The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1082, 8 October 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1879.

Ills KxcKLLEN't T, in compliance with the wish of Mr. Hall, has called 31 r. F. Whitalscr to the Lords. This appeare to | tic an extraordinary proceeding: ichn«t any desire to impugn his Excellency's knowledge of Parliamentary practice, we think that his Excellency can show no warrant, either in Parliamentary precedent or law for his action in this matter. Mr. Hall is only leader of the Opposition until he becomes Premier, and that he is not yet Premier everybody with any claim to the possession of Parliamentary knowledge should know, and he himself acknowledged when he said that he believed the Premier (meaning Sir George Grey) wanted certain supplies voted | immediately, and he would therefore ask for an adjournment until to-morrow. We remember a late rumor that his Excel- ! tency announced his intention, on the eve of the assembling of the new ParliaI merit, to accept advice from Sir George Grey only on matters of urgency imme- ; diately connected with the government of the country. That is to say, his Excellency would not appoint any of Sir George's political friends to tiie Upper ; House at such a juncture. This rumor, vrhtch obtained currency in various | forms throughout the Colony, was, we : believe, authentic. But, if it was not, the principle embodied in it wa3 just, for, although at this time Sir ; George Grey was Premier of the Colony, and it was problematical whether he would or would not have a sufiicient i majority at his back to enable ■ htm to retain that position, it would have been unwise and unconstitutional to have permitted him, on the eve of his retirement,? to pack the Upper House : with his particular friends. Mr. Hall's case is a totally different one. He is the head of a party that by the small majority of two votes gained the ascendancy over their opponents. The victory was only a small one, but it was even smaller than it appears when subjected to only a superficial glance. The majority was not for 31 r. Hall, but against j Sir George Grey, and before the Hall Government have had time to commence operation... almost before they have an ' existence will be compelled to give ' place to a Go-, .anient whose views arc actually, and t. only professedly, in c>>n- ' so nance with the viev.s of the people. \U' have heard of the autocratic conduct of : the Premier, lie may be autocratic. If he has ever acted as 3lr. Hail has done on the re-opening of his political career, the accusations as to his autocratic conduct have not been falsely laid, and he deserves nothing lcs3 than political banishment. But we have no record in which Sir George Grey's name is linked with such n transaction. Mr. F. Whitakcr had been rejected by ht3 old friends, for reasons now well known to the whole Colony, and Mr. Tole, a young and comparatively inexperienced, but strictly honorable, man, elected to the position he Bought to occupy, the numbers polled being -113 and 309. In the face of this. Z.lr. Hall recommended the appointment to the Upper House of his old political friend, and his Excellency granted the recommendation. This i 3 a new way of over-riding the wishes of the people. Mr. Whttaker, we arc told, is to be AttorneyGeneral, and is to represent Auckland, notwithstanding that the constituency to which he appealed decided that he was not a fit and proper person to do so. Mr. John Hall has proved himself quite equal to the performance of unheardof Parliamentary trick 3. Compared to him, Sir George Grey is a mean tactician. Mr. Hall has commenced to treat us to representative government with a vengeance—representative government, warI rant for which cannot be found in any | law en the Statute Book. Are the people, j or such men as Mr. Hall, to say by whom ! the country shall he governed ? No answer : to this rjtiostwn is necessary. Mr. Hall's action an insult to the electors of Eden, and to the people of the C'o'ony. Mr. Whitsfcer. it is said, is to represent Auckland. We wonder whether he wo aid represent Eden, the electors of which district rejected him and chose his opponent He, it is plain, wilt not have a chance on this occasion of being equal \\r,h the electors that displayed such bad taste as to select a 4i mere boy" to represent them whon ho too offered himself. He will never again have the felicity of holding the portfolio of Attorney-General, notwithstanding what 3lr. Hall has dune. He will have to content himself in the more serene atmosphere of tfle Lords, where his talents will, perhaps, meet with a proper appreciation, and where he will certainly

do less harm than in the popular chamber of our Legislature. We are, of course, assuming that no exception will be taken to the appointment. If the matter were taken i;p. it is not improbable that Mr. Whu.-tkur miu'iit return to private life by the first sU'iiii'T Aucklanrhvards.