The Timarn Herald. WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1890.

Timaru Herald, Volume L, Issue 4843, 14 May 1890, Page 2

The Timarn Herald. WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1890.

AYe notice that, the Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Thncs has telegraphed to flint journal some remarks which nppsiu-ed m the Evening Post of Monduy last, relative to the Premier's ill-health and tlie political developments which, according to our Wellington contemporary nvt; likely to ensue therefrom. The Evening' Post says : — " Unless nn unesptictc'l improvement t:il;o8 place m Sir Harry Atkinson's health within tho nest wuk or two, it seeui3 lo be generally uudetstood that be will not attempt to meet Parliament as Premier ; m fact, i. would be mudneas tax him to do so, as he would inevitably break down altogether if exposed for a single week to tho work and worry necessarily incidental to tlio position." Although; writing so far from tho seat of Government we have quite as good opportunities of knowing the state of the Premier's health nnd tho intentions of the Cabinet ns tbe Evening Pod ha?. We .have no hesitation m saying tliat it ia not " generally understood " m Wellington that Sir Harry Atkinson will not attempt to meet Purliament| aB Premier. The statement was a pure invention on tho part of the Evening Post, aud was apparently put forward for tho purpose of making a pet; whereon to bang some p:>litic'il forecasts. It is no secret that for a long time- past. Sir Harry Atkinson's health bas been very far from good.i His holiday, it such it can be called, did not have the effect of thoroughly setting him up agaiu, though, no doubt, there was considerable improvement. The opinions of medical men differ as i to tbo nature of tho complaiut from which be ia suffering, somo regarding it far more aeiioualy than others. But whatever is its true nature, nothing is inorc certain than that it hns not broken down tho patient to such v do gree as to render it necessary for him to resign. Nor will his remaining m office be ; merely for tbe purpose of keeping the Ministry alive. He was much worse Rome time ago than lie is at present. Ho is still capable of real work, and if our information, which is drawn from sources at least as trust- j worthy as those that are open to the Evening Pout, be correct, hia intention is to meet Parliament as usual. Tbo latest statement on the subject which bao reached us from Wellington is to that effect, and we notico that the telegram of tho Otago Duihj Times' Wellington correspondent. gom iv the same direction. Jfe nays : — " Sir Harry Alkiusou though not bo robust an his friends could desire to sec liim, ia believed to be r[ui(o able to meet Parliament and to perform all tbo functions Hint will be required of him m the short and light session which tbo Government hope to i have. Ho will no doubt take his Parliamentary leadership as easily as possible, nnd will bo represented by one or another of his colleagues, except on special occasions, but both he and his collengucs are convinced that ho will be eqnal to nil reasonable calls upon his energies, und no idea of his retirement before tho session bim been entertained for one momrnt. Unless, therefore, tbe Premier's health should become suddenly and unexpectedly worse during the next five weeks, which, I trust, there ore no grounds for apprehending, it is m the last degree unlikely that Sir John Hall's valuable services will be again iv requisition for tho present occasion hb leader of the House. The report, m short, is 11 pure canard." The, reference to/Sir John Hall is m allusion to part of the article iv the Evening Post, That

i journal raised tbe question of who I would succeed to the .Premiership on the retirement of Sir Harry Atkinson. It seems that !the Evening Post put Mr Bryce on ono side, and expressed the opinion thufc Ministers would probably "place themselves under the protection of their faithful old dry nurse, Sir John Hull." Of course there is the possibility that between the present time and the meeting of Parliament, Sir Harry Atkinson's health may become so much worse as to necessitate his retirement, but as yet appearances do not point that way, nnd therefore it is m tbe highest degree improbable that Sir John Hall or any one else has been communicated with m order to ensure the convenient filling up of a vacancy which neither the Premier nor his colleagues believe will occur. The Government have at length come to n decision with regard lo the post of Bngineerin-Chief for the colony. They have appointed Mr Blair at n salary oE £800 a year. It bus been said that they were waiting to see whether it would be necessary to make any appointment at all, as the partial breaking up of the Public Works Department might enable them to do without an Bugineei--in- Chief. Such a statement is laughable nonßonse to anyone who is aware of all the wire-pulling which has been goiug on m regard to this office for many months past. It has always been the lnt^jon to appo ; nt an Engineer-m-Chief, and there \*~ t \ —^^ <•„. ...... ..„ co, and will be for many a long year to cr>nie. The real reason of the delay was disagreement amongst Ministers as to tbe officer to whom the appointment should be given. Otago influence was on one side, and we think that we are justified m saying that common-sense and regard to the interests of the colony were on the other. After mouths of arguing, writing, button-holing, and all the rest of it, the Otago influence carried the diiy. The question was actually put to a vote m the Cabinet, and Mr Blair was " elected " by a narrow majority. If the matter had been left, aB it ought to have been left, to the decision of tbe head of the Public Works Department, tho nppointmeut would, we feel sure, have been given to Mr C. Y. O'Connor. His claims wore superior. We have nothing to say against Mr Blair, but it is, we trust, no libel to believe that Mr O'Connor is a far stronger man. He was specially singled out from tbe rest of the profession to set the Public Works Department m order. As Under- Secretary, a post senior to that of Engineer-in-Chief, be did the work entrusted to him m a manner which gave the greatest satisfaction to the Government, and when tbe time came for tbe two offices to be held by one person, he had a right to expect that his claims would bo recoguised. Instead of that he has been turned out of his office of Under- Secretary, which, with the office of Engineer-in Chief, has been given to Mr Blair. But even those who voted against him felt that an injustice had been done to him, and also that it would not be for the benefit of the colony that he should carry his great talents elsewhere. His advice may be wanted at any moment, and so he is to be sent to the We3t Const to take charge of the harbour works nt Westport and Greymouth. He will he very useful there for he knows the vagaries of tho West Coast rivers better than anyone else m the colony knows them. It is said that by aud by he will be' sent Home to fill tbe post of the colony's Consulting-Engineer m London. For the trnth of the story wo cannot vouch, but wo entertain no doubt whatever .that on tho present occasion the Government havo acted unwisely, and have been guilty of a personal injustice towards their most valuable servant m tbo Public Works Department.