THE MINISTERIAL DEFEAT.

West Coast Times, Issue 286, 23 August 1866, Page 2

THE MINISTERIAL DEFEAT.

The debate oil the motions ending in the defeat of the Stafford Ministry having terminated, and the moment for the division having 1 6dmß, the Welling* ton correspondent of th,e " Press"' thus describes what followed :— " Then came' tlie 1 hiost sihgular scene I ever wit-" riessed. The original motion made by Mr Stafford was— 'That the Speaker d& leave the chair, in order that the House may go into Committee of Supply.' Td this Mr Fitederald's resold* tions were moved as an amendment 'To leave out all the words after " that," in order to insert the following — (ihe resolutions).' Any such motion is a vote of want of confidence in a Government. It is so in its very nature, for if the House refuses to go into Committee of Supply on the mo* Udri of tlie Government, it is equivalent to a refusal of the House to grant supplies. Notwithstanding this well known Parliamentary rule, which the merest tyro in politics knows perfectly well; Mr Stafford directed his party to go, out into the lobby with the ' noes,' and he and all his colleagues voted with the 'noes.' ,Mr Dillon Bell Being this, called the Speaker's attention to the fact that voices Had been given for the ' dyes;' arid claimed, in aecoftkrice \Vitli the standing orders, that those who had given their voices with the ' ayes' should be called on to vote on that side. The Speaker then named two tellers who had given their voices with the 'ayes.' The object of the Government was to let the Avhole House go into the lobby and so, leaving no tellers for the 'ayes,' to evade a division. This move, however ■, was frustrated, arid the division lists ,wer£ returned — Ayes, 2; Noes, 62. In other Words, the House erased all the words after the word ' that ' from the original motion ; that is to say, refused} by a majority of sixty, to go into Committee of Supply at the request of the Government. But Mr Stafford, by his ignorance of, or rather by ignoring, all parliamentary usage, placed himself and and his Government in the utterly ridiculous position of voting that they would refuse to consider of granting supplies to themselves. I cannot un^ derstand with what object — unless it were in the hope that; by avoiding the 1 i appearance of defeat on this question^ when it came to the question of what words should be inserted instead of those cut out, there might be so much j difference of opinion in the Opposition that he might have got a majority against any particular amendment proposed. This is the only rational motive for such otherwise strange conduct, and if this were the object it was utterly defeated. Mr Stafford's dodge prolonged the Existence of his Government about one hour. When the House resumed after the division, Mr FitzGerald's resolutions were put, but were negatived without a division. They would have been carried by a good majority, but the mover, I understand, ascertained that the direct vote of want of confidence would be carried by a still larger majority ; and as he leaves Wellington to-day it may be presumed he was desirous of retiring from a position which would have left any chance of his being included in any Ministerial arrangements. He did not call for a division. A division was called for, I am told by mistake, and the bell was rung and the doors locked,

but on the voices being called for again, there was no call for the « ayes.' When the House resumed, Mr Moorhouse moved his resolution, — that the House had no confidence in the Ministry as then constituted, Mr Jollie rOse to speak, but he made the speech he should nave made, or intended to make, during the former debate. The subject "was no longer a financial question, and the House seemed to feel that the speech was misplaced. It was like a note on an organ, the key of which has stuck, going on after the psalm is over. The House gradually emptied, and one or two succeeding speakers addressed comparatively empty benches. The Ministers each said a few words— a sort of dying speech and' confession. When the third and last arose, a wag in the House, so I am told, remarked — ' Sullivan and Burgess have confessed; now we are to have Levy's confession.' It was a sad and sorry scene to see a Ministry lying down. !to die without a kick or a strug.-» gle ; for on this want of confidence motion there was not even a debate. The House divided — 46 to 14 — about the same numbers as would have appeared on the first division had Mr Stafford not taken the ridiculous course of voting against his own budget. No such vote has ever turned out a Ministry in New Zealand before,, or, I believe I might almost say, in any colony. And so ends the experiment of a Premier who thought he could dissolve a Parliament who opposed him, without supplies ; that he could govern, without colleagues until he could pick up a Government, out of a House to be elected some months after he took office; or that he could retain power by making promises of retrenchment which it was impossible to realise ; and could treat with gross personal insult a political antagonist who differed with him in the use of figures. As to what may be the result of all this, I can give you no information. Mr Moorhouse has been with the Governor, and, of course, has advised him to send again for Mr Stafford- He promised to do so, and, of course, has done it. Whether the leaders on the other side will accept office under a Minister who has just sustained so signal a defeat, remains to be seen. If it should so turn out, it will be the strangest chapter in Parliamentary his* tory ever yet written,"

