. He sees now that the borrowing game is about settled ; that wc have run to the fidl extent of our tothcr so far as loans are concerned ; that one gr;:.nd smash is looming in the distance, and, therefore, with an amount of tact that we cannot help admiring, he reI tires from the scene, and allows the public | to pour out its curses on his devoted head, • whiic lie is in a comfortable billet at Home. ! If we "ft out '»f this turmoil of loans and t ! hypothecations, then, of course, well and good, and the Pix-mier will take the credit I for it : if, on the other hand, the opposite j should be the result, he will console j himself with the fact that, had lie been in i Sew Zualand, things would have eventu- | aled differently. Looked at in the abstract, the whole transaction is not a very [ creditable one. That a Ministry of longf strnding should be dissolved because | a ni'.iuber d/slivs to fill a vacancy in a sitbf»rilinah» office seems to us a most exI traordinary proceeding. Wo rjuite agree with Mr. ItoixKSTOX when he stated in the House last evening that the public f had not had that confidence placed in them which there ought to have been. [ That there were many men who had [ sacrificed their health and their all in the service of the country, but it sln-xild not be pleaded as a justification that the | Premier was resigning oflice on the ground of ill-health. T.-te precedent wasll most dangerous one, and he hoped an opportunity would be afforded for discussing tins question. We hope so too. Sir J rut's Vogel is leaving now at the most critical time in thehis'oryof the Colony—on the eve of constitutional changes of the greatest moment to the future welfare I of New Zealand—therefore it is highly i necessary that before the House sanctions [ the appointment of Sir .Trues Yogel as Agent-General, a full and free discussion • should be elicited.