The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 831, 13 October 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1877.

jqualand exact justice to all men, )i whatever scute or persuasion, religi >us o political # # # # * lere shall the Presi the Peoflb's right maintain, IJiuiweii by influence and unbribed by gi.in

The work of forming the new Cahiuet, if not one of love, is evidently one of labour. Poor Mr LaruHuh appears to have his hauds fall. The question is not so much how to fimJ a man who is capable of holding such and such a portfolio, out to hit upon one whose selection will not alienate the support of half-a-dozen others. Vet he men mast be found, and ip nominating them the new Warwick of Oiago finds himselt between the Devil and the deep sea. The Auckland members of the Opposition must be conciliated — the price is the Premiership to Sir George Urey — and forthwith a powerful section of the Canterbury party stalk m high dudgeon from the Committeeroom. On the other lv-ind, it is sought to conciliate another 'section, Messrs Travers and Rolleston are named, and an indignant ref isal to allow their names to remain on the card is the result. What has rendered the party weak when m the coo l shades of Opposition is the cause of its weakness now when it his defea ed a weaker than itself. It nr.Yer had a policy, and it never had a leader.' There is no common standard under which to rdly; there is no acknowledge I head to assume the command. There were many lieutenant. 1 -, but there was no commander -in -chief. There was mach skirmishing, but there was no settled plan of a campaign. This was their weakness, as an Opposition. It is their weakness now, when they have gained an advantage over the enemy, burst through his line, anJ seek to occupy the position. They are not a disciplined army, bns a gathering of distinct and separate guerilla, commands ; and active and powerful and efficient as they were to hangf on the lines of an enemy and harrass and annoy, their hour of victory is virtually that of their defeat, for they are inenp ible of carrying it to fruition. This is just i. he position of the new Ministry and its party. Extremes meet, and those, too, extremes which, like oil and water, c mnot fuse. On the one hand we have Sir George Grey, the champion of the land for the . eople, the advocate of a pr -per'y tax, of a common Land Fund for the Colony ; and with hi>n the canny and selfish •Macandrew, whose cry v " the l^nd of Olayo for the people of Obago," and who has gone so fir as to declare thaw&n attempt to colo ;ise the and Fund means neither more nor less than the provocation of civil war m Otago. What frith can Auckland men have m a Min-i-try m which Mr Macandrew hold* ihe office of Minister for L»uds and Immigration, when one of the [ cardinal points of any Auckland policy must be " the land of the Colony for the people of the Colony — a common Lind Fund !" If the | appointment of Sir George (ii'ey as i remier is looked on with suspicion and distrust by a certain section of the Canterbury Oppositionists, how much more so must that of Mr Macandrew be distasteful to Auckland men of all shades of opinion. But, perhaps, that which more clearly indicates the weakness of the new Cabinet is the unwillingness of Sir William Fitaherbert to take part or share m it. Of all men of the party, he could, perhaps, best have welded together the disintegrating sections of the Opposition, und infused something like confidence and cohesion amongst the rank an I file. He c ! early cannot see his w.-»y to do this, and refuses to embark upon what his political instinct and sagacity tell him must end m failure. i\><r can we see how it cau be otherwise. Considerable surprise has been expressed that, the Governor did not take the bull by the horns and dissolve Parliament at once, but second thoughts, perhaps, will show that he has acted more prudently m permitting Mr Larnach to attempt the formation of a Minis ry. It must come, we beliave, to a ditfaolutioD, au4

that, speedily ; but it is perhaps better tlmtassomuch public time has already been wasted m fruitless discussions and personal recriminations m the House, one more week should not be grudged to the genius of Political Discord ia proving that, not- only the Ministerial, but the Oppositi n party, also, were uuaitle to cotiirnand theconfido .cc of tbe As sembly : — that the one party was as incapable or effioiedt administration a.-i the other — that the House, as a whole, was, m fact, effete. A little while, we believe, will practically demonstrate this to be the case, and then .he panacea for the political ills of the Colony must cornn — a dissolution. It will be for ihe constituencies, then, to show whether they are worthy of a better Government than they have lately enjoyed.