The Press. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1879.

Press, Volume XXXI, Issue 4196, 8 January 1879, Page 2

The Press. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1879.

It is impossible to read the speech of the member for Geraldine -without a great degree oi interest. However much the views enunciated may, in some instances, be distasteful to the reader, he cannot fail to recognise in it the evidence of a large acquaintance with the pnblic affairs of the colony, and a breadth of view which is not in general exhibited by the ordinary run of public men. The speech, further, is not without political significance at the present time. It is not twelve months ago since Mr. Wakefield took tip a very different position. He then announced - to. his constituents that whatever might be his opinion of the Grey administration generally—and whatever his objections to certain individual members of the Cabinet —for Sir George Grey himself, as the leader of the colony, he had an unqualified admiration. We are satisfied that we are not misrepresenting Mr. Wakefield'a opinion at that time in attributing to him the sentiment that Sir George Grey was the greatest man who had ever taken part in the public business of this colony. Were it not for circumstances which have been repeatedly commented on in these columns, so singular a change of opinion as that which is manifested by the speech we are nowconsidering, would be startling in the extreme. As tilings actually stand, the change is readily aeconnted for. The public are becoming gradually educated to a true sense of the position, not only by the efforts of those who are opposed to the present Administration, but 'far more so by the unmixed disapproval of their supporters, whose denunciations are apparently both loud and frequent. Promises without]performances cannot last for ever; and though it may be true, more or less of every Government, that they will have failed at the end of a session to realise the hopes which they held out at its commencement, yet, with regard to this Government, it has been felt universally that for the extent to which they have belied their engagements they stand absolutely without excuse to their friends, even more than their foes. While the session continued, it was found that the opposition which the Government received arose mainly from their own supporters. The Opposition, properly so called, were not at the time in a condition to discharge the appropriate functions usually belonging, to . the party out of office. Perhaps the consciousness of this emboldened the habitual supporters of the Government to give freer utterance to a dissatisfaction which might otherwise have been latent. Be this as it may, the Government found themselves in the position of having continually to change their front, reverse their tactics, and abandon their apparently most cherished objects, in order to retain the fast waning allegiance of their own side of the House. The wrath and indignation that, during the earlier part of the session, had been chiefly confined to the obscure growlings of certain nonentities who had come into the House under the wing of. so-called Liberalism, at length found powerful expression in the well-known upbraiding administered to the Ministry by Mr. Bryce on the occasion of their sudden abandonment of their leading measures. An English poet, more remarkable for : amiability than for strength of ideas or 1 vigour of expression, has hazarded the opinion that it is better to trust and be i deceived than never to trust at all. I However admirable the sentiment when applied to the affairs of social life, it is J net likely at any time to find ready acceptance at the hands of party politicians. Mr. Bryce evidently dissented: from that view. Mr. Saunders has lost Ino opportunity, either in the House or out of it, of making it clearly understood that he had trusted, that he had been deceived, and that he had no intention, of i trusting any more. " But wien we come to Mr. Wakefield, there is found an attack upon the Government, their measures and their conduct, so vigorous and complete, that from an opposition point of view there is nothingTef tto be deaired. •

However remarkable the change in Wakefield's attitude towards Sir G,. Grey may at first appear, there is only too much reason to see sufficient justification for it. "Upon the failure t>f the Atkinson administration Iβ went in heartily, he tells us, with those who were in favor of a change of government, and promised his support to Sir George .Grey's Ministry. They, went into office with high professions of administrative reform, and judging them by their, promises they bade fair,in hisotrinion,to"be an exceedingly useful Ministry. But when the House met, Mr. W&kofield soon saw that all that glitters U not gold. The measures of Ministers, he says, proved to be mere "shadows" of the promises made dnring the recess. "It " was quite evident to anybody with an " unprejudiced mind that tfcey were not " in a position to carry put tfaeir profes- " sions of reform, and that tha real object " of Ministers was so to act as to retain " their seats, whatever else happened." Nothing plainer or severer has been uttered by anybody who has yet spoken of the shortcomings of the Grey Government, i . ; '

After this announcement the "principal part of Mr. WakefieWs speech is devoted to am explanation of his own coarse of action under these circumstances. Hβ had gone to Wellington iktending to support the Government. "Kiis was nowimpossible. Hβ went boldly therefore into opposition to prevent % bad into* enres of the Government from becoming law, bat at the same did nothing which could embarrass them ia conducting the business of the country. If their Bills eonld be amended in cetnmittee* he took part with those wtb made it their business to get then amended. In conjunction with ona or two other 'membeis he ■■' tmeeseingly ■i3id his best toput the Government measures into a shape less mkeiievont than they vUftr of hw

duty it is impossible to disagree. It was the course which would be naturally taken by a public man desirous under the most adverse circumstances to do his best for the people of the colony. It. is not always or immediately the duty of a member dissatisfied with the Government to join with the Opposition for the purpose of turning them out. His differences with them may be greater than his discontent with his own party, and it must be remembered that in Mr. Wakefield's case there was not, in point of fact, any Opposition to join. The question which he had to consider was, therefore, simply what was the proper line of conduct for him to adopt with regard to the measures which came before' him. And the only possible line.for him.to take, was to deal with them on their merits.

Mb. Duncan, a member of the Drainage Board; has condescended to answer the questions put in'our article of last week. We wish, however, he had spoken out a little more plainly. Whenever explanations heretofore have been asked from the Board, the members have shown a slight unwillingness to supply them, and now that all the- elections but one are over, and their seats secured for another three years, the difficulty may in the future be still greater. We do not wish to be understood as finding fault with the personnel of the Board. On the contrary, j we are satisfied that the gentlemen who have been elected are very well qualified to fill the position they occupy. , At the same time, we confess that we regret, on .the part of the ratepayers, that the members of the Board did not take a little more trouble to make their opinions known On one or. two questions before the day of nomination. As we said just now, the Board will hold office for three years. During that time much will be done, and very large sums of money will probably be spent. It may be thought by some officials to be almost an impertinence that anybody should ask for definite information. People who " want to know, you know" are always such bores; and a calm contemptuous silence is, of course, the way of meeting them. Wβ venture to express a hope that the members of the Board will not consider our persistence offensive. We want to know what they are going to do in connection with the Ferry Road sewer? Are the connections between it and the houses purely for the purpose of water drainage, or are house slops and all kinds of filth to go down there also? Is that drain intended to empty permanently into the Heathcote, and if so, is the filth from the houses also to be permanently discharged into the river? If the houses now sear the drain are to be connected with it, are the houses which will be bnilt as population increases also to be connected with it ? and if so, is there to be any limit to the number of houses which are to discharge their pollution into the Heathcote P We admit that the clause quoted by Mr. Duncan would imply that Mr. Clark contemplated the admission of house-slops into the twelveinch pipe which he proposed should be laid down from Matheson's road to Bell's Creek. But that work, we contend, was not of such a permanent character as the large sewer now being constructed. We do not believe that Mr. Glark would sanction the permanent pollution of the Heathcote by the discharge into it of the sewage of - the rapidly increasing population living in the neighborhood of the Ferry road. Tet that is practically what will happen if the proposals of the Drainage Engineer are carried into effect.