The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1752, 20 June 1885, Page 17

The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY.

SATURDAY, 20lh JIJ.VE, !885.

The Government are deserving of no li tie credit for the promptitude with which they are conducting the business of the House. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to their other merits, their most prejudiced opponents cannot deny that Ministers are industrious and business-like. We have to go back many years to find an Administration so thoroughly prepared to meet the House and so transparently anxious to lose no time in getting to work. With the delivery of the Financial Statement on Friday the main bearing of the policy of the Government will be before the House, and on Tuesday next we may expect the work of the session to begin in earnest with the debate on the Financial Statement. The debate on the Address-in- Reply on Tuesday night was phenomenally short. For this the country has to thank Major Atkinson's good sense and good generalship. There was nothing for the Opposition to gain by splitting hairs over the exact meaning of an Address which was prudently drawn up so as to commit the Government to as little as possible. Mr Hislop seems to have taken the opportunity to flourish the banner of abstract questions which the Premier has laid down for the present ; whilst Mr Pearson was a trifle less enthuj siasticaliy Ministerial than at the banquet given him by -his constituents a fortnight ago ; but Ministers weli know that boih are dogs who bark without any intention of biting. In the Council Mr R. Pharazyn sought apt alliteration's artful aid by describing the Government policy as one of "prudent progress."

Unfortunately there still appears to flourish in Wellington no little of the factious spirit of detraction of the Ministry which has played so large a part in conteraporaiy politics We should be the last to hold up the present Administration to the world as a model Ministry, but there is a wide difference between the nboveboard downright f-pposifcion of Major Atkinson and the underhand talk of corruption and jobbery which we hear ao much about, nowadays without any reasonable ground. The bad example set; by Sir George Grey has sensibly lowered the tone of our politics, and turned a large number of our politicians into fcavengers who scent out evil motives in every action of their opponents. It is this ground swell which Ministers have to light far more than the waves of opposition which buffet them oppnly in th« House. We believe it is only just, to the present Administration to say thafc more lies have been told about them than about any Government we have yet had in New Zealand. Rarely has there been a time when it has been so difficult to obtain an impartial s'abetnenfc of any political matter, And after ail fcheso factious partisans defeat iheir own ends. During such a crisis as that of las-t September all 1 things were possible. Members lost) their heads, and turned Ministfva out merely because they did not ( xac^y suit their taste-). Bus this pf\s=ii/r<t we a?e much mistaken if filings do not. prove to be very different. Tho Ministry may stumble o\er 'their Native or their. Local Government policy, but tlu-y will 1 not be thrown oui without reasonable grounds. It' members will Btand no nonsense from the Ministry, neither will the country ft-irwl any uonawuse from the m»mbftrs. We are not ovei whelmed with affection for the present Government, but they ehall not be turned out without good and sufficient cause. If tliß>> sins overtake them, well and g'v.d • but there must be no more Jedburgli justice. The 'Ministry is cerpainty one which needs careful watching. Both the .Premier and Treasurer are more zealous than discreet, more euterprisiog and vigorous than cautious; whilst Mr Ballance is making so much splash that we fear he will soon raise a storm in a teapot. There is need for tho break and the bit. but we bave no hesitation in saying that what tho country desires is that Ministers should be kept in order and not turned out. L<*t the Opposition by all mrans apply the rorl wherever nredful, Lut expulsion wouLI lead to v«iy undesirable roulffl. And we cannot doubt but that this view will rvrnraend it«elf to honourable uvmbeiK. Even where the Ministerial policy will be most seriously traversed, we should advise our readers to riceive reports of the probability ojf the overthrow of the Government with, every reserve.

