A FUNNY FORECAST.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 741, 14 May 1886, Page 23

A FUNNY FORECAST.

(From the New Zealand Times, May 13J A professed “ forecast ” of the speech which his Excellency the Governor is to deliver at to-day’s opening of Parliament was published last evening by a local contemporary. The elaborately, not to say ponderously, “ prophetic ” character of the “ forecast ” —or as it is also termed, “ prognostication ” is exceedingly funny. The way the changes are rung”on the items which “ we shall be surprised if the Speech omits, or which “ it may naturally be expected” to contain, or which “it is quite impossible that the Speech can to bring into prominent notice, or which “ there is little reason to doubt that Parliament will be informed.” of, or which “we fully expect to find,” or which “ it is reasonable to expect that the Speech will contain,” or which “will not pass unnoticed,” or to which “the attention of Parliament will probably be directed,” is highly diverting. It is especially gratifying also to be assured that “ the Speech will probably reiterate the statement made by the Premier at Napier, that the relations between the two races inhabiting this Colony have never before been of so cordial a character.” Nor must we fail to be grateful for the information, alike novel, startling, and interesting, that “ there will also, of course, be the usual paragraph addressed to Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, concerning the preparation of the Estimates. Speeches from the Throne certainly do sometimes contain such a paragraph. Has it ever yet been absent 1 We are not quite sure if we ought to accept implicitly this “ prognostication ” so richly. redolent of inspiration. One thing, it is true, is clear enough. There is no doubt at all as to the “ inspiration,” or as to its source. A similar but much fuller “ forecast ” appeared in the Napier Telegraph of Friday last, and all the material substance of the later “ forecast ” is to be found in the earlier one, which, however, has the advantage of greater freedom from the “ padding ” which is so liberally bestowed on the more recent local edition. Our difficulty in accepting with implicit credence this generous present of foreknowledge is that we are not distinctly aware of the Napier Teleoraph’s precise claim to be the medium through which the contents of the Governor’s speech are. published a week prior to its delivery. That is what puzzles us. Why should the Napier Telegraph have been selected as the channel of emergence from the dark recesses of Cabinet conference ? It is an interesting conundrum, but we “ give it up.” We confess to just a trifle of scepticism as to the strict genuineness of this premature double disclosure. It may be correct or it may not. Certainly it is of such a character that it might have been written by the yard by anybody possessing the most rudimentary acquaintance with current politics. But if the Speech is really to be the sort of thing thus “ shadowed forth,” we can only say that it will be a very poor affair indeed. We were compelled, with much pain, to pronounce last year’s Speech sadly “ platitudinous.” But to-day’s speech bids fair to eclipse it altogether in fecundity of platitude if it has been accurately foreshadowed first by the Napier Telegraph and later by our local contemporary. After all the expectations that have been raised, it would be a dreadfully bald and sorry affair. It would really be a shame to bring His Excellency all that way merely to utter such a string of tritenesses, or to summon the members of the Lower House to listen. But we refuse to be despondent just yet. We prefer to cherish the more cheerful hope that we shall have a thoroughly good Speech this time, and that it will set forth in plain terms a safe yet vigorous policy which will command general acceptance. The Premier delivered at Invercargill a speech to which no reasonable exception could be taken, so far as general principles went. It was an admirable speech, and propounded an excellent policy—alike moderate and progressive. Let the Premier embody that policy in the manifesto, which will be placed" in his Excellency’s hands'this ( afternoon, and he need feel little

doubt as to its cordial reception by the Colony.