THE CABINET. — AUCKLAND AND TARANAKI RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6362, 8 April 1882, Page 5

THE CABINET. — AUCKLAND AND TARANAKI RAILWAY.

fUY TELEGRAVH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] New Plymouth, Friday. The Taranaki Herald, in reference to the Ministerial crisis, says :—" 10veil Governments cannot escape the terrible iniliction of a 'skeleton in the closet,' and that tlie bony spectre stalks unhidden, and intrudes its unwelcome presence at Cabinet Councils, ■we know. The late Government bad .1 skeleton which occasionally slipped out of the cupboard, and it is whispered that the present Government lias one also. Kscept by the initiated, it has not yet been seen outside, but there are said to l.i= indications of its presence. It i;i well known that the relations of the Governor with some of bis -Ministers are very strained, so strained, in fact, that in ordinary life it would end in immediate rupture. The Native Land Court is also a trouble. The removal to Wellington of the head oflice is a terrible inllietio'ii on a certain clique in Auckland ; the 'musical circles' resent the action of the Native .Minister, as the existence ol several musical societies are said to be scaled by this autocratic proceeding. There is, in fact, great indignatio'u among the fiddling fraternity, and a ' wave of sympathetic motion is even said to have swept through the Cabinet Council. Then again there is the question of the route of the trunk line of railway south. It has always been accepted that the route by Mokau was the best m the public interest as being the shortest, cheapest, and passing through the best land for settlement. Now doubt is thrown on its practicability from an engineering point of view, and the native diliiculty is said to be an obstacle, and the cry arises from an interested section to take the line through I'ate-t<-.re and so south, and no doubt this feeling is represented in the Cabinet. With respect to the alleged engineering ditiiculties, we know that they do not exist. Leaving out the Minii Valley route as not having been finally explored, it is known that the line could be taken by the way ot thu White Clitl's bv a short tunnel, and thence by the Mokau."and one ol its tributaries by way of the Awakino Valley. As for the native diliiculty, none exists in the way of a mad or railway. Let the colony furnish the supplies and the authority to construct, and we have no doubt the natives will not only consent, but cordially co-operate in carrying out the works. If any should obstruct, we know Mr. <3rycc lias a very effective way of getting rid of a native diliiculty, and he will do it, if allowed. Our greatest fear is, that he will be obstructed, not by the natives, but by his colleagues, or by ' the power' outside the Cabinet that sometimes warps the policy that ought to be pursued."