The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1868.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2220, 1 February 1868, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1868.

Political affairs iu Victoria have for sometime been very seriously embroiled. Tlio origin of the disturbance lies bo far back as the later period of the Governorship of Sir Charles Darling. The Ministry of the day wore devoted to the imposition of strong protective duties, and were supported by a largo majority. But, as might bo expected, there was an Opposition, formidable in respect of its intellectual ability and liberal views. The contest was a fierce one, for while the Governor lent himself heartily to further the views of his Ministry, the Opposition was strong in the support of the Legislative Council or Upper House. Some of the steps which Sir Charles Darling took in advancing the interests of the Ministers, were so unconstitutional and so much at variance with all the traditions of the office he held, that he was recalled in disgrace by the Imperial Government, without the hope of future employment. To compensate the dismissed Governor, and agreeably to the terms of a supposed arrangement previously made, the Victorian Ministry introduced into the Assembly a bill to grant to Lady Darling the handsome sum of twenty thousand pounds, in consideration of her husband's public services. Against this vote the members of the Opposition have set themselves with the greatest determination. The Upper House has repeatedly rejected it, although it formed part of a money-bill, and has thus suspended the ordinary payments made by the Government to its employes. A legal manoeuvre has been hit upon for enabling the Government servants to obtain their pay. They are encouraged to take legal proceedings against the Government in the Supreme Court, and the Government allows judgment to go against it by deiault. In such a case, payment can legally be made, under the decree of the Supreme Court, without any vote of the Legislature. The Ministry has, for the second time, appealed to the country, and there is every likelihood that it will be supported by the same majority as before. The ground which has hitherto been taken by the Opposition has certainly been defensible in many points of view. They have protested against a douceur, bestowed upon the servant of auother power who lias been found fault with and dismissed. They maintain that, as the Legislative Council has the right to sanction, so must it have the right to reject the estimates, especially when an item has been inserted in them which they believe to be illegal. They have pointed out, with great clearness and force, that such a reward givon to a Governor for placing the powers of his high office at the disposal of a mere majority in one branch of the Legislature, is calculated to imperil the liberties of the country, and to place them at the mercy of some unscrupulous demagogue backed by a temporary majority, in some future period of the history of the Colony. The members of the Opposition have further offered to pledge themselves that,should the Darling vote bo brought in as a separate measure, and reserved for the assent of Her Majesty, they will support it, or at least'suffer it to pass unopposed. In all these arguments and proposals there is evidont a thorough regard for constitutional liberty, and' a just appreciation of what i« sound in political doctrine and most suited to the interests of the colony. From their first movement in opposition to the protective duties to their last offer of a compromise, the poaition assumed by the opponents of the M'Culloch Ministry, has boon dignified and constitutional. And yet, notwithstanding all this, with the result of the present elections their opposition on this particular point ought to terminate. Should the result of the elections be favourable, their course is ono of pure triumph. But, should the decision of tlio electors be advorso, it is their duty to accept it, and to submit. Thero is something politically worse than the passing of an obnoxious measure, or even tho perpetration of a criminal act. It is, thoeiitaiiglmoiiUl'Llm governing powers of the country in tlio inextricable confusion of a hopeless and tho reduction ot tlio constitutional government of the country to an impossibility. It is idle to assert that the three branches of tho Legislature aro co-ordinate and of eqmd power, This is not tlio case in Britain itself, nor in any of its constitutioually governed colonics. The ultimate power lies with the majority of the people. When tlioir decision is given by the representatives whom they roturn, upon what is termed an appeal to the country, the opposition of tho other powors iu tho Stalo ought to coaso. Tho inlluonee of the Governor and of tho Legislative Council is that ol a powerful and wholesome check, which eau compel delay aud

discussion, and provent tho ovils to which tho public mind in a moment of oxnaporation, ontlmsiasm, or alarm, iu only too liable. But tho final decision must bo somewhere; and, as wo lmvo said, it is expressed by the representatives of tho poople after an appoal to tho country. This ia tho viow uecoptod by Sir Itobert Poel after tho .Reform Bill of 1832, and it was nevor oxprossod moro clearly, nor in more impressive circumstances by any statesman. This, too, was tho viow which led Mr Gladstone to insist successfully upon tho Houso of Lords passing a measure, most objectionablo to tho majority, as an appendix to a money hill, Mr Gladstono know, and the Peers knew, that tlio voice of tho country was ou his Bido, and tho evils of a dissolution wcro averted by tho submission of tho latter. Tho members of the Victorian opposition have done well in forcing on a dissolution, but by tho decision of the country it is their duty to abide. Tho majority may decido in favour of a measure replete with folly, present mischief, and future peril. But its decision must and ought to be respected. It will bo easier to avert tho future peril by quiet submission at present, than by prolonged unconstitutional resistance. Tho M'Culloch Ministry cannot be asked to accopt the compromise, with a fresh majority at their back. That compromise would ask tho Queen to sanction with her approval a money-vote to a servant she has disgraced. And this, of course, she could not do with any dignity or consistency. Lot the twenty thousand pounds bo passed among tho estimates, a large gift without a shred of honour —a reward for services which no honest statesman can approve.