The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact Justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY DEC. 16, 1890.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2875, 16 December 1890, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact Justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY DEC. 16, 1890.

Mk Ball.vxci: has been interviewed by a reporter and appears to have been tolerably outspoken as to the political situation. He contends that it is the duty of the Ministry to resign, and some, other person, himself of course, Vie called upon to form a Cabinet, lie goes further than this, be thinks that Parliament should not be called together till April. In other words that he and his selected colleagues should have control of the affairs of the colony for some four months unchecked by Parliament, and that without the country having any but the most hazy idea of the policy he and his colleagues are likely to pursue. He argues that this would be strictly in accordance with constitutional usuage. In this wo beg to differ with him. The usual custom of the parent Parliament is for the Housi' to meet a.s soon as practicable after a general election, we. cannot call to mind ft single instance when this has not been the case. It is true that Ministers have resigned on numerous occasions when an election has gone against t.hem, but we believe we aro correct in stating that they have invariably retained power, till Parliament met and the new Ministry hid been accepted by the Sovereign.

We should imagine that His Excellency will never lie a party to handing over the control of the affairs of fhe colony to a Ministry, unless Parliament is assembled, so that in the event of its policy or its members not having the contldence of the House, they should be immediately subject to a vote of noconfiilenco. It must not be forgotten also that in tho Old Country when a member is elected to a position in the Ministry, ho must return to his constituents an'', seek re-election.

Iu order to gain pov.-jr aud retam it for three months, Mr Ballanco lias given for publication the agreement entered into last session in order that the business of the country might be proceeded with. The clause upon which he relies to put '.he screw on reads as follows : —" It is fully rocoguised that the constitutional practice requires that the result of the general election should, if clearly apparent, regulato the conduct of Ministers iu letaining office or tendering their resignation." The uoustitutiou is clearly that no man can be a Minister uuless he i 3 a member of one House or the other. A man is not legally constituted a member till he has been .sworn in. It is equally constitutional usago that one set of Ministers shall retain power until their successors are duly appointed. Putting aside constitutional practice for tho timo, wo will return to the clauso in tho agreement to which Mr iiallance has given prominence. We have quoted it. above, mark the words ''clearly apparent." It is true that so far as can be judged by election speeches thero is apparently a majority against tho Uovernmeut, but to say that the majority is clearly apparent would bo to exaggerate the position. The speeches certainly give no evidence that there is a majority in favour of Mr Ballauco as aleaderorof theopiuions which he holds. On the contrary then; are several a:en;l;eix who are directly pledged nor, to vypport any Ministry that will not mai:e a Laud Tax. the prominent, feature in their policy. Mr "allance claims all although lie must be perfectly a .wmK>. .'-hat they must either break faitli wiitii their constituents, or vote ngaifisi fciiiv .<?« every Ministerial question. fiW.3T t'llC circumstances it appears to £& in the event, of the Ministry' in'. - .V'*#>ro Parliament is called to. jjeihi-.!' ti'vH;"-"' ib only one course open to Cove rv.Ufi that is to refuse to rwept Micir resignations jiiil-il Pru-Usvi'Wt V r ; r,,n

opinion of the country is not •' clearly apparent"' so that the iL'reement, niacin between the (!overnment and the Opposition leader falls through. It would not be a safe precedent for the Governor to establish, that because a Ministry resigns he should hand the affairs of the country for some months to the control of a leader who in a former Parliament happened to be the mouthpiece of the Opposition. To our minds there is no question as to the proper course for all parties to pursue. In the first place His Excellency should call Parliament together at as early a date as possible. When, or immediately before, it meets, Ministers should resign if in a minority, and the task of forming another Cabinet be entrusted to Mr Ballanee or some other member. It would no doubt be gratifying to Mr I'allance to meet Parliament with a Ministry already in office, but the contemplation of the proposal is not a pleasant one. To entrustthe affairs of the colony to a set of unproved men is a mode of procedure which we feel confident will not be adopted hv the Governor.