The Oamaru Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1318, 28 June 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1880.

Political parties in the House of Representatives bid fair to become very much, mixed before long. Though it is generally admitted the Ministry 'will have a majority on the no-concdgpce motion which occupied the attention of Parliament during the greater portion of the past -week, it by no means follows that they will succeed in thrusting their crude and unsatisfactory financial proposals upon the country. They may remain in office, but their lease of office will merely amount to a tenure at will. They may be entrusted with the work of bringing the Colony out of its present difficulties, but they can only do so by abandoning their own proposals and adopting those of men with larger minds and keener sense of what is necessary. They may retain the name of Government, but they will possess i few of the powers and privileges appertaining to the position of responsible advisers of the Governor. They may be permitted to administer the affairs of the Colony, but they will be compelled to do so after th& manner prescribed by politicians whose views differ from their own. If the Opposition is too weak to turn the Ministry out of office, the Ministry are also too weak to ho id j office and govern according to the lines I of policy sketched out by them in their Financial Statement. A greater power has arisen in JJie House than either the Ministerial paily or the Opposition. The Middle Party, of which we have heard so much within the la«t few davs, though small in numbers is strong in* every other respect. It comprises men of undoubted ability, of firmness of character, and possessing strong wills. Such a party, composed of such men, must wield a: large amount of influence in the House, while their moderate views upon political questions must meet with the approval of a large section of the people of the Colony. Many persons have expressed strong dissatisfaction at the no-confidence debate being prolonged when the Opposition, under Sir George Grey, had so little chance of victory. They have argued that no good could come out of the debate, and have characterised it as a decided waste of time. They have urged that as the motion was brought forward by Sir George Grey with the avowed object of giving those who think with him an opportunity of recording their protest against the financial proposals of the Ministry, the question should be allowed to come to tne vote, and the inevitable result accepted. Such narrow-visioned persons as these could not see that the object of the Opposition was to have the proposals of the Ministry discussed in every particular. They could not see that the Opposition were talking not only to the House but to the country; thftt they were endeavoring to educate the people politically—to lead them up to a fair understanding of the insufficiency of the economy promised by the Ministry, the inequality of their proposed substitute for subsidies to local bodies, and the ruinous nature of the schemes of taxation they propose. How Wieh less, then, could these persons of liwifeed vision foresee that an entirely new order of things would be evolved by the discussion 1 Ministers themselves could scarcely have anticipated such a result or they would have been more chary in affording Sir George Grey an opportunity for bringing on the motion which has led them into the very unenviable position they now occupy. They would not have Kppn so defiant and so eager for the frav. As it is, the Opposition have (rained a. victory, for they have been the means of leading up to a discussion of the financial proposals that must by this time have completely convinced Ministers of their weakness, for they are weak indeed—-as weak ps their proposals are mischievous. Harrassed on one side by an Opposition which, though not strong enough to displace them, is still sufficiently powerful to hold them in check, and placed at the mercy of friends candid enough to state boldly that they do not approve of, and cannot support, their financial proposals, the Ministry occupy a position by no nr>tying enviable. Placed between two fires, either of which may destroy them at any saoment, they might indeed obtain our pity and commiseration were i we not so thoKQjjghly opposed to their financial proposals. Under the circumstances, however, we fere piore prone to rejoicing than sorrow, for now see every probability of a modification if not a total reversal, of the financial, proposals of the Hall Government being brought about. Generallyspeaking, we are opposed to the constitution of middle parties in representative chambers, because they are usually followed by a slnall section of members forcing their .opinions upon one of the other parties, to the exclusion of the views of a large number of members, who are corn pel Jed to terms with a very decided minority/ Tjbis W& hold to be totally opposed to the representative government, aud usually

fraught "with danger to the State. We prefer seeing only two political parties, each based upon well-defined lines *• of policy. But in the present instance the formation of a Middle 1 Party is a matter for because it has brought with it a policy-that must commend itself to the people, and a policy, moreover, was very much required. The Ministry have no policy ; they have stolen freely from its opponents in many respects, and in other directions they have resorted to the dangerous system of adopting any iCtfifSD that might be created for them Dmr s "ucus of their supporters. The . .oion, on the other hand, have a polidy, but they are too disunited to b ?Vl ~ policy into operation, and eveiix a thorough cohesion could be secured, they have not a majority in the House to enable them to carry out their policy. With the policy propounded by ]VIr. Ormond in its roughhewn state we agree in the main. But we have not space 'to deal with it fully in the present article, and must defer doing ,so until a future occasion. * In the meantime, therefore, we shall content ourselves with exposing our entire satisfaction at the turn .the debate on the no-confi-dence motion has taken, and at the prospect pf many of the objects that we have striven for being so near achievement. There is Gne matter in connection with the Middle Party that we wish to refer to briefly. It has been reported that Sir William Fox is bidding for the leadership of the party, and oup special Parliamentary correspondent even states fhat some color of probability was given to tjip report by Sir William's speech on Friday night, but oux* special must have intended this as a bit of sarcasm. We can find nothing in the speech of Sir William Fox to warrant such a statement. It was, jjsual with the old gentleman, a pyrotechnic xjjsplay of the first ordex', and gave no indications of a desire on the part of Sir William Fox tQ give in in his allegiance to any party likely to oppose the present Ministry. His speech, though containing no arguments W support of the Ministerial policy, was 'st?ov r gly in favor of the Ministry. He declaimed against all who differed from the Government, and lauded, his proteges to the second heaven. The "statement therefore that he is aiming at the leadership of the Middle Party must be. a grim joke. There is no such thing about Sir William Fox p.s moderation in any direction, and he voi*J4 ba the last man that we should deem capable pf lading a middle or moderate party, and he is certainly the last man that we shoiild care to see leading any party.