The main factor in the political gamp of this pession is that the country does not want to change the A(lnii:ii.-'.U'j;tion urilcsi iL i« absolutely* ni'oesMjvv. Ministers are not strong ia the senae that "hey c-axx afford to ritio the high lmt.-», or even their hobbies, as they will very soon find if they arc so foolish as to make any such attempt ; but all the daily reports of a split between the two sections* of iheir folio werß are not worth, tho money paid for telegraphing them. We are sick and tired of hearing about the " conflicting " and v incongruous" elements of the Ministry. Tt is much too latß in the day now to discuss the " righteousness " of the combination. We all know that the Premier is a Radical, the Treasurer a Conservative, and both Opportunists. We know that there is not much love lost between their followers, and that they would like to be fighting against each other instead of standing shoulder to shoulder. But btforo any "split" can occur there must be some change in tbe position of affairs which will warrant the dissolution of a marriage entered upon solemnly, and ratified by many Subsequent notes and speeches. The party whose loyalty ia most impeached by the Opposition is the Canterbury contingent. But apart from the fact that a more strjcly honourable body of men has never sat in the New Zetland Parliament, in what position, we may ask, wnnld they stand if they went back to iheir constituents and told them that they had turned Sir J. Vogel out of office, after being elected to support him, and having recently renewed their allegiance to him since Mb coalition with Mr Stout? There are, of course, conditions imaginable which would thoroughly warrant them in refusing to support tho Government. Indeed, we look upon the Canterbury contingent as one of the most valuable restraints upon the zeal of the Government. But is it likely that Ministers will be so foolhardy as to provoke their dowufall with their eyes open ? Both the Premier and T/easurer are much too worldly-wise to knock away the planks from beneath their feet, and will infinitely prefer retracing their steps if they make a false move to paying the penalty of obstinacy. At Wellington, where people have nothing better to do, mountains are- made out of mole hills, and auspicion is ever rife. But sensible folk will look below the surface of affairs, and know that it takes v good deal of personal dislike to turn a Government out which has bee,u formed from an exhausted House, and if defeated on a question of policy will have an appeal to the country.

We were quite prepared to find reference made in the Governor's Speech to the BUbjeit of forests. We have frequently written on this subject — often, wo must confess, without much apparent result — and are glad to see that our prediction that we might reasonably expect Sir Julius Vogkl to revert to it at an early dafe, since it waa one of the last things he had in hand when he left the Colony to assume the Agent-generalship, haa bnen fulfilled. It is well known that the practical shelving of his proposals immediately his back waa turned was a matter of sincere regret to him. His statesmanlike and his commercial instincts are typified in thia matter. In the one case he sees tlie benefi.s of the broadeafc kind which will accrue to the Colony now, but more especially in the next and following generations, from proper conservation of the forests ; and in the second case, such sentences as two which we will quote from Captain Campbell -Walker's report of 1877 would, having once been read, never leave hia mind. These sentences aro : (a) " The industry (connected with forests in the Colony) is a very important one, giving employment to a largo number of hands, the wages distributed in Southland alone averaging, according to Mr Macarthur, the inspector of forests, £60,000 per annum." (b) "In 1874 the Indian (forest.) rovenue was upwards of 427Q0, 00Q— nearly double what it was 10. years _ before,-' at, which time interest in the forcotg was only just being awakoned. Our Government forests are varioutly estimated to consist of between 12 to 15 millions of acres ; the quantity of timber put through by the different, mills in the Colony during 1876, was pu,t down at over 10?. millions superficial feet ; and tho total revenue to the Colony from forests during the five years from 187, 2 to 187/T was £9584 5> 2-1, the contributing dis'. triots being Auckland, Canterbury, Woat land, (> ag >, and Southland. To a mat) like Sir Julius Vogel. always casting ab"ufc for now mnaus of in--ikug ami saving n.otiey, and uf pro\i 'ing ave> iiua of Khour, thrse data viry approxim.it o and incomplete though thf-y be, would bivery Bugles iv t > ; and we may be fuiro thar. dun rig his stay in i'ngland he has not neglected opportunity a which he s sure to have had to further post himself typ in the sul.jeot. 'Ihe preliminary step taken has been to securo the services of FrofesHor Kirk. Thii ie wise, and

