The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1882.

Temuka Leader, Issue 941, 22 April 1882, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1882.

A stoky is told that a criminal on hearing somebody giving him a good character said 11 1 never believed I was an honest man until now.” The Hon. Frederick Whitaker, M.L.C., Premierapparent of New Zealand, must, we fancy, exclaim somewhat after the manner of the aforesaid criminal, “ t never knew I was on honest politician until now,” when he reads the fulsome praise lavished upon him by the Tiraaru Herald. That organ tells all Mr Whitaker’s virtues in the most glowing terms, but it never refers to the Piako Swamp business, nor does it remind its readers how the Oamaru Mail brought very severe charges against him ; how Mr Whitaker raised the question of privilege in the House ; how Mr E. Wakefield was the first to defend Mr George Jones of the Oamaru Mail ; how Mr Jones was brought before the Bar of the House, and had subsequently to stand his trial for libelling Mr Whitaker, and how he was acquitted, which substantially proved that the charges were correct. These facts, and many other accusations which have from time to time been made against Mr Whitaker are kept ingeniously in the background ; he is praised to tho highest degree, and is tho only genuine politician in New Zealand. We are told when he was Attorney-General, Premier, etc., on former occasions, hut the duration of time in which he retained office is not given, because that would show that he is not a man who could command confidence for any length of time. Mr Whitaker was AttorneyGeneral from May 7, 1856 to May 20, 1856 ; then the Fox Ministry came in and retained office till the 2nd of June, 1856, when Mr Whitaker again became Attorney-General in the Stafford Ministry, and remained in office till July 12, 1861. On the 3 )th of October, 1863, himself and Mr Fox (now Sir William) put their heads together and formed a Ministry, of which Mr Whitaker was Premier, and remained in office for only a few days over 12 months, Ho had to succumb to the Wold Ministry on the 2-lth of November, 186 L He was AttorneyGeneral again in 1876, from the 13th of September to the 7th of December, and on the Bth of October, 1879, he Joined the Hall Ministry in a similar capacity. Thus it will he seen that Mr Whitaker has had a rather chequered Ministerial career extending over a period of nearly 18 years, and certainly if there was much in him, he lias had plenty opportunities of showing it. Of the members of the l&te Ministry there was none who commanded less political respect than Mr Whitaker, and certainly none in whom there was less confidence. It is a strange fact, and one which shows how little he is thought of, that whenever he has been Minister of the Crown, he lias not held a seat in the House of Representatives, the only exception being from tho Ist of September, 1876, to the 7th. . Dccem-

bcr, 1876, in the Atkinson Ministry, And it is this man that cannot find a constituency to elect him, that is called upon now to form a Ministry. Really

it is no wonder that His Excellency the Governor hesitated to take the advice of the late Premier to send for Mr Whitaker to form a Ministry, and instead of the abuse which has been heaped upon him for the care with which

he has considered the matter, we think that he is deserving of great praise, and shows that ho feels a deep interest in the affairs of the colony. There was very little objection to any of the colleagues of Mr Whitaker ; they are all honest, honorable men, albeit inclining to Conservatism, and there are very few

of them who could not form a much stronger Ministry than the man to whom that privilege has been entrusted. But very probably it could not have been helped. "When we first heard of the breaking-up of the Ministry we came to the conclusion, that the principal cause was dissensions in the Cabinet on account of the removal of the Native Office from Auckland to Wellington, and the alienation of the Auckland sup ' porters of the Government in consequence thereof. We were the first to

form that opinion, so far as we know, and we think events have since proved that it was correct. First of all Mr Whitaker was the first to resign, then came the crash by all the Ministers resigning, Mr Hall being the last, though it was said his illness was the cause of it all. Then we find the Premier advising the Governor to send for Mr Whitaker, no doubt because he wished to keep h:s darling Conservative party in office, and as the Aucklanders who t; ratted” from the Grey Government would follow no other, he felt that the only means of patching up the old wreck was to give tho job to the Auckland leader. Mr Hall made a great mistake in this. Mr Whitaker is a man of long experience, certainly, but he does not command the confidence of either the House of Representatives or the country, and we feel sure his tenure office will terminate within the first week of the meeting of Parliament. We are almost glad that he has undertaken the formation of a new Ministry because it gives us hope, that it will lead to the party which has been forming for the last few years in the House coming into power. Their influence has been destroyed in a certain measure by some of them adhering to Sir George Grey, and if he would consent to take a back seat things would have been different long ago. We are glad that he was not entrusted with the formation of a new Ministry this time, as it would only lead to further confusion in the ranks of the Liberals, but now they will have time to reflect, there is every hope that they will be able to form a very strong party in the new Parliament.

We are informed that a meeting was held in this town last Thursday evening with a view of starting a butter, cheese, and bacon-curing factory, but what was dene has not transpired. It is to be hoped that if the project is taken up. the experience of the past will teach the shareholders to put the management into reliable hands, and not let it fall through like the Paper Mill business. We quite approve of the movement, but we think it will never come to anything if it be kept private from the public; There can be no doubt that there is room enough in this district for such an institution, and that if properly managed it would be successful. We do not believe in the cry that there is want of enterprise in the people in this district ; wc believe that they only want the initiative to be taken by some man of influence in whom they can repose confllencc to coma forward handsomely.