THE ENSUING PARLIAMENTARY SESSION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 1479, 18 June 1879, Page 8

THE ENSUING PARLIAMENTARY SESSION.

[From the Timaeu Hebald, June 5.] pAKiiAMENT has been called together for the eleventh of July, but, though that date is now only five weeks distant, tbe country is still m ignorance as to tbe measures which are to be proposed, or the complexion of the policy ■which is to be brought forward. Rumors, of course, are rife as usual, and some of tbe Ministerial journals have long siuce promulgated programmes, sufficiently sensational to •wreck the strongest Government that ever existed. These, however, are known for certain to be mere moonshine, and hay* only been published, if at the instance of the Government, as feelers, or, if not, m order to maintain tbe reputation of the journals m question for inventive genius. The JNew Zealand Herald, an important and closely observant paper, says truly that the Ministry have kept theii- counsel well, and attributes that circumstance, no doubt equally truly, to the fact that they themselves know as little as anybody, what [they are going to do. We do not see, indeed, how they can possibly have come to any definite -understanding even as to the broad outlines of the policy for the coming session. One of tbeir great grievances, when they were m opposition, against the late Government, was that the Ministers wandered about the colony instead of attending to business at Wellington. Tet they themselves have done little else, during the present recess, but wander about the colony; and they have only once, if we mistake not, been all at one time m Wellington, when they were principally occupied m squabbling about what each had done m tbe absence of the others. Although they have only a few days left before the meeting of Parliament, they . are still scattered abroad, and if they do meet at all m the interval, it can only be for a short time and m a very hurried manner. How they are ever to get their plans arranged and their Bills prepared, therefore, we confess we do not understand. The Attorney- General, certainly, has a power of work m him, and one or two of the others are very quick and ready when a strain is put on them ; but something more than "slogging" by individual Ministers is required, if the business of the country is to he brought before the Legislature m such amannerthatitcanbe dealt with satisfactorily and expeditiously. The chief subjects of public concern need to be carefully and calmly considered by th c Cabinet as a whole, and the mind of the Ministry needs to be

made up clearly and definitely on every leading measure which tbey intend to introduce. The neglect of mature counsel of this kind, results m the business of Parliament being confused, spasmodic and wasteful, and absolutely prevents a good understanding being maintained between the Ministry and the House. The last session showed tbis very plainly. The Government measures were so hastily thrown together tbat they took Ministers themselves by surprise, and even the salient principles of some of tbem had to be either altered or abandoned while tbey were under discussion. The Ministers had, m fact, never come to any agreement about them, and the highly demoralising spectacle was presented to the House, of a divided Cabinet, some members of wbich either feebly supported or secretly opposed, the measures proposed by the others. The financial policy, for instance, was lopped of one of its integral parts, mainly through the intrigues of the Premier and thc Native Minister, to the disgust of the Treasurer and the Attorney- General ; while the Electoral Bill was withdrawn, owing to tbe At-torney-General having inserted a clause m it wbich some of his colleagues had never seen, and would not consent to on any terms. For a similar reason tbe Licensing Bill was never brought forward, though "printed and read a second time, and various other measures were m tbe same position. The consequence was that tbe session was to a great extent barren, and tbe little real work tbat was done, was very badly done. This year, Ministers have bad even less opportunity than tbey had last year, for considting together about tbe work of the session ; and there is every prospect of their meeting Parliament m a state of total unpreparedness. Yet there never was a time m the history of the colony, wben the public affairs more imperatively demanded tbe minute attention and cordial unison of tbose to whom their management is entrusted. Finance, Public Works, Education, Native Affairs, Immigration, Representation, the Licensing Laws, Local Government, Public Charity — all these subjects and many more are m a critical position, and demand to be dealt with m a capable and clear-sighted manner. Tbe policy which bas been m course of development for the last ten years is now for the first time subjected to a severe ordeal, and its unfavorable features are beginning to display themselves to a very serious extent. A profound commercial depression prevails from one end of tbe colony to tbe otber, and is unmistakably intensified by tbe operation of measures which at other times would not have had any appreciable effect. The stability of the chief industries of the country is being put to a severe test, and a variety of problems m political economy, which have never bitherto obtruded themselves at all urgently here, are now importunate of solution. In a word, tbe colony is face to face -with a crisis ; and it behoves its rulers, if they have its interests at heart, to meet that crisis with boldness, firmness, and, above all, unanimity of purpose and design.