THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7158, 24 January 1885, Page 2

THE PREMIER'S SPEECH.

»• ■ OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

[By Telegraph.]

(FBOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Wellington, January 23.

Both papers to-day adversely criticise tha Premier's speech. The Post this evening says: "The speech will, we think, cause ai general feeling of disappointment throughout the country. Mr Stout seems himself to hava felt that it needed apology, for he pleaded fatigue arising from overwork in Court, This excuse might be accepted in regard to the manner of his Bpeech, but is scarcely sufficient to account for the poverty of the matter. Tha whine about the Duuedin. Pres^. was uncalledfor and undignified.' The account given by thU Premier ofathe'procl'edioffs in the early days of last Parliament, which culminated in the formation of the prosent Ministry, is clever in its way, but is none the lesa unsatisfactory, for it implies in every word that there is no real bond of unison between tho Premier and the Colonial Treasurer, and that they ara practically only working together in order to carry on tbe business of the country—an expression which, in the present condition, simply means keeping their common onomy out of office."

(Timaru Herald.)

We are afraid that the impression left upca the community after reading tho Premior's speech to the electors of Dunedin East on Wednesday evening will be ono of disappointment. It is, in many respects, a good speech from a special pleader's point of view, as most of Mr Stout's addresses undoubtedly are. . . . Ia the first speech given by the leader of tha House after the session, however, one looks for something more than merely a justification of personal acts, or even of the general conduct of the Government during tlio past. What was really wanted from Mr S:"Ui on Wednesday night was a clear and comprehensive statement of the Ministerial policy for tho futuro, and this is precisely what was not forthcoming. ... It is suggestive— although the coincidence may have been quite unintentional —that although Mr Stout bad a good deal t > say in favour of his Radical colleague, Mr Ballance, he seemed scrupulously to avoid mentioning Sir Julius Vcgel as having achieved anything in particular, although everybody knows that from the District Railways Bill down to the Samoan agitation, tbe moving spirit in originating all real policy questions has been the Colonial Treasurer. Apart from this, however, it is now more than ever evident how little real sympathy there io bstween the Premier and the real head of the Government. The irony of fato whicb lod Mr Stout to'woik so energetically to bring Sir Julius Vogel again into public life, and which led Sir Julius Vogel to" accept office under Mr Stout, is one of the most striking illustrations possible of the proverbial peculiarity of politics. It will ba curious to watch how long such an arrangement will last.

(Christchurch Press.) Those who have been looking forward to the long-promised Bpeeoh of the Premier to his constituents for an exposition of the future policy of the Government, and for a defence of Mr Stout'B own position as a member of tha Stout-Vcgel Administration, must haye been greatly disappointed. Instead of being tha addreßs of the chief of the Ministry, it is lhe utterance of a man who feels that he occupies a false position, aud who is anxious to give prominence to evory point that will excuse his proceedings, The speaker evidently felt that he was really put on his defence, and hence the exceedingly laboured and not very accurate history which he gavo of the proceedings which led up to tho formation of tbe Ministry of which he is the nominal chief. . . . VVe have not left ourselves space to deal at any length with that part of the Premier's speech in which the policy cf the Government was discussed. We regret, however, to say that we have only boen able to glean the scantiest information from the speech regarding that policy. We have Borne vague and unsatisfactory reference to the reform of the Legislative Council, but Mr Stout tells us nothing definite. On the great question of the reform of local government tha Premier's speech is in the highest degree disappointing. We were led to expect a careful exposition of the views of Ministers on this matter, so that the question might be discussed throughout the country before Parliament assembles. But Mr Stout's contribution towards that discussion is not likely to assist us materially. On the vital question of local finance he is absolutely silent.

(Bruee Heia'd)

We must say that taking the Premier's speech altogether it is somewhat disappointing. Ho said much but revealed little ; ho pointed out the unsatisfactoriness of thinga as they exist, but gave scarcely a hint of what Government propose to do. It certainly would have been very unwise of him to have disclosed all the intentions of the Ministry, to have made the publio acquainted with the possible nature of measures yet untrained, of reforcrs not yet decided upon; but considering tha length of the speech, and the variety of subjects dwelt upon, we think he might have treated tha people to fewer words and more facts. As it is, the Premier's utterance consists chiefly in a clever and successful attempt to satisfy tha peoplo with a long and verbose speech, signifying little, and revealing nothing.

—Tb6 tusks of the mammoth mastodon discovered recently by workmen in a marl pit, near Monroe, N.Y., have been saved eutire. They measure six feet in length by seven and a half inches across tho base. Two teeth, each ten inches long and four and three-quarter inches in circumference, have been taken out. —According to tho census of 1872. tbo population of Naples was divided into 93,406 families, and these families live in 12.550 houses. Each family ia composed of an average of five members, and each honeo holds an average of seven families, or 35 persons. But as tho woll to-do like spacious accommodation, a corresponding inorease of pressure and density follows in tho dwellings of tha poor. Great cities have their great miseries: bat Naples perhaps exceeds them all.