The Marlborough Press. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11.

Marlborough Press, Volume XIII, Issue 818, 11 September 1872, Page 2

The Marlborough Press. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11.

After one of the fiercest debates and closest divisions that have ever taken place in the House of Representatives, the Ministry were defeated on Mr Stafford s resolutions, on Friday last. Never before has a division occurred at which every member of the House voted, as on this occasion, and it may therefore be assumed that a majority of the members are of opinion that a' change of Ministers is desirable. The result of the division, though having the effect of unseating the Government, does not prominently show how a stable Ministry is to be formed from the incongruous elements of which the late Opposition was composed. Mr Stafford, whose aim has been for some time past to abolish the effete system of Provincialism, and substitute some comparatively inexpensive and suitable .mode of local government, will scarcely be. able to work with Messrs Gillies and Curtis, two of his ablest lieutenants in the late party fight, whose interests and principles are bound up in sustaining and perpetuating Provincialism. A compromise may possibly be effected, and the division of the Colony may be agreed to by the party now in power, which would enable each side to carry on the mode of governing in which they have most faith. This, or the formation of a coalition Ministry with Messrs Stafford, Fitzherbert, M‘Lean, Vogel, and Gillies, or some such combination, appears to be the only solution of forming a stable Government. Mr Stafford’s tail, who voted for his resolutions, contains within itself the very elements of change, and no Ministry could be formed out of it that would give more than the very slightest prospect of their being able to agree amongst themselves, or to command the good-will of the Colony, or, what is more important, the votes of the members of the House. .Until the result of Mr Stafford’s efforts to form a Ministry be made known, it would be idle to prognosticate whether the new Government are likely to be more efficient than the old one, or whether the Colony is likely to be benefited by the change. Unless both sides of the House agree to sink minor differences, and consent to work harmoniously together, and by this means allow the leaders on both sides to form a coalition, and thus create a Ministry of “ All the Talents,” it is hard to see what the country will gain by the ousting of Mr Fox and the investings, of Mr Stafford. The members for Marlborough have voted as they ought to do, quite independently, Captain Kenny and Mr Ingles having voted on the winning side, while Mr Seymour voted for the late Go- I vernment. A study of the division list will teach but little as to the actuating

motives of individual members, and judging from the known predilections of the various representatives, it would appear that enmity against the personnel of the late Ministry had more to do with the result of the division than any charge of neglect or want of attention to the duties of their station.