Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1879. THE- POLITICAL SITUATION.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5423, 2 July 1879, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1879. THE- POLITICAL SITUATION.

« AS Unconstitutional Autocrat." These wor(Js-were applied to- Sir George Gtfeyby Major Atkinson in the House less thp,n two years ago. The occasion was the ;£ainou's '""No "confidence " motion, -when the Government by the exercise of sharp but perfectly legitimate •Parliamentary taefcic's, managed to remain in' office' in the face of an acknowledged adverse majority. Sir .Geprge' Grey, with that admirable air of gentle, simplicity which sits so well on him, had said, speaking for himself and his -• colleagues :— " Our position^ sir, iisthis: We are now in office, and :we intend to remain in oflice. until the country has had; an opportunity of judging thepolicy which we shall, bring forward," ijb was this .speech which called from MajoiV Atkinson the expfes T sion . which we have quoted. Sir George has now been in power for nearly two yeai-S; During the whole of that time his action seems to have been specially calculated and planned to prove the truth of Major Atkinson's accusation. His first attempt to- gain his ends by • unconstitutional and autocratic means was his happily unsuccessful endeavor to " burk " • the JLand Act of 1877, because it contained clauses obnoxious to him. As he comnienced so has he gone on. A perusal of "Hansard" for last year will s&ow a few of the Premier's little idiosyncrasies in the shape of autocratic government, but we shall probably never know one-tenth of what he has really done without the consent of his colleagues, if not in direct antagonism to their advice. Now and then, -we have heard of Sir George Grey vetoing theiorder of one; of his Ministry, but for one such instance which has come to light we may reasonably assume 'that there are ten unrevealed. It is a fortunate constitutional principle that a Ministry must collectively be held responsible for the official acts of one member of that Ministry, and if no higher feeling of loyalty prompted Sir George Grey's colleagues to silence, they were bound, in their own interests, to do theft best to disclaim any difference in the .Cabinet, and to present to the outer world a united front. When this is borne in mind it will not be surprising that the special autocratic acts of the Warrior of Kawau which have been made public are few ; the astonishment will be that so many are known. What is known is sufficient to indicate the lengths to which the Premier has carried his love of personal power. That his colleagues have thus far remained faithful to him redounds to their credit. There is, however, a point at which loyalty to a- chief may degenerate into a miserable subserviency, and this point was reached when Messrs Stout and Ballance threw up their portfolios, sacrificing their personal position and; •perilling their party, rather than become mere tools in the hands of an autocrat. However much we may regret their retirement from the Cabinet, we recognise that no other course was in honor left to them, and with our regret accord an honest admiration of their spirit of independence. Sir George Grey has a natural love for unrestrained ' power, and his early life, first as an officer in the army, and afterwards as the Governor of young colonies where civilisation was but taking its first infant steps, aided and fanned the desire for absolute authority. It is not surprising that men of the stamp of those who were selected as his colleagues should refuse to become mere puppets to register his decrees. Apart altogether,from the merits of the differences between . Sir George and his Ministers, for sufficient has hardly been made public to enable a decision to be pronounced on this point, there is a grand constitutional principle involved, and the step taken by Mr Ballance has brought this prominently forward. It is this : Are we to be governed by one man, or are we to have at the head of affairs a body of men, each responsible not only for his own actions, but for the actions of those associated with him 1 The country is indebted to Mr Ballance for raising the question. . Sir George Grey seeks to create in the colony what is practically an autocracy, while it bears the name of constitutional government. This can never be. The wisest of Israelitish Kings two thousand years ago declared that "in a multitude of counsellors there is safety," and in this one sentence be compressed the whole arguments and reasons for constitutional government by a Ministry chosen of the people. Sir George Grey may be right. His ability cannot be questioned, even by, his bitterest enemy. Every act of his may be for the benefit of the colony, whose welfare we believe is the main desire of his declining years. Time has in the past often proved the wisdom of many of his actions, though they were objected to at the time. Still, with all this and even more admitted, New Zealand can never consent to be governed by one man. The people must govern through the Ministry, not through an autocratic head. It is, we take it, for this principle that Messrs Ballance and Stout contend, and they, but especially the latter, deserve the. thanks of all who have at heart the welfare of the colony for the pronounced and decided •stand they have made against the new right of arbitrary power, claimed by the Premier. We await with curiosity the further development of the situation. Will the remaining members of the Ministry resign? If. not we can only conclude, after what has been made public, that they are content to Sacri-

fice their ,personlii'indep|nden(se ftoftlie choice Esfitu|6f 6ld so||piiß birthrig|it1 r for;^i meslf'oif pdttagejf Is history $6 -replat itselfiondeiinore^.i , £v;; jjfoy; L£^;! > ■;,...! |p- i The jtfejf 'Boaf& ScWpis wef| re-ot)enedj ; after t^e i' holidays onpffonaay, ano^ty*; additional children presented themselves, and had their names enrolled in theifoot. The week before the holiday forty : new scholars entered the) schools^ making a total of nearly a hundred in less than a fortnight of actual working time. ' "-'■' - •■"■■'•■• "•

The vital statistics ft)r this district for; the .month of June are.as'follo.Wß lvßii!ths,i 41J deaths, 16} marriages, 9v ■•., , I

