MINISTERIAL DANGERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7587, 22 December 1902, Page 3

MINISTERIAL DANGERS.

♦ WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. [I'ROir Our Correspondent.] WELLINGTON, Dec. 22. Uneasy lies the head which carries Ministerial worries. The eternal anarchist has spread his talons even to this wee incon-se-quential colony— so it is thought — and the seats of the mighty may even now be balanced on a petard that may at any moment hoist them into space. This it is to be famous — to inspire the dark-visaged avenger of tjhe people's wrongs with the idea that tfte power that wrought the wrong may be used destructively. The avenger is at hand, his prey is marked, and who shall say that his opportunity will not come even at the present hour. Did he not heave half a- brick through the window of a railway carriage in which Mr Sed'don travelled in the south. What was that but the forerunner of that hail of vengeance which <before now 'has made Royalty quail and statesmen tremble. And x now listen while I tell you of a fearsome, thing that might have been. A knave of evil appearance asked an audience of a most popular and genial Minister of the Crown, pleading that he required 1 employment. Th& courteous and ddplomatic secretary to whom he applied told him it was impossible to see the Minister owing to the fact that that august personage was at the moment practising the " Sandow exercise " for the reduction of his girth. "Then," said the evil-looking one, "there will be trouble in the air if I don't see him to-night." The Minister was made acquainted' with the circumstances, and having business of an important nature that evening he, before starting on his journey, opened, a cabinet wherein was a goodly array of walking sticks of all sizes and descriptions. Selecting a substantial one, he announced his readiness to sally through the long da*rk Avenue leading from his residence to the King's highway. Accompanied by a pressman companion, 'he walked "to the Government Buildings without molestation. Here the pair parted. Immediately on quitting the Minister the pressman was accosted by an individual with a " Bill Sykes " look of expression, who inquired if the Minister was about the buildings. " Don't know," said" the reporter, adding significantly, " You had better clear out as soon as possible, a posse of detectives are on watch for suspicious characters." Without more ado the stranger disappeared round the corner as fast as ihe could lay boot to the ground. . The incident 'has left a vague feeling of mist-rust in the capital city, and no man is sure when he retires to rest- that he will not rise on the morrow to find the present Ministry withi a dagger in its lung.