THE Thames Advertiser WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1885.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XVI, Issue 5178, 27 May 1885, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1885.

j. • •■ The time. for : :,,thp, -.reaesemblage -of Parliament is rapidly approaching,! and pre-sesaional speeches are pretty.. frequent; yet very few of the weather-wiso";ih-"the- atmosphere of colonial politics feel abliberty to prophesy \vitli; any degree of confidence as to-what we may expect from the work 1 of .the coming session. Mark Twain narrates how first an author, and next'a clergyman, got hold of a doggrel rhyme, 1 , the burden of which was— : .:, --•, " Punoh/bfoithers, punoh tpunch with care I Punch in the presenoe of the passenjare I" and do as they would the words became so fixed in their minds as to obtrude in spite of reason into the .tragedy'.of j the' literary man, and into the consolation offered to a mourner after attending a funeral by the parson. Something similar appears to have arisen among our politicians. Wβ have a Cabinet made up of heterogeneous elements: the catchwords of (he individual members of the Government' ring in the eai's'of their respective adherents y?itli so much persistence as to exclude attention to.the little bearing that (for; the most part) they have -dri any possible comprehensive general policy;—the prophets' vaticinations, being so evidently the outcome of personal preference ; -for -some'particular " jingle,'! \ that no dependence can be placed ,on, them. It is a decided case of too raifay cooks spoiling theibrofcb.-. Wearied of the distasteful retrenchment of Major; Atkinson and his gloomy Financial. Statements, the colony rushed to'the opposite extreme) put Sir Julius Vogel into power, secured at his instigation the abolition of the, Sinking "Fund,; expected big loans, and at one were going to restore a- plenty ■ founded on the free outlay of public;' money, trusting that under such J a return to abounding prosperity would be secured. These optimists have not all abandoned hope yet: they sing their own "jingle" still, and stick to'it in forgetfiilness that larger demands for money have recently been made (and indeed,expended); for., defence purposes than were thought-p{ at the time when the Government j was formed j in forgetfulness, too, that while it: was eaßyr-oiMaUeasjij cheaplast year,;to:.borrow: in the. London market, the possibilities of war occurring and the expenses already . gone., to,, to preye.ni or. .be prepared for it, render the'question of cost of colonial loans just now very problematical. Their faith;'that: the cplony is destined .to progress by leaps and bounds, if spurred qn ; byi tho Colonial Treasurer is strong, but even in their political ! horizon they can I hardly fail to descry a it be no larger than a.man's, handthat may serve to warn them that there may be a storm, : brooding and that it might possibly.'be alwell ta;drop| the "poetry" of security by moving in the direction of Major Atkinson's "prose" assertion; on Friday, that" prosperity could only be reached . by. the old road, of industry: and hard ' work,". The, subject; of ,in Local Government-, opportunity fdrspeculatioh. The forecasters'"of intended,alterations, here, also, swear; .by their/own particular muse's jingle of 'words, albeitunable to harmonise its sound with thafc'.of any other making' equal noise. The Premier sang of an intention to preserve the County system as only with enlarged powers j this : was started at Dimedin, but somehow became flatter at Nelson, where "retrenchment in expenditure" seemed 1 almost made' to vhymo with or take tho place of the "increased borrowing powers" heard before. Sir Juliuatook up another strain, intimating'the assemblage of representatives from the Borough and County Councils throughout tho Colony, but the atmosphere was found too dense for this to floaty and it dropped out of use. The latest jingle turns on reverting to road-boards, and . each has its believers. Tho Governor, in opening the last session, said that in tho opinion of his advisers a land tax was the desideratum, and the hopes raised by this notion , have remained to many, albeit Vogel falteredj'and , the dream is yet in <■ the dim future.' Federation was. a taking soheme,:and ; enthusiasm over union with.eaoh other 'and the Empire seemed persistent

enough, but our Premier has alroady shown that he at least is at cross purposes with our nearest neighbour over that, Wherever we look for a definite policy we find the most extreme differences, and he who would attempt the task of forming a probable forecast of coming legislation finds himself beset by a really monotonous dissonance. Take Education, for instance: the Premier's views. and those of Mr -Larnacn are incapable of harmony, and the same dispord. besets a host of subjects'. -'Sir' Geo. Grey "enabled"'the present Government to enter office, and now .he has pretty plainly intimated that unless their tunes are changed they will 'have him for an enemy. Fortunately there is considerable truth in the old copy-book heading," Patience is a virtue," for. in .that case the most virtuous may liye to see to what these incongruous cries ■.really tend ; at present they seem to lead no whither.;