MEN OF THE DAY.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume I, Issue 14, 12 July 1887, Page 2

MEN OF THE DAY.

THINGS political are at “ sixes and at sevens.” Bar a narrow section of Canterbury, or, rather we should say, Christchurch people, who feel grateful to Sir Julius Vogel for having worked so hard for the Midland Railway Job, there are but tew people who will not admit that the Second Advent of the great financier has been productive of much evil result to the Colony. It is quite on the cards that the Colonial Treasurer may suffer a defeat at the election, but the odds are in his favour.

Coming to Sir Robert Stout we would speak more in pity than in anger. The Premier has done good work for the country, and nothing during the last two sessions has been more apparent than the mingled indignation and sorrow with which his old friends and supporters have witnessed his reckless participation in the wilful extravagance and reprehensible dodgery of his ill-mated coadjutor the Colonial Treasurer. It may be that Sir Robert may yet return to his old paths, that he may once more enjoy the esteem and support of his quondam admirers who are but only too ready to return to their allegiance should he but alter his ways. We sincerely trust he may. After Stout, Ballance. He has been a ghastly failure. He has thoroughly and determinedly misunderstood the real requirements of the North Island as to native affairs, and has eternally damned his own name as the author of the most imbecile system of Native Land Administration that was ever foisted upon the Colony by a conceited and ignorant Native Minister. Whoever may be in power after the next elections we pray Heaven it may not be the member for Wanganui. With his Special Settlement scheme we have much sympathy, for despite his wanton wasting of _£60,000 of the public funds, we believe he meant well and would with proper supervision from a careful Treasurer, have made the scheme a success, but as the matter stands at present, Mr Ballance appears once more

in the old role he played during the Grey Ministry’s tegim'e, viz., the reckless financier, and the boastful botcher up of ignominious failures.

Beyond his bell-topper, his carefully parted hair, and his habitual courtesy of manner, Mr Tole has little to recommend him. He has not made any flagrant faux pas, but has always acted the part of a respectable dummy. As a lawyer of mediocre ability and unusual modesty he has doubtless some as a Minister you could catch a dozen better men in a trap in a night. Mr Larnach ho dbiibt meant well as Minister of Mines, and his literary achievments in the compilation of dreary records of his Ministerial peregrinations have probably some value as wrapping paper for the butter and cheese of the Wellington storekeepers. Besides these reports he has an excellent renown for heavy travelling expenses and being a prosy bore in the House. “He never will be missed.”

Railway matters do not concern us so intimately as they do other districts, where the Iron Horse goes merrily along and the General Manager is daily excommunicated, but still it cannot be denied that the Minister for Public Works has been a failure-. Red tape still holds the sway Oil the Colony’s railways, and Minister Richardson, despite all hopes to the contrary, has proved himself as incompetent as his predecessors to curb the official insolence and maladministration of King Maxwell.

The Colonial Secretary, “ Pat ” Buckley is a cheery soul, but why he was ever pitchforked into a position so utterly unsuited to his capacities is, and always will remain to be, a mystery. He has proved himself a useful tool of Vogel’s, and —well, that’s about all. We want an entirely new team. Atkinson won’t do, neither will Bryce. The first is too dogmatic, too grasping, and too little in touch with the times; the latter is becoming a sort of political Cassandra, for ever weeping and wailing about the bad times, and morbidly calumniating those who disagree with him.

Sir John Hall has hadjajpolitical rest and would certainly make an efficient leader of the House, but a Hall-Atkinson combination, with the old fossils like Roileston and Bryce with them, would not be tolerated.

The position is a very difficult one. Perhaps the best solution would be a Stout-Atkinson combination, with a clearly defined programme, and a firm determinaation to avoid Vogelism and extravagance, and the many errors and mistakes of the past. So far, however, there seems to be no cohesion between any parties. Every one seems to be fighting for his own hand and his own interest. This is a lamentable state of affairs, but can hardly be helped. One thing is certain and that is that lhe old team must not be permitted to resume office. To prevent that and the repetition of the muddling, mischievous maladministration of the last few sessions, we would rather vote for His Satanic Majesty himself as Premier. What we can do, and all can do, is to vote for men pledged to a complete change, pledged to retrenchment and reform, and trust that when Members meet in Wellington a strong, honest Ministry may be formed therefrom.