The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1891.

Timaru Herald, Volume LII, Issue 5154, 29 May 1891, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1891.

Two somewhat interesting political rumous are in circulation jiißt now. The first is that when Parliament meets, the Ministry will be confronted with a direct motion of No Confidence — very direct indeed, for tbe words intended to be used are alleged to be : — " That this House is not satisfied with the Ministry as at present constituted." The second, and by a few hours more recent, I rumour is tbat the Government expect tbat tbe Legislative Council will reject their taxation proposals, in which case a dissolution will bo aßk<*d for. Tbe rumour with regard to the motion of Want of Confidence has been referred to by tbe Wellington Evening Press, but wo cannot make out what is our contemporary's opinion as to tbe result of such an attempt to oust tbe Ministry. It is, however, anticipated that the attack will be supported not only by tbe wholo strength of tbe Opposition, but by a section of the party which might be expected to vote with tbe Government. Tho reason given for tbe alleged defection is rather remarkable. Tho Eveninr/ Press says : — "As a matter of fact, tho Government party held no caucus about tbo choice of tho members of the Cabinet ; indeed, tho party, aa a party, was not consulted at all about tbe selection of tbo Ministers. Tho wholo business was decided without the knowledge of tbe majority of the members of the party, and the first intimation tbey got of it was tbe publication of the names of the new Ministry in tho papers. Certain members of tho Government are, wo believe, not at all approved of by a number of tbe nominal followers of the Government, and doubtless the grounds of their disapproval will bo freely expressed wben the no-conlldcnce motion is being debated. Wo may, therefore, expect somo pertinent inquiries into tbo political history o£

[certain members of the Cabinet to be ] made by members of the Radical Party. ] lb is alleged that though Sir Kobert Stout is not in Parliament, and holds no seat in the Ministry, lie cboae the list of Cabinet Ministers, and that the whole affair was arranged between himself, aud Mesßrs Ballance and Buckley — his former colleagues in 1 that Government which introduced as a Ministerial measure the Threats and Molestation Bill — a Bill which was . passed through the Legislative Council ; by the present Attorney-General, and | was taken up in the House of Repre- ' sentatives by Sir Robert Stout, Mr I Ballance, and the other members of the . then Government, and only dropped ; because it was found unpalatable to tbe | large majority of the House, including members of the Atkinson party." But [ to all this it may be replied tbat, . although Mr Ballance baa not the t entire confidence of the whole so-called • Liberal party, they generally recognise the fact that he cannot be dispensed ] with, at all events for the present, and that if he were turned out of office the party might not improbably find themselves in opposition. That is a 1 consideration which will have very great weight with every member of . the party, and will cause tbem to be very chary as to disturbing the existing order of things. And then with regard to the steps which were taken in the formation of the Cabinet. Mr Ballance was certainly the recognised leader of the party, and had been referred to as such in a multitude of instances during the election campaign. No one else was mentioned as having a claim to the position^ and, as a matter of course, he was sent for on the break-up of the Atkinson Ministry. It is quite possible that he consulted Sir Robert Stout aud Mr Buckley as to the personnel of the Cabinet, and there could be no objection to his doing so if he deemed it advisable. It would have been a most unusual thing, if not altogether unprecedented, if Mi- Ballance bad summoned a caucus of the Liberal party to select his colleagues for him. That was his business, and we are not prepared to say that he did not make the most of the materials at bis disposal. It is no - doubt a queer, and iu some respects a highly objectionable Ministry, but could a better be picked from the party ? Tbe story of the Threats and Molestation Bill is an old one, and is not at all ■ likely to influence a single vote should a ' No Confidence motion be tabled and dei bated. On consideration of tbo whole of the facts, it seems to us most pro- : bable tbat the party will stick together, and that the malcontents, of whom no doubt there are some, will run no risks . on such a general issue as the one supposed. If there is any breaking away ; it will be on some definite point of policy arising later in the session. As to the second rumour, the Wellington f correspondent of the Otago Daily Times t says : — "From information, however, I which has reached me, I am inclined entirely to discredit the report. It may suit Ministers to allow this to be supi posed, but it assuredly would not suit either Ministers or their followers to have another general election this year. Indeed, it might not distress Ministers very much if their proposal were to be thus rendered abortive. They would have fulfilled tkeir pledges, and done their best. A dissolution in such circumstances would be a very extreme step, and I say unhesitatingly and ad. advisedly that the Government will not take that step, unless it be absolutely ! forced on them by an irresistible and, - in my opinion, improbable combination of circumstances." For once we believe that the Wellington correspondent will ' prove to be right. Ministers will take tbe hardest of knocks before they allow themselves to be forced to a step which ' would be fraught with danger to their existence. We doubt the carrying out ■ of tbe Ministerial proposals of extreme change in the incidence of taxation, but we expect to see Messrs Ballance aud Company still in power at the termination of tbe session.