The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1882.

Temuka Leader, Issue 937, 13 April 1882, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1882.

Notwithstasding fke profound prophecies uf the Timaru Herald it is now an ar'ni'Med fact that flisExcellency the Governor has sent for Sir George Grev to confer with him with rtgard to the formation of successors to the Hall Ministry. The Herald in its issue of last Tuesday pooh-poohed the idea of the Hall Government bret king up into infinitesimal pieces, and prophecied that the little difficulty was brought about tl rough the Premier having to resign on account of ill-health. It stated that the resignation of the Premier necessitated the resignation of all the Ministry, and that there was nothing more in it than that. We should like to know the grounds the Herald had for making this assertion. No one knew letter than the writer of that article that the resignation of the Premier would not render it necessary for the other members of the Ministry to resign, and we have a shrewd notion, too, that the same gentleman could tell the cause of the present political crisis, if he only wished to inform his readers of it. Anyone who has watched matters for the last couple of months can easily see through the whole affair. It will b. remembered that when Mr Bryce was in Auckland lately, a deputation waited upon him to ask him not to remove the Native Office from Auckland to Wellington,and that hedeclined to comply with the request on the ground thut that would necessitate his living in Auckland. The deputation said they would be very glad if Mr Bryce would live in Auckland, and he replied, evidently trying to heal the wounds which <he removal of the Native Office had caused, that he would rather live in Auckland by far than in Wellington but that circumstances would not allow it. He also asked them in a stage whisper not to let WeMington know he said so, or he wovld get into hot water when he arrived in that city. Mr Bryce used a good deal of tact, and applied *' soft sawder" in large quantities evidently believing it to be as infallible in soothing down aroused feelings, as Sam Slick says it is, but he now finds that it had not the desired effect on land people. They got indignant at the Native Office having been removed ; Mr Whitaker of course took up the cudgel on behalt of Auckland, and it led to a split between himself and his colleagues, resulting in his resignation. Misfortunes, they Bay, seldom come alone. The Premier's health next failed, and his medical adviser recommended his immediate retirement from office. The remaining Members saw that owing to the irritation caused by the Native Office having been changed to Wellington, and the resignation of Mr Whitaker, they would l n se all their Auckland supporters, and they thought it would be better for them to resign now than be ousted on a want of confidence motion when Parliament meets. These facts have not been made public to our knowledge, but we have good reason to believe they are true, and feel confident that time will tell that the resignation was brought about by the circumstances we have stated. We must say indeed that it was very cowardly for the Ministry to give in so feebly. They did perfectly right in removing the Native Office ; they have done a vast amount of go-d during their tenure of office, and it was great weakness on their part not to fight it out. However, they are gone, and we cannot say we feel very sorry, although we do not like the idea of a relapse of the Grey-Sheehan scatter-cash policy. The Hall Ministry did well in many respects, but their croaking injured the credit of the colony, and brought about the depression to a great extent ; they kept in the colonial treasurer's coffers £75.000 which was passed to find employment for the unemployed, and the result was the bone and sinew, so to speak of the land, sought fresh fields and pastures new j they dealt unsatisfactory with the pastoral leasee, and did many other things which were not for the good of the great majority. So that if their faults and their virtues were to be weighed in tha balance, we think they would have as many sins to answer for as there would be good deeds to their credit.