The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 206, 9 July 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1879.

The Hon, Mr Gisborne has accepted office under Sir George Grey. Perhaps the characteristic trait of this veteran Civil Servant is a sincere solicitude for No. 1. This speciality lias enabled him to sustain many reverses with manly fortitude. After the fall of the Stafford Ministry eligible candidates for seats in the new Cabinet were scarce, and so Mr Gisborne was picked out of the Civil Service, pitchforked into the Upper House, and made a Minister of the Crown. When, however, the Cabinet which lie ornamented came' to grief, and people were wondering what the civil ex-Minister would do without an official income, it was found that Mr Gisborne had run to earth. He fell on his legs! By some magic touch the Cabinet Minister changed into a Commissioner of Annuities with a«fat income. If we remember right, at the time the Atkinson Ministry went out and the Grey Ministry passed in, Mr Gisborne was a supporter of the former party. It was, however, rumored that at the critical division which led to the exaltation of the present Premier' Mr Gisborne staid at home with a toothache, and that owing to this particular tooth the destiny of the colony was changed. If such be the case, Sir George Grey owes a debt of gratitude to the distinguished proprietor of that remarkable molar, and has clone agraceful act in rewarding him—after three years—with a portfolio. We trust, however, Mr Gisborne has still another tooth left for upsetting a State Coach. The fall of the Atkinson Ministry was by no means a calamity to the colony, and the end of the Grey Ministry would be regarded by few as a misfortune. We do not think that the Hon. Mr Gisborne will either make or mar the present Ministry. He would make a respectable unit in any Cabinet, but more than that it is not in him to be, The great provinces of Canterbury and Otago are always jealous of too many North Island men in any Miuistry, and they are certain to resent the appointment of Mr Gisborne, even though they may admit he represents a constituency on the West Coast of the Middle Island, and that the Premier has got the best man'of the few willing to work with him—or rather under him. Even the special organs of the Government in the Mid-

die Island turn round' on • Sir George Grey at tho'idea of any but a Southarn member being chosen, We believe Mr Gisborne will work better in.tkpresent Ministry than Mr Ballaiice did, and that the change on the whole will not be disadvantageous to the Government, An alteration in a subordinate officer, however, is riot' very material when the commander himself is distrusted. There are now and have been in the Ministry some of the ablest public men in the colony, but so long as they entertain towards their chief only a mere formal allegiance, the Cabinet is helpless to promote the interests of the colony.