The "Provincial Gazette" of the 16th instant, contains a proclamation by his Honor the Superintendent, bringing the line of electric telegraph between Hokitika and Greymouth under the operation of the Electric Telegraph Ordinance, 1862. It also contain)) a notice resjtectinj? certain goods with refeffence to which an action at iaw is pending at Hokitika, in connection with the estate of R. Reeves & Co. Notices of applications to register the Jones' Creek Water Race Company and the Scandinavian Gold Mining Company, both of them situated at Ross, in Westlanu, Appear ; as does also an announcement that a conditional licence has been granted to Elijah Smith for a house at the Ashley Ford. The results of the meteorological observations taken at Christchurch during the month conclude the " Gazette."

The following extracts from the " "Wellington Advertiser" shew that Hau-hauism is not yet extinct, although there is litt^ of Its renewal in a dangerous form :—": — " The following important intelligence, with respect to the doings of the rebel Wi Hapi, was received in town on Monday evening; This! man" had aWived at 6'haii, about sk o'v eight miles from Otaki, which he is expected to reach tomorrow. The native who brought the news in says that he is armed, and has plenty of ammuaition with his party, and is' endeavoring at erery place he goes to, to secure converts to the Hau-hau religion. Before he got to Poroutawiiao on this (the south) side of tlie Manawatu, he sent a message to a native •woman named Arihia, to put up a niu or sacred pole, and to prepare for his coming to obtain converts. This was accordingly done ; but no sooner was the pole erected, than Epiha, one of the loyal chiefs of the district, took his axe, went forward, cut down the pole and hewed it to pieces, and it is said burnt it. Wi Sapi's intention is laid to be to come on to Waikanae, making what converts he can along the coast ; but Heremia, who was himself once a Kingite, and second only to Wi Tako, has sent a message to him to come no farther than Pukekaraka. So far the news goes at present, but what may ultimately transpire has yet to be seen. We hope we shall be able to give further particulars in another issue. The native who brought the news says that tlie loyal natives complain very much of not being supplied with arms by the Government, so that they are not prepared to ' resist any aggression should it be made by the rebels. The latest news from the Manavratu is that the Otaki natives, headed by Parakaia, having been unable to obtain any satisfaction from the Supreme Court in theiv endeavor to obtain an injunction to stop the sale of that block, have gone up to it with the intention of cutting the block up into small seotions, or, in other words, taking the law into their own hands." gj? The monthly report of Mr Warden Robinson, under date 31st July, which is published in the "Otago Daily Times," of the 13th instant, says :—": — " Severe frosts have prevailed throughout the month, and about the 15th and 16th there was a .heavy fall of snow» which has not yet disappeared, even from the flats. For years past snow has not been known, to lie bo long in this part of the country. In the early part of the month the workings on the river side were at a standstill, in consequence of the heavy flood memtioned in my report for last month ; but since then ihe waters have been steadily subsiding, and the claims are again in work. It is, however, to Bfe feared that the total returns of gold from this district will be far less than they would have been had the flood not occurred at bo inopportune a season. The Clyde coal pit is now iv proper working order, and it is hoped that the precautions now taken will prevent the working being again interrupted by water. The hard frosts have to a large, extent retarded farming operations, the ground being too hard to plough or work in any way."

The " Press " observes :—": — " Our West Coast telegraph is again reinstated, but it is rery evident to an obierver that considerable lengths of the line, especially in the Otira and Teremakau, must be wrecked in any considerable flood. The river beds are the only open channels, and the alternative route is the bush, which unless cleared at a large expense is sure to be obstructed by windfalls at every gale. It is possible Browning's pass route might possess advantages as a telegraph line, using a cable at the dividing range. From Christchurch to the Pass is perfectly open and practicable, while the bush on the western side of the ranges is not high until the coast is approached. The saving in distance would be considerable."