At the Resident Magist&teV Oourt; yesterday Byron W.Vlb, John Black, * Gheriant Marie, Richard Williams, and' John Keeshan, five seamen belonging to' the ship Cel&no, were charged with' embezzling eargd during the voyage :o£ that vessel. .The. evidence of Captain; Payne, and of Mr Richardson, the second ; mate-, showed that Marie was drie day' drunk at the whtjel^ <irid ttiia ; tirdi&ed Mr Richardson s suspicions, and caused him to communicate with the captain.' A watch* was •-'• set, and Williams and Kushari were found in- the hold, drunk.'' They were close to the powderma^aztne/ and were burning naked lights; - The' other admitted HdViiig drtinW whisky and champagne* cider, but denied broaching the cargo. As far, as could-be ascertained, one case of .whisky and one of champagne cider had been opened, and five bottles of. whisky were found in the' forecastle. - The captain gave the two prisoners, whd^ete, found in the hold :yery baa otiaraoter Is"}1 s"} Me dthdr's were; good sailors, and this had been their, only offence. Mr Kenny addressed the prisoners, pointing out the great danger to the safety of the ship and its crew, wh^ch resulted from such practices. .He had no doubt that the burning of : the ship Cospatrick and many other vessels oould be traced to similar causes. He senteiloedßlaok, Bllisj and Marie to three months imprisonment, and the other two men to six months': imprisonment each. .. , "•.',■'-• ,

Thd tihircl or- the series of "Winter Gatherings," which have been so success-' fully held" in St. John's Sunday-school lately, came off last evening, and considering the state of the weather was! very well attended. . Colonel Lambert occupied the chair, and although: he en-: | deayored to negative all encores, the audience were*, as, he said,, pleasantly wilful, and ; insisted upon s ihe recall of some or the singers. . A pianoforte solo was excellently, played by "Miss Von Tempsky.'arid in the second part of the programme Mr Davis similarly favored the audience. The Misses ;M' Alpine sSn'g a, duet very pleasingly..; Mrs Neill and Miss Martin sang a duet from .'! Norma;" which received rapturous applause, and although an . encore < was repeatedly demanded the ladies deoEned to comply with the request. Solos yrere exceedingly well sung by Mrs Neill and Miss M'Alpine, Messrs Kettle and llose, Mrs Neill's and Mr Kettle's first song eliciting encores, as also' did Mr Rose's song. Mr Flood accompanied the singers in excellent style and ■ taste. Headings ' were very amusingly given by Messrs Lee and Whitmore Isitt, Mr Lee kindly coming forward in place of Dr. de Lisle, who was unavoidably absent. The receipts of the evening amounted to £7 ss. ' ;

Messrs Routledge, Kennedy, and Co. to-day sell a mob of mixed cattle and two pedigree bulls at the Shamrock Sale Yards.

. In the. letter of " W». B " on the rating system in. the Waipawa county, in yesterday's Sebald, there occurred a misprint which destroyed the strongest point in our correspondent's letter. Speaking of the valuation list for the Danevirk Eoad Board district, " W. B ." stated, that 25,632 acres, owned by two sheep-farmers, were valued at £740, or about sevenpence per acre, while 197.4 acres in the Small. Farm Settlement were rated at nine shillings per acre, or something Hke £900. The word " shillings " was printed in error pence. A gentlemen living in the Alma-road, Melbourne, says " iEgles," was one night aroused by an unaccustomed noise in his house, and some outcry from the servant's quarters. He found the back door of his house open, and a hastily collected assortment of plate in a mug on the hall table.' The unlawful ' visitor had, apparently, been disturbed, and had taken flight empty-handed. As the master of the house had carefully locked up thepremises and fastened the .windows according to his usual habit , before retiring to rest, he was much exercised inhis mind as to how that burglar had effected an entrance. It appears that the adroit housebreaker, who was a youn& fellow, of good parentage, had made other visits just prior, and he fell into the hands of the police before many hours had passed. My, friend, who knew that capital officer the late Detective Black, asked the latter to inquire ..of the prisoner How he had effected an entrance into his house that night. The prisoner was inolined to be, obliging, biit explained, " 'Pon my honor. I don't remember— -I was in so many houses that night!" :... . : . : .

Some two or three years ago, says -" Atlas," I was the first to announce the fact that the Princess Prederika of Hanover had under consideration an offer of marriage from the Duke of Connaught. That on her refusal, after a deliberation, bis Eoyal Highness proposed, with no happier result, to her sister the Princess Marie, is now matter of history. It will interest the public to know that the youngest son of the Queen, Prince Leopold, has just sent an offer of marriage to the second of these ladies, the Princess Marie of Hanover, for whom his brother was an unsuccessful suitor.

The new Massachusetts liquor law under consideration makes the seller responsible for whatever befalls the , customer. The notice formerly required is dispensed with. If the dealer is pecuniarily irresponsible, then the owner of the building is saddled with all damages that may arise, either to the drinker or any other individual. The bill partakes largely of the nature of the civic damages law of New York.

The lady who died at Florence the other day — Miss . Clairmont— was, according to a London journal, about the last survivor of poor Byron's various and polyglot harem. She had survived the Guiccioli, whom she preceded in the poet's facile affections. The fact that she was the mother of Byron's little " Allegra " was a very tolerably well kept secret ; Moore never mentions her in his "Life of Byron;" and her last years were spent in such a complete retirement, tiiat few, even those who remembered her name, knew that she was still living; But her memories were' curious. She was Godwin- s step-daughter ; and it was she who organised and accompanied the flight of Shelley and Mary Godwin ; the strange little party of three journeyed across France on foot, with the help of a mule. In Switzerland they fell in with the too fascinating Byron. : The following are the particulars of what seems to be a singular case of suicide by the Rev. R. Paisley, a Scottish clergyman belonging to Stirling, who went from Scotland to friends in York for a change or air, a short time ago. His lifeless body was found in a field, with his throat cut from ear to ear, and there were cuts on both sides of his mouth. There was also a punctured wound on the left side, near the region of the heart. Close by the body was a penknife, evidently the instrument which had been used to commit the fatal act, and certain articles of -clothing, which had been taken off and carefully laid aside. On the clothes being searched there, were f ouiid a bank-book, watcbl and chain, spectacles, &c.