THE PRESENT MINISTRY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 8, Issue 377, 4 February 1864, Page 4

THE PRESENT MINISTRY.

The January No. of the Southern Monthly Magazine, an Auckland publication, gives the following account of the formation of the present Ministry and sketches of its members : It curiously, enough happened that the day of Domett’s, resignation was the clay of Fox’s arrival; he was not present during the first week of the .Session, having accidentally missed the Wanganui steamer. He had to go round to, Wellington which made him a few days. late. ..He too was not bent on opposing Domett, treating him with greater generosity than was shewn to Fox by the party which ]but Domett into po >vor, he had no intention of disturbing the existing state of things ; he had in fact intended to go to England ; he had broken up has establishment at Rangitikei, and meant to leave Auckland for the Australian Colonies, with the intention of taking his departure for Europe. He had however scarcely set his foot on the wharf when , he was met by the Governor’s private Secretary j who requested him to wait on His Excellency. That interview must have been a painful one to Sir George, who a year before had thrown over a man who half ruined his political reputation to serve him, in order that he might put-a pliant tool in his place. For Fox it inu.st have been a moment of triumph ; that he who was so coolly dropped at Wellington, should now without any party organisation, without any aid but the mere necessity of the times, become indispensable to, and be -sought \Vith eagerness by the very man who abandoned him before. The dramatic incidents attending that interview would be worth having if we could get them. All however that is known is that Fox at first declined to form a Ministry That he said his plans were formed or fixed for leaving the Colony, and that he only wished to attend the Assembly as a private member. It seems however that after repeated solicitations from Sir George Grey he consented to make tlie attempt. Nothing to our thinking, shews Fox’s ability arid sound judgment more than the way lie set about it. He did not at once tlrtow himself into the arms of the peace at any price party, he did not form a government out of such elements- as Messrs. Williamson, Swainson, Pollen, Sewell, and the Wellington party might have supplied, but he went at onee to Whitaker, and proposed a coalition ; "he proposed to sink now in his country’s great crisis all personal feelings, all past jealousies ; he proposed that the past should be buried and forgotten, as tlie state of things had passed which had oeen the cause of, old party quarrels, and offered his services in any way in which they could be made useful to the public. "Within twenty-four hours after this interview with Whitaker, the new Government , was formed, the old

hatreds were forgotten, and.all parties and all men united to secure by th A only means possible, the the country and the establishment of a permanent peace. Fox never stood so high as he did then. No personal ambition animated him. He had no selfish ends in view, and though charged by the Governor with the task of forming a Ministry, he abandoned the positioiCof Premier* to another, for the purpose of healing all old differences, and to secure,a strong and united Government. No other wav could this have been done. Few men perhaps could afford todowhathe did without losing his political caste. His act of self abnegation has raised him greatly in the opinion of his fellows, and at this moment no one stands higher in the res pect and esteem of the Colonists, of New Zealand, than William Fox.

Whitaker the Premier is a man of capacious intellect, broad views, and firm determination, his industry is untiring, and the party with which he has consistently) acted place the fullest confidence in, him. It was his well known firmness of purpose more than any other of his great qualifications, that led the House at once to accept him as the Head of tlie Government.- The country’s greatest danger was felt to be the moment of victory ; and the fear was lest the Maoris after being beaten in the field should sue for peace, and that sympathy with them, together with their professed submission and well known powers of dissimulation, should lead to the accepts nee of terms l which would not place the Northern Island in a state of perfect security for the future. It is the Premier and the Premier alone who, in case of difference of opinion in the cabinet, can say what these tends of peace shall be ; and that party which is determined now that this Colony shall no longer be rent and torn by these Maori wars, and perpetual recurrence of native difficulties have full reliance in the Prime Minister aud feel that with him at the. head of affairs, this quarrel will now be fought out to its legitimate conclusion ; that no false sympathy will influence him, that ecclesiastics and old women will be allowed again to interfere for the purpose of patching up a hollow peace. Mr. Gillies the Postmaster General was a most successful legal practioner in Dunedin. He possesses a clear logical mind. He speaks tersely and well, and from his first entrance into political life he always held a high position in the Assembly- His opinions on nativeaffairs are well known, and bis thorough sterling qualities secure for him the esteem of all parties in the House.

Wood for the third time Colonial Treasurer, is a sa% man of business ; he is always well up in matters of finance and has a nack of explaining and stating the somewhatinvolved finances of the Colony with great clearness. His style of speaking is anything hut pleasing, ordinarily he hesitates, pauses, and repeats his seirteuces ; when lie warms with his subjeet he gets excited and rants. He pretepds. however to nothing but to make a plain statement in a plain-way, he is generally listened to with attention, and has the reputation of being a good administrative officer and a useful man in the Government. Russel, the minister for defence-, rarely speaks. He has been like Gillies a very successful lawyer and has shewn by the. way h.e has conducted the enormous business of his department a peculiar aptitude for organisation. He is a thorough man of business and even his. bitterest political opponents admit that the House noes not possess a man better qualified to fill the office which he holds..

MARKETS Wanganui, February 4. Wholesale—Wheat 7s per bushel ; flour, £2O 10sper ton.; potatoes: £5 to £7 per. ton. Eetail—bread, 6d 2lb loaf; butter, Is. 3d ; beef, 6d to Sd ; mutton, 7d per lb ; eggs 2s per doz ; milk, 4d per quart. The natives are bringing in peaches, but they are not yet ripe. Auckland, Jan. 30.—Horses—hacks, £4 to £4O, light harness horses, £ll 15s'to £l3, heavy draught much enquired for, aud none offering. Cattle —fat bullocks, £l2 to £l6 1.55, cows £ll to £l7, store cattle £9 to £ll. Sheep—fat, 29s to 325, lambs, I4s to 26s 6d, store ewes, 245,. lambs, 17». flour, £ls, seconds, £l3. Wheat, Adelaide, 6s. Timber—boards and scantling, 16s to 17s, tongued and grooved, 20s to 235., Potatoes £lO per ton. Adelaide, Jan. 15. A cargo of tea sold this day brought—chests, £7 to £B, half chests, £3 8s 3d, young hyson, boxes, £1 Is. No change in wheat and flour. ; Melbourne, Jan. 15.—Flour, Adelaide,£l4. Stocks of flour and wheat nearly cleared, but as yet no advance in prices. Bran, 20cl. At the sugar sale to-day 8,000 bags were placed at the following prices :—ration, £32, good brown, £34, counters, £39 to £42, crystals, yellow, £42, white, £44 to £46.