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Wellington Independent, Volume XXIII, Issue 2738, 1 October 1868, Page 2

J?he Ministerial statement delivered on Tuesday will cause very general surprise — not that Ministers should retain office, but that they have announced (the only policy they have yet promulgated) the extraordinary doctrine that, if pressed (their polite language is " bullied"), they are prepared to act in direct opposition to the Legislature of the colony. Tho Premier has done many bad things, and is prepared for other equivocal performances if pressed. We would respectfully invite Mr Stafford to consider who and what he is before he gives efl'ect to such a menace. Ministers have abandoned every proposal they made during the session : they have not been able to carry one. single measure ; they are not able to cany any political measure to which they are pledged ; their plans, local and general, have been abandoned ; they have, in order to retain office, accepted the "round robin" of political red breasts, who notoriously live upon the public treasury. This " abandoned" policy would not be the refuge of an English statesman in the presence of a powerful opposition. Mr Stafford is asked to let the people decide tho issues between him and the Opposition. Audacity does sometimes cover indiscretion. Mr Stafford may find that eminent talents are neutralised by a reckless and unscrupulous self-assertion. We are in the presence of portentous events when even the allegiance of the Government to the true interests of the colony may admit of question.