The Poetry Bay Herald AND East' Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1879.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 817, 24 June 1879, Page 2

The Poetry Bay Herald AND East' Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1879.

Thu' Herald lias a weakness, which its editor has. not up to the present time been able to overcome. This is to j)lft<?e ttie,t\vp sides of a question before its reader?, and so allow their intelligence to form an unbiassed opinion for themselves. '• "We have written", what has been said against the "present Ministry. It is then only fair and right that we should give .that which, jnay be urged m their favoiv^^iid tlius speaks one of the Ministerial ..organs, -the Tuapeka Times : — Tho : Ministry have been nearly two years m office, and the obvious consequence must be that man/ of their origtuaL supporters are inoue px'. less. disappointed', some^t the' non-fulfilment of political hopes, others of personal expectations. This is the fate of-, all Govern tnetiils, sooner or later, to meet the fate of Actecen and be devoured by their own dogs. The '•"carpet bagger :> element is very strong. Numerically, and it is the characteristic of this class of repreKeiitative if :j|nstipcessful with the [tarty they support .m getting their owji parEiciilai* axes ground, to fat incontinently and .try their luck with, the other side. Some recent pre.sossional speakers indicate that this natural process is going on, and may possibly result m Ministers finding themselves m a minority. The Opposition will further, there is little doubi. be jnateiially aided by the present position of Native affairs, which, although m no w^y; attributable to any. action of '".the Government, wi] 1 not' only "be, .so. imputed, tby their political enemies, bufc_will shake the faith of many, most .unjustly, according to our n*unil?Te judgment) intfie aduuiiistratidriuiicW whicli'a state of things so serious _ has., come about. Taking it all m alitheye are, evidently, stormy times ahead for the Ministerial craft, which it will require no inconsiderable skill and sagacity to safely weather. Although not made public under absolute axithbrity it is no secret that the policy to be proposed is of a most thoroughgoing character, and -Ministers will do well to rely upon thw exposition of their liberal principles, which will stand them m good stead with the country, without attempting by concessions and modifications to conciliate any factions m ther** House. " They • must make a bdld ? , : stdnd • / from the very outset, saying— "This is our policy — on this we will stand or fall," and decline altogether to accept battle upon any other issue. If a personal issue, ; such as a direct motion of waiifc of confidence, is jittcmpted, this should be met by an amendment which will rase the question of liberal reform or red-tape stagnation. At • this period of the duration of Parliament, a dissolution can hardly, be refused to Sir George Grey if' he should be forced to that alternative or resignation, find m the event of J a dissolution, the country will, we feel confident, give no uncertain voice. The establishment m officcbf the Canterbury clique — for that is' what a change of Ministry just now would eventuate in— would be a deadly blow to the progress and prosperity, of the Colony. We should have Mr. Stevens with his emperical ideUs, his horror of public indebtedness ; Mr. RoLEESToy, timed and hesitating m e'vety thing, afraid to lift a foot or ptit it down, and with regard to Native affairs a very old

woman, as m truth he proved himself when once before m administration. Public works would, of course, fall into the feeble hands of Hon. E. Richardson —an excellent gentleman, but a mere puppet, as lie proved himself m the hands of his engineers and departmental officers. That" fascinating young politician, Mr. Edward Wakefield, would possibly have a portfolio. He is smart, S there is no manner of doubt, and •' smart" is just the word which applies m its very fullest Yankee signifiance.. We do not fancy the Colony would much appreciate such, a Cabinet, even with the addition of Major Atkinson, Dr. Pollen and that the cream of insignificance, Mr. Curtis, of Nelson. However, " sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," and we will hope no such calamity is m store for New Zealand. The main points of the policy agreed upon by the Cabinet, and the necessary measures to give effect to which are m course of preparation, are the raising a new loan sufficient to complete the railway system, as indicated by Mr. Macandrew last session, m his Public Works Statement. There is some reason to hope that the loan may be guaranteed by the Imperial Government — Lord Beaconsfield showing a great inclination to assist the colonies m a more practical manner than has hitherto been done by the mother country. The Land Tax is to be increased, probably to one penny, and a property and income tax imposed, on a very moderate scale m both instances. Considerable reductions will be proposed m the Customs tariff, principally affecting articles of necessary and ordinary use and consumption. The new Electoral Bill will extend the franchise to the utmost limit consistent with proper registration and identification, and the. Maori franchise is to be separately dealt with, and is intended to be treated as an open question. Finally, the representation wiil be sought to be . re-ad-justed, somewhat m proportion to population. This will be a very difficult nut to crack, as such re-adjust-ment is invariably found to be ; but Ministers should be firm, embody the arrangements they consider most desirable m the Bill, and insist on passing it without alteration or amendments, otherwise the result may turn out to be more unsatisfactory than the present state of things. We wish Sir George and his colleagues well through their troubles, for we believe they deserve well of the Colony.

The settlers m the locality of where Mr Livingston's land was ploughed appear as if they did not intend to be played with any longer ; for yesterday four f Maoriea were made captive, and heLi 1 as hostages against any outrage whioflT might be committed on the Europeans. As the settlers at Hawera did not ap-. prove of what had been done, the pri-* soners were subsequently released. The Government will use every effort to prevent bloodshed if it be m their power ; but failing this a flying contingent consisting of 300 selected men from the Armed Constabulaiiy, and led by well-known well-tried officers, will protect the attack and destroy the settle*. meats at Parihaka, the hotled of the disaffected.