certainly only just, for perhaps he has done more than any other man to help ua in this matter. The only result wo have to show in connection with this buoj, ct — apart from our forest nuraoriea in Central Otaj<o and ebewh-re — ia the rep>rfc of Captain Campbell- Walker, of the Indian Fwresfc Department, before referred to. When the Captain came to New Zealand Professor Kirk was engaged as his pilot and general varfe mecum, and he appears not only to have supplied hia principal with the names of the trees and particulars as to their habits and peculiarities, but to have done all the botanical work of the expedition, which extended over 10 months. Of course there is a wide difference between a botanist and a forest conservator ; yet with the experience Professor Kirk hd,a had, and with the papera and data that are obtainable, he probably will be the beat poosible man procurable for our purpose, especially in view of the perhaps limited expenditure that may at firat be sanctioned. Captain Campbell Walker proposed the Appointment of a ijtaff of 12 conservators and rangers, with necessary clerka, at a coat of, on the firat year, £10,000, and' he anticipated that in five yo<irs the revenue would more than cover the expenditure. What Sir Juliets will propose we do not know, but wa await his promised bill with interest He will no doubt make uae of the report referred to, and ateo of the papera written by Mr Lbcoy.

We regret to feel obliged to oppose the bill to allow Sir George Whitmore to retain his seat in the Council together with the office of commaniant, because we feel that Sir George Whitmore stepped into the breach at a time when we mii^ht have been hard put to it without him. It ftould have beeu quite reasonable to indemnify the Government for allowing him temporarily to refain ihe two poats ; for had war suddenly arisen, Mr George Whit more wai the only man in the Colouy iifc for the supreme command, and such an emergency as we passed through justified the breach of the Disqualification Act. But the samesreasoning no longer applies. Sir George Whitmore may be a suitable permanent comma*, daub, but ib can scarcely bo argued that he is so much superior to any Imperial officer whom we could get to till the post as to warrant the breach of an important principle and aa exception to a law the desirability of which is not questioned. Tiie precedent set up by the Premier ip not to the point, because there is no Diaqualification Act in England. It may be desirable to repeal the Act we have here and tho want of it in England, together with Sir George Whitmore's case, may be uaed aa arguments in favour of repealing the Act. But so long as tho Act is not impugned we trußt that Parliament will allow nothing short of the graveat emergency to induce it to make an invidious exception to it. Under other circumstances the Premier himself would bo the first to insist upon' the grave miachief likely to ariae from aueh a precedent. He must be well aware that in this very case the peculiar political relations of hir George Whitmorb to the Government have given rise to the reasonable auspicion that his appointment was exactly one of those joba which the Disqualification Act was passed to prevent. We have good reason for saying that thia was not the case, Sir Geo,rge having been appointed on his merits as the beat available person. But the emergency whioh justified his appointment no longer exists. Exceptional cases need exceptional remedies. Bub now there is every reason to believe that an equally good, if not a better, commandant could'be got from the Imperial service. Sir G. Whitmore has served the Colony in a moment oi need, and we would be the laab to propose that he should be superseded by an imperial officer if ha chooats to resign his seat in the Council. <>n the contrary, he has the best possible claims to retain the office of commandant permanently. But that is quite another thing from making a lsw to legalise the breach of a.noihwc law for the special purpose of retaining Sir G. Whitmore as commandant. In itself the cuse ia of little importance, but the priuoiple involved is of the greatest importance. We cannot see where it would be possible to sop. it may fairly be urged that there are many other outposts of the Civil Service" for which a better olaaa of men conld be obtained if their occupants were allowed to have seaia in the Legislature. Unfortunately, there is, always a difficulty in getting Parliament to act upon abstract principles when a practical exception has an air of generosity about it, as this proposal has. Still, we are not without hope that honourable members of both Chambers will, without ingratitude to Sir George Whitmore or detraction from has military efficiency, refuse to commit so grave an error, the consequences of which it is hard to foresee. It is of infinitely greater importance that th-j Disqualification Act should'-not be infringed than that Kir G. Whitmoke should be eiihqr m the Council or commandant, though we acknowledge hi a usefulness to the iStute in both capneitics.

News frnmCebu, iv fbe Philippine lslanda, dfttod v pril 25, ehifces that a typhoon has paused much damage a-b.ore and ..fl jat. Several coasting schooners have been totally wrecked, and othera have been driven ashore and are Bveafly dtunapnd. A great nuinbar ol houses were uu roofed and trees uprooted. Tho suerar, hemp, rioo, tobacco, an<i tnaizo crops suffered cou- £ derably. At Ilf Xfola thetyphoon ragod with great violence, and many people ware rendered homeless,