The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. THURSDAY, MAY 10, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2470, 10 May 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

THURSDAY, MAY 10, 1888.

Jvjual and exact justice Lo all men, Uf ali;itsoov<;r state or persuasion, religious or political.

* PahliaalHNT reassembles this afteriiooi). We will not ho litr astray in .saying tlifit very few previous sessions have been looked forward to with such an amount of special interest as is aUiehod to (lie present one, owing to the extraordinary circumstances under which the jlinistry • or Sir FT. Atkinson was placed in "iiioe. Twelve mouths ago, I Ik; winle, colony awoke to the startling realities of its financial position into which it had been {'rifting perversely and Mindly for a long pci-i')-' : . The slii;. of state, under reckless and unqualified conimanclei'S, was tossing about in (lark and troubled waters on the verge of total shipwreck, from which it

■■nuld 1".: saved by linn and skilful iii!u!;ioo alone. Th;: immediate linns?''!' wlti---.!: threatened then h:is, we believe, been weathered ; but how far clear of the rocks aad storms we have yft- to le.irn ; and to tin-; meeting of our representatives in Wellington wo anxiously direct nor attention to satisfy fcbe micd of !he country us to the present and future safety of our position. There is a plainly pereepfible, though an underfilled, feeling that tiie present Government has successfully guided our ali'airs hack into a s.tfe course, hearing away from the breakers of the perilous coast upon 'which we were on the eve of heing cast. This feeling is one of relief; but at the same time it is abundantly evident that the people are not yot fully assured the safe course will bo steadily pursued, and there is still a lingering fear that there may be some deviation that will bring us a recurrence of misfortunes. It is, therefore, natural that the eyes of the country, are turned to the present session of Parliament to fdlay this remnant of political insecurity. The situation is critical. 1 laving entered upon what is decidedly a turning point in the domestic policy of the country with the prospect of gaining a gradual restoration of healthy prosperity and general confidence, nothing could be more calamitous at such a moment than for either the Legislature or the Government to neutralise the good olFeets of this changc by any return to the evils of rancorous party struggles, and hasty, unwise legislation. The country cannot rest, satisfied with half-mea-sures ; the work of recuperation •must be continued and made complete.

The amount of important work hat will come before Parliament for ?arnest consideration is large, and vill require all tin; tiino and careful attention the House can bestow ipon it. The usual gossip of tin: jolitieal prophets and quid-nuncs, vho hover around the precincts of Ministerial official quarters, predict t waste of time over the procedure •ules which will be introduced by he Ministry. It is more reasoniblo to expect that the Premier .voukl hasten to lay before the House a full and complete report of Jie great work of the recess. The lew rules of procedure are simple, ihough it has been said by that class )f people who delight in " exuberant verbosity," and the " (livary drip of dilatory declamation " that they aim it putting a gag on liberty of speech. It will be found that this view will not be in accordance with the common sense of the majority of honourable members, and that the example set by the House of Commons will be followed by them in at once accepting them, without much debate, in order that the business of the country can be attended to with little or no delay. The reputation of the Government will be increased and their position strengthened by placing as early as possible before the House and country, the, result of their labours in respect to retrenchment, and their future policy. In point of fact, it has been stated —-of course under official authority—that this is the intention of Ministers.

The questions to come before the House; are many ; on tins issues of thcin tin; pi ogress and settlement of New Zealand will wholly depend, either for good or evil. The capstone t~) the work of departmental retrenchment which has been going 011 will he tin; re-organisation of the Civil Service, so as to piaeo it on anion; economical and ellicient basis. A Dill for that purpose will be introduced by the (lovcrnment. The revision of the tariff will occupy the attention of the llouse.and will form the battle-ground of a severe struggle between the Protectionists, who are very clamorous, and I* 1 ree-tradcrs, and will present a spectacle of a trial of strength between town and country; the selfishness of cliques in the one and the broad principles and interests of the most important of national industries in the other. Following the reduction in the personal uonstitnl ion of the .House, there will be tl u; reconsideration of the representation, and there is a promise of a remodelling of our electoral system in order to obviate the anomalies found so conspicuous in the 1 >.st elections, and socuro a more perfect system of representation by the majo'ity. The question of taxation will be foremost amongst the subjects for discussion, and the desirability of repealing the Pro-perty-tax and substituting initsplace some other more acceptable and popular form of raising revenue will 110 doubt be decided upon during the session. The encouragement of a permanent occupation of the soil by means of a fresh influx of desirable. settlers ; ihe necessity, or otherwise, of the costly and wasteful scheme of defence which the colsny has been pursuing; native land administration, and the comedy of continuing a native "policy" ; and the highly important subject of reform in the existing system of local government are in the catalogue of public question that the .session of Parliament opened to-day will, in all probability, deal with during its sitting.

With so much important business before it, it is much to hs deplored that the position of parties is so unsatisfactory, and that there is such an utter want of organisation amongst members. 'J !:<> Government are, as far as we can judge by present signs, perfectly safe; the only rumour of opposition comes from Mr Ballanee, who is stated to bo creating a party to assail the Ministry on its nativ<> "policy."