Wairarapa Daily Times [ESTABLISHED 1878] TUESDAY JUNE 28, 1892. TIMID TACTICS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4149, 28 June 1892, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times [ESTABLISHED 1878] TUESDAY JUNE 28, 1892. TIMID TACTICS.

Beino the exttoed title of the Waibarapa Daily, with which it is IDENTICAL

The hotch-potch of commonplace phrase and party mendacity which Hib Excellency the Governor managed to "getoff" last Thursday at the bidding of the Ministry of all the virtues, furnishes as little legitimate food for criticism as the majority of aucb Speoob.es, By way of apology for its want of solid rmvter, it has been described by one of its patrons as" a mere prospectus," The gentleman was right, The value of a prospectus sb a channel ol accurate and full information for thepublio has been pretty well ascertained. The guileless oitizen who puts his money 1 into an enterprise on the faith of the statements contained in the prospectus, is destined, we daresay, for a harp and bnlo in. another sphere, but 1 probably not for immoderate success here below. But if the Governor's speech is not more note-worthy than usual, the Ministerial attitude towards it, now that it has been delivered to the Houses of the Legislature, is very much more interesting. Ministers are betraying a truly desperate solicitude to get ha A'"dr is-in-Eeply agreed to with a minimum of debate. So apprehensive are they of the passage of an Amendment to the Address, that their very fears lead them to talk loud. The most timid defenders of a weak position >:an assume a tempoi ary air of defiance, when their lant hope lies in a mlk. And bo wo have the spectacle of the Premier waving aside Notices of Motion with impatient hand, and telling the House in his most masterful manner that its proper business is to pass the Address-m-Eeply. Of that Address, Mr McLean was the mover-as might have been expected, seeing that he represents one of the few Government triumphs of the recess. By this time, MrMoLean will have received many congratulations on thesuccess which he achieved in his maiden parliamentary speeob, He had a difficult thing to do, and he did it without making an ass of himself, We are afraid that the gentleman who followed him was less fortunate, if. we may judge from the faint praises bedtowed on him by the friendly journals, The plea put up by Mr MoLean must have'been hugely entertaining 10 the House. "Don't beat the air," he said, addressing himself to the Opposition at large—" to debate the address is to beat- the air," We are inolined to think thai it was beating the Ministry that the honorable gentleman really deprecated; for in all probability this consummation might be arrived at in the course oi the debate, if th« leader of the Opposition chose to whip up his followers in earnest. The Government are evidently finding themselves weaker in the House than they anticipated ; and their anxiety at this very early stage is as painful to tba kind-hearted observer as it is unexpected. " For decency's sake," exolaims the Premier, " give us one ohanco of playing trumps! On Tuesday, if you will only spare us now, you BBall see—what you shall see.': Obviously, the rinanoisl Statement is the trump card; it is to carryall belora it. We have our doubts, though we must confess that it is not easy to prophtsy about the fiuanoiai \ Statement, owing to the failure of tb6'Government to publish the usnal returns supposed to be palled for by Act of Parliament. ; . But thero is no ooobt that too Premier is right in one respeot. Whatever oould be said in a debate on the Address can certainly be said with at least equal loguimaoynd/orce when the Government'" bring (town their Budget. :Accordingt.oparliamentary; custom, very great latitude is allowed j to speakers on either side in a debate ■ of this oharaoter. We believe, then, ! that even if the Opposition accede to j this prayer for a respite, the result ; will be just as unpleasant to the i Government aa though it had been J arrived at in the very first stage of the 1 session. On the general Bubjeot of the j

,policy of; tiie present Government, many-awkward questions will be pat -and many awkward answers will be attempted. We will content ourselves, just now, with the mention of one modest detail oonneoted with the Liberal Budget, What are we likely to be told about the Penny Postage, whose coming wasannounoed with the blare of trumpets? The Ministry seemed to be in labour; but for some reason or other there was not strength tu bring forth. The wherefore of this and many other lapses from generous promise will form interesting matter for discussion as the time goes on.