The Patea Mail. Published Wednesdays and Saturdays WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1876.

Patea Mail, Volume I, Issue 86, 9 February 1876, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Published Wednesdays and Saturdays WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1876.

Am, doubts ns to the return of >Si j* .Julius Vogel arn now set at rest, and his colle.'urues in tin* Ministry niv no dnubl happier men at having the niil ni so potent an ally to do batik with them in th > forthcoming warm tinmin Parliament. Though lie lias not actually arrive.! in New Zealand, In' lias readied Australia, and is finishing his grand tour in New ,‘south Wales, tin 1 Frisco service being the ostensible excuse for tin' divergence. Then 1 is certainly a fatality about this service, 'which never lias, and apparently never will be a success, and which cannot deliver its mails more than two or three times consecutively without meeting with some mishap or other. Sometimes limy have been snowed up, on one occasion the railway ear look fire and a number of lugs were burnt, the Schiller went down with another instalment, misfortunes of all kinds have happened them, and yet the service is persisted in. Anyhow it has .afforded Sir dulins an excuse for freguent jonrneyings, the last ot them being the latest break-down. Heaving the subject however for the present; we fancy on his return to New Zealand, that it will tax all his energy and ability to get the new Parliament , into working order, and to collect togetlier anything like a good working majority in the House. Jhe triangular shooting match, iu which Midshipman F.asv, of happy memory, figured was probably a very near approach to the position of ’parties when Parliament meets. There are first the Abolitionists, pure ami simple, who will of course range themselves under the (lovernment dag; there are the nitre. Provineialists, of whom Sir G. Grey, Swanson, Maeandrew and Others are the duels, and then comes a hvhrid crew, who go in for Insular separation, with two large provinces, preserving the faults of the existing svstem without a single redei ming point. The parlies are clearly defined already, and what the result will ho remains to lie seen. "Whether it will be within the power of the Vogel enchantment to harmonise their extremely incongruous.elements, has yet to he seen, but if some such spell cannot 1)0 worked, wo fear the term of ministerial office will he hut brief, and the present Parliament will probably ho the shortest since constitutional Government was inaugurated. One of the duel points of difference, between the probable Government policy and their opponents, will he the disposal of the land fund, and on this Canterbury and Otago will fight desperately. The Government, as far as provinces go, have pledged themselves to conserve the lands to the respective provinces, hut if a majority can be got together on the other side, it is by no moans improbable that the lands of the Crown will be regarded as the lands of the colony, without reference to the provinces in which they arc situated. Should such he, a number of hard names will be bandied about, and a determined set will be made on the Government. Regarded from any point of view, the next session promises to be the most eventful one that has ever been held in New Zealand, and one fraught, with the greatest results. No matter how liberal the Government proposals may he, in extending local self-government, they arc not likely to meet with favour at the hands of the Opposition, and difficulties and obstacles to smooth legislation seem to bristle in every direction. Possibly Sir Julius mat be able to throw oil on the troubled waters, and his advent at this juncture, is more than ever desirable and welcome. It has been stated on what should bo good authority, that Parliament would bo called together earlier than usual this year, but this is hardly probable, and in the mean time the various parties will have time to solidify and combine. Be it as it may it is quite certain that the coining session of Parliament will be the most exciting that has been held for many years, and that it will result in a dissolution is more than probable.-