HOW SIR JULIUS VOGEL WAS SENT FOR.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 63, 16 August 1884, Page 6

HOW SIR JULIUS VOGEL WAS SENT FOR.

The report wired you late yesterday afternoon that the Governor had sent for Mr Ormond, and that he had recommended His Excellency to summon Sir Julius Vogel, was generally current amongst leading members of the House, and was accepted as accurate. It requires, however, some modification. The interview between Mr Ormond and the Governor took place in the morning, and was said to have been of a personal rather than of a public character, although, no doubt, Hit, Excellency elicited Mr Ormond's opinion on the political situation. Whatever transpired at this interview, the substantial fact was confirmed. About 7 o'clock in the evening Sir Julius Vogel received a summons to wait upon His Excellency at Government House this morning at eleven. It is further known that Mr Ormond had two or three consultations with Sir J. Vogel during the day, and that there is every prospect of them working in harmony. Mr Ormond, who Kiys he ha^ no strong desire for office, has, it is said, waived any claim to the Premiership, and is not likely to take any portfolio, not being in sympathy with the paity. Will Vogel be Able to Form a Ministry ? There is, I believe, no possibility of a union between Vogel and Grey, and there is no chance of Atkinson coming into the coalition. Mr Ormond has no personal following, and unle~- Vogel could detach pome of the Grey or Atkinson supporters, it is doubtful -whether he can get a stable Ministry. The member^ most likely to be won over aie the four West Coast members, who all pos^e-^ decided Grey sympathies, but are chiefly bent upon securing the ChriMx'hurch West Coast Railway, to which Vogel has committed himself. The estimates made by the Government of this line .show that it vv ill cost from £10,000 to £15,000 pur mile, involving altogether an outlay ot upwards of a million and a-half sterling, and puling for mo^t part through barren mountains, across which coal, the only produce to bo conveyed, would never pas*— colliers being much the cheapest. T question if any Government could obtain the consent ot the House to this work as a public undertaking. It is, however, premature to speculate on the strength of the Vogel party at this stage. The Effect on Auckland District. It is of more interest to know how Auckland will faro. All the Auckland members were chosen either as supporters of Major Atkinson or Sir George Grey, and if neither side coalesce with Vogel, Auckland may figure rather badly ; but of this more anon.