The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1876.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 147, 6 September 1876, Page 2

The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1876.

He would be a most extraordinarily gifted political prophet who could, with any certainty, predict the next move on the board at Wellington, and to say that people generally are sick of the dodgery and humbug that the present Parliamentary session has evolved, is to phrase the existing condition of tho public mind in a very mild form indeed. Nearly three months have elapsed since Parliament met, and the time of the House of Representatives has for that term been occupied in debating whether Sir Julius Vogel should or should not remain at the head of the Government, or whether a Quixotic old knight, with a Sancho Panza legal squire, should rule in his stead. Public business has literally stood still, whilst this point has been discussed, and to end all,* the knight of the latest creation has betaken himself to his heels, and hurls inglorious defiance at his enemies from the secure portals of the Agent-General’s office. Owing to this abandonment at a critical juncture, a now Ministry has been formed, a cabinet of shreds and patches it is generally admitted—one that will

lx; eon solid u to. I at tin; end of the session, but will be good enough to yet t.'ironyh hitherto neglected work, and terminate what seems likely to be an everlasting sitting. Up. to the present time all the real business of the colony has been carefully set aside—the Estimates have not even been looked at, the financial condition of the country has not been discussed, the bills necessary to complete the work of Abolition have been but glanced at, and anything more sadly unsatisfactory than the spectacle the Legislature of New Zealand at present affords could bo hardly conceived beyond colonial limits. Purely, if members have the slightest glimmering of a sense of shame loft, they will exert themselves to redeem the past, and will not allow imbeciles of any class to farther obstruct and delay public work. Now that the ‘ be;o noire’ of the Opposition, in the person of Sir Ji.lius Yogcl, has been rjmovcd, or rather has removed himself, possibly the more rabid portion of that section of the Assembly may be at rest, and the desired peace may be established. The public will not, wo imagine, he exceedingly critical as lo the ‘ personnel’ of the new, or to speak more coirectly, the reconstituted Ministry, provided they evince an honest desire to make up fur wasted time, and not permit the prolonged debates of the last few weeks to bo repeated. At the same time the Government cannot by any means be considered a strong one, and they will exist as much ou sufferance as anything else. The element they want is not there, Mr Stafford king conspicuous by his absence —Major Atkinson, member for this district though he may be, being but an indifferent substitute for the member for Timaru in affording strength to a Ministry. At the same time, the member for Egmont lias not spared himself in cutting out his future work, as ho has taken on himself no less than three offices ; it is only to be hoped that he will bo able to suitably fill them. The changes after all are not great, if wc except the adhesion of the Hon. John Hall, and the advent of Mr Whitaker to the newly constituted office of- Attorney-General. By now, we of course mean a new office in the New Zealand Parliament. What the meaning of Mr Whitaker’s accession may be, time will no doubt develop, but the Provincial party who hug their land fund to their hearts, and swear by the compact of 1850, will hardly care to have such an uncompromising opponent in the Ministerial phalanx, and it will be strange if some determined attempt to eject him from office be not marie without loss of time. What the fate of abolition and its concomitant measures will now be is a mystery, but it is very clear that a conciliatory attitude will be taken by the new Government and it is possiblo that consiticrablo will occur before the long talked of policy be fully carried out. Taking things altogether, they are by no-means as hopeful us might be, and the present session seems likely to be a barren one—us far us public good is concerned. The shameful defection of the late Premier will have a most prejudicial effect not only on the proceedings of the House and iuexpcditing business, but on the credit of the Colony at home, and the financial embarrassments that have all along been admitted to be urgent, will become still more so through this cause. The new Ministry have their hands full to get through the troubles that threaten them on all sides; for the sake of the Colony wc heartily wish them a safe deliverance, but think that reconstruction will have to be once more resorted to, before tfiey achieve it.