The Southland Times WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1875.

Southland Times, Issue 2136, 23 June 1875, Page 2

The Southland Times WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1875.

Sir Julius Yogel, K.C.M.Q-., is the title by which we are henceforth to know our foremost statesman. In this colony there is probably not an individual who will dispute the claim of the Premier to such an honor Indeed, the expectation of a still higher distinction which he is credited with having indulged will be regarded as far from unreasonable. In the opinion of Sir George Grey, of Mr Fox, and probably of many others, a knighthood of the order of St. Mi chael and St. George is hardly worthy the ambition of colonial statesmen of the first rank. Recently the Lord Mayor of London had conferred on him an hereditary honor, and the contrast will at once suggest itself between his real merit and that of the mind that is capable of guiding the destinies of New Zealand. There may be a solid objection to such a title being granted in a country where no aristocratic element is recognised, but there can be none to the beatowal of a high order of knighthood. Should the day arrive, which many are attempting to hasten, when the colonies shall become a true and integral pori tion of the Empire, the distinctions that now exist between the standing of Imperial and Colonial statesmen may be expected to disappear. In the meantime we must be satisfied that the great services rendered by Mr Yogel to New Zealand have not missed the reward that custom and etiquette prescribe. It wou'd be hard, on an occasion like the present, to refrain from glancing at the position which the new Knight has achieved. Perhaps it is without example in a country under constitutional rule. Nobody denies that by the mere force of his genius, the statesman who has just been honored has practically wielded for years, a despotic sway over New Zealand. His entrance on the field of higher political life was an accident, and after he had gained this casual foothold, there was nothing to make his advance probable or easy. On the contrary, he had to contend against the strongest prejudice, and, for a time, was most unpopular. Let it not be supposed that in this land of democratic institutions there ie no inner circle to penetrate. Early iv the history of the colony a governing class existed which jealously watched its privileges. The political aristocrats could not, in a day, be induced to throw down the barriers that opposed the progress of this new aspirant. Mr Yogel for long had to endure the cold shoulder of exclusivisin, and ie was amid rebuffs that are well remembered, and probably have a record in Hansard, that he had to push hia way to the front. But it waa a mere question of time ; there was no keeping that strong brain back. One, perhaps more sagacious than his fellows, among the traditional leaders, detected the metal that waa showing itself, and, amid much distrust, the " adventurer" made his way into the Cabinet. Even the praise of Mr Stafford was extorted at last. The jealousy that met Peel and Canning, and that never was thoroughly overcome, has bad its counterpart, so far, on this side of the world, in Mr Vogel's history. But dislike extended beyond the coteries of Auckland. Otago had nursed Mr Yogel into political notoriety, and perhaps Otago was longest jealous of him. .For mauy a day it was iv his own country that the prophet was held least in honor. It was in propounding his great scheme for opening up and peopling New Zealand, by means of railways and immigration, that Mr Yogel first showed how large was his grasp aa a statesman. The new policy took away the breath of the country and the scared members of Assembly pronounced it the vagary of a madman. Nevertheless, a new Parliament, elected on the issue of approving or rejecting the scheme, endorsed it in all its features. During the last five years the credit of the colony has been tested, but not strained, by loans to the extent of ten millions sterling. Among the results will be some 7l>o miles of railway, opening up both islands, and an addition probably oi 50 per cent, to the population. It is notorious that this scheme has won over many to cordial approval who were at first its strong opponents, and we believe it will prove the most conspicuous memorial of the genius of its author. The Premier has shown himself, in other directions, fertile in invention, and his projects are usually on a magnificent scale. Witness his South Sea Scheme, and his Forests Bill ot last seasion. Both measures are open -fcA_nhmQtinn- and hnth have been DOSt-

poned, but they evince a mind full of activity, and far from being exhausted by the ordinary claims of administration. It is all but .certain that we eball owe to Sir Julius Yogel a radical change" in the constitution of the colony. In last session of Parliament his famoua Anti-Provincial Resolutions again took the country by surprise. Had it been that he could have taken the helm during the Session that is imminent, there is little doubt that the present Parliament would have put an end to Provincial Institutions. .Should his Lieutenants fail to accomplish the task he has set them, it will ue only the postponement of tho work for a Session. The country ia with him, and if called upon, will register, its approval of his scheme at the next election. "While the policy of the Premier has been growing in public favor, men have learned'to think more kindly of his personal qualities. He has outlived many scandalous imputations. It is not too much to say that he has become popular as a man. He is able to exercise a rare influence over all who come in contact with him. New Zealand begins to be proud of him asundoubtedly at the head of colonial statesmen. He has made bis mark in England, and is recognised there as the man who virtually holds in his hand the destinies of our country. Fresh schemes continue to be associated with his name, and the latest is that which promises to secure for us unbroken telegraphic communication with the rest of the world. We refuse to credit the reports that reach us that the services of the Premier are soon to be lest to tho colony. It would be perilous to our finance and to the great scheme in course of realisation, if the hand that has been controlling them were at this stage to be withdrawn. True, we should have more than one real statesman left, but the present Premier could have no successor. Jt is pleasanter to believe, according to other rumors, that Sir Julius Yogel is fretting under the illness that detains him in England, and to hope that before next Session closes, his presence and counsel will be restored to the country.