THE MINISTERIAL CRISIS.

Otago Witness, Issue 769, 25 August 1866, Page 1

THE MINISTERIAL CRISIS.

(From the Daily Timbs, August 18.) The Telegram from Nelson in another part of the paper, gives us news that will •■urprise none, and which few will regret; it informs us that the Stafford Ministry has fallen, and by a very large majority. Seldom— perhaps never— did a Ministry meet a Parliament with such prepossessions in their favor. During the recess it was evident that Mr Stafford was gaining supporters throughout the Colony. At the elections no word was uttered against him, exceptinsr by the enthusiastic admirers of Mr Weld and the members of that gentleman's Ministry, and although, in the present financial condition of the Colony, many doubted that he would be able to effect the saving he engaged to do, it was generally believed that the affairs of New Zealand were likely to prosper in his hands. It was understood, when he took office, that he was oppo ed to Separation, eitlier territorial or financial, and although this did not coincide with the political creed of several who on other points were prepared cordially to support his expressed policy, the points of agreement seemed so many that his opposition to it did not prove an insuperable objection. But if Mi Stafford met with this cordial confidence, it was not extended to his colleagues. Chosen in the first instance because of the backwardness of abler men, most of them were looked upon as conveniences to be used until persons of more commanding talent could be found willing to undertake the dmie9 and responsibilities of office. Mr Stafford was the Ministry ; the others were merely speaking automata. If rtplies were to be given to intricate

Questions, Mr Stafford gave them. f explanations were required, 'Mr Stafford made them. If measures were to be introduced, although for form's sake the automaton of the Department uttered the words containing the proposition, the spirit was Mr Stafford'?. Sa palpable was it that Mr Stafford was ths soul of the Ministry, that it became a theme for joking, if one of his automata dared to H& anything without permission, even in the wav of reply.

Neither did thedebate on Separation alter the Premiers position in public estimation. It was, perhapp, naturally to be expected that a majority of the inhabitants of the Colony should hold to the idea of unity, a<? being for the benefit of the whole. Fh^re are only two or three Provinces in which serious ideas of Separation are entertained, and those are the richer : but their ideas are not one. Otago and the western part of Canterbury naturally differ widely from Auckland. Their wants nre different — their occupations are different — their expectations are different. Auckland wishes for Separation, in order that she may be freed from the dominion of the other Provinces, and desires to be placed under Imperial rather than Colonial rule. It is the mode of dealing with the Native diffi culty that frightens Auckland, and the removal of the Seat of Government to Wellington, that galls her people. But the lar?e and busy populations of Otago and Westland take a different view. Auckland and Wellington may saarl about the Seat of Government, so long as they do not encroach upon the revenues of the Southern Provinces. Already sufficient has been drawn from them to spend upon their Northern neighbors, and the Separation wanted, is one that will free them henceforth from expenses of war and ite contingencies, in which ths South has no interest, and by which it cannot benefit.

It is somewhat strange tint the debate on Separation did not point to the Stafford Misistry, the rock on which they misht xplit. It pointed out the practical view of the Commercial and Industrial portion of the Colon}' ; and it must have been plain I that although sentiment might induce many to give their adherence to Colonial unity when interest was not involved, as soon as the Ministry attempted to encroach upon Provincial re-ources they would no layger receive support Al'houzh but little had been said respecting the proportion of the Cus toms Revenue that the Provinces had a right to expect, that little had been significant. It bho.ved that the Provinces were not content to be deprived of the three-eighths of the revenue raided in their owe territo r y. It is, in fact, little enough, but there ha? been a patient endurance of the smallness of the sum appropriated to local purposes because of the difficulties through which the Colony has parsed. When, in June and July, however, thp customary amount was not forthcoming, : there w as an unmistakable expression of discontent, and it was thought necessary toallay the rising outcry, by some trifling allusion to the necessity for making up the Treasury accounts. Accountants were not satisfied, but everj'body is not an accountant, and therefore the people patiently waited for i Parliamentary explanations. The financial s'atement of Mr Jollie was clumsy enough, and had the Ministry fared better tlinn they have after such an exposition, it would have been a matter for astonishment. What could be more absurd th an to attempt to make out Otago to be i debtor to the Colony? Otago, whose population has been deprived of roads, and bridges, and railroads, and other public works necessary to develop the Province, in order that the proportion of revenue that might have been devoted to those purposes should be spent in subduing the Maoris in Auckland and ! Had any one gravely made such an observation in society, he would have beeu looked upon as weak or lunatic. It might very reasonably have been said, that Auckland, Taranaki, or other of the disturbed Provinces, was indebted to the rest of the Colony for the extra expense it had been put to, through their turbulent populations; but that Provinces paying their own police, and needing nothing more to keep the peace ; carrying out their own improvements and contributing to the well being and prosperity of the whole, should be told they were debtors to the Colony, is so preposterous that the Minister who could utter such a thought

pronounced at once that be was unfit for the ofSce he held. Mr Jollie, after his Financial Statement, can never stand forward henceforth as a financier. The vote of want of confidence appears to have been directed more against what, for want of a better term, we may call the subordinate members of the Ministry, than against Mr Stafford himself. In him there yet appears to be confidence; probably the prestige of a past reputation clings to him, and if he still continues to hold the rein 3, by judicious management he may retain it. Much will depend upon the next move he makes, aud the men he gathers round him. One thing is, howev* r, evident, that the traditionary policy of the Colony is shaken, and that those whoassume the guidance of its affairs must be content to advance with the advancing intelligence of the people.