The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1861.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVI, Issue 907, 20 July 1861, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1861.

The Stafford Ministry Laving- been defeated by a majority of one, on a motion of "want of confidence/ and Mr. Fox called upon to form a new ministry, it becomes an object of interest to know what probability there is that he will be able to form a stable government; and what will be his general line of policy when in office. Of the former little is known at present. The Wellington papers representing Mr. Fox's opinions, speak of the new ministry as likely to be stronger and more entitled to the confidence and respect of the colony than the last, as it will be composed of men from each of the different provinces and therefore the interest of each province will be consulted. Rumour has been busy with the names of several gentlemen as likely to fill the different offices. Among others, Mr. Reader Wood is talked of as native minister, and Mr. Williamson as likely to fill another post. Altogether, it is doubtful whether Mr. Fox will find substitutes for the vacant-ministerial seats equal in ability to those who have lately occupied them, if we except perhaps the late Colonial

secretary. Of the line of policy likely to be pursued by Mr. Fox .thereis. also little known, the future minister having- been peculiarly reticent of his views, and having- invariably turned a deaf ear to the voice of the charmer who may have sought to discover them. It is only in his opening speech on the question of want of confidence in the Stafford ministry, that we g-et a glimpse of his ideas of the proper course to be pursued in the present troublous times of the colony. Mr. Fox there states that he should consider it to be his first study, as regards the threatened war, to disentang-le his ministry from the Taranakiwar,and thoroughly sift the grounds upon which that war was originated. He considers that the basis of negotiation with all who have been in arms or defied the Queen's authority, should be-com-plete submission, restoration of plunder and compensation from those who have done any injury. He expects also that> all unlawful combinations against her Majesty's authority shall be suppressed, voluntary submission be made, and if negotiation fails, that obedience must be enforced by arms. That the war, if war it is to be, should not be a sham entailing needless expense, but a war vig-ourously prosecuted.

So far, there is little difference between the sentiments of Mr. Fox and the late ministers —but Mr. Fox holds strongly to the opinion that this is an imperial not a settler's war; that while giving every assistance in our power to the Governor, the Militia force of the colony should be used solely for the purposes of domestic protection.

The strong point of Mr. Fox and his party is evidently not in the vigorous prosecution of the war, but in the probability of successful negotiation, leading ultimately to peace, by inducing the natives to submit to the authority of the crown. It is clear that the new minister believes that he and his party possess the confidence of the'Maories, if they lack that of the Governor, and in possessing this, feels that he will be able to persuade the rebels into submission and lead them to accept the terms offered, and thus avoid the alternative of war, an alternative dreaded even more by many of the settlers in the southern part of the North Island, than by the Maories themselves.

If Mr. Fox indeed possesses the magic art of persuading these truculent savages to'sub-

Mit to terms, and give up their unlawful combinations against the Queen's authority, there are few who will not wish him .God speed. We may be allowed to doubt whether so easy a method of settling so difficult a matter will be found, believing, as we. do, that the king movement and the land league ,are deep seated principles of action in the. native mind, with which no feelings of personal liking or disliking will be allowed materially to interfere.

It is hardly flattering to our vanity as a province to observe, that in these stormy seasons of debate, when ministries are being swept away and re-formed, our own members are unable or unwilling to make their voices heard, not a single Canterbury member having spoken in these debates, if we except a few words from Mr. Jollie and a ringing blast on his own trumpet from the hon. member for Christchurch. It is a misfortune for the province continually to be changing her representatives. If it should happen again, as in the boundary question, that the interests of the province are at stake, it will be found that a ' White' is a very poor exchange for a ' Moorhouse,' and that with a continuous succession of members new to their work, it will be many years before Canterbury again holds the leading position in the councils of the country which once belonged to her.