The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1887. THE NEW MINISTRY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2712, 11 October 1887, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1887. THE NEW MINISTRY.

In our new . Ministry a strong, bold, patriotic body, or is it a weak Cabinet? It is difficult to Bay positively that it is ' either one or the other.. We hope it may be the former, but we have not a I great amount of confidence in its being so. It is certainly not quite the Ministry we expected to see. Major Atkinson in forming it appears to have . crawled on his hands and knees to that Moloch which is.known as "the party," and he himself is not Msponsibleforthe ■ team whioh he has permitted his party to choose for him. The weakno.33 of ' the team is indicated-by the fact that the Major takes'the, more important administrative offices upon, his own shoulders—he is the look, stock, and barrel of his Cabinet. . There may be. ' backbono in the- Ministry, but time alone will show this. - All the members of it, excepting the Major, are virtually without experience, and for somo time tf come must necessarily .prove more oMmental; thkii'usefuirw feel that v the Treaimy bench will be too much at the mercy of parliamentary veterans like Sir Julius Vogel, Sir G. Grey, Sir John Hall, Mr Ormopd, Captain Russell; and Mr Beetham. Several of these veterans may be friendly powers, but they will scarcely be prepared to follow with docility the junior parliamentarians who have i been pitohforked into power. Of ' course the new Government will, have 1 a fair trial, and we shall be glad ; to find that it proves stronger than it appears to 'be at first sight', ; The policy of retrenchment, which , must bo the leading aim of tho Ministry, requires strong experienced bauds to be successfully carried out. Tljese new raw hands are more likely ,to talk retrenchment'for. a session, and then take a ..header, in an; opposite direction. The new Ministers are , lightweights, and it is a pity • one or two heavier weights are not' mixed in the team. The members; of the new Cabinet do not appear to us to be a ; .fairly representative , selection of the' party from whioh it is culled. If this should prove to be; the case it may break up the party from which it has sprung. At this crisis, Major Atkjn?; . son appears to hive been scarcely true' to himself and to his old friends. ;■ : If this be the oase he has killed his'own chanced "