WANT OF CONFIDENCE DEBATE.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 50, 24 August 1872, Page 2

WANT OF CONFIDENCE DEBATE.

! The Hon. Mr. Staffed, pursuant to notice, ! | moved the Want of Confidence motion in the ! j terms alrea:ly published in this journal, lie I ■ said that he felt fully the responsibility which 1 ; reste 1 upon him in nnving a resolution j i directed against tlie policy of the Government ! | and of which the legislation hao sanetione'l j ; and the country approve t. If the fiilure had j j been an ordinary one, the matter would have j i been loss serious ; but in the present circum- j J stances failure meiut disaster, and grave dis- ! aster was impending if by bad administration i : tlio scheme disappointed the hopes ot the | country. More depended upon adminisf raj tion now than ever befjro. Tin legislature | and country had superseded the Provincial I Governments in colonising operations, and it j was, thereto re, the duty of the Government | to use every exertion to make the adininistraj tion successful. The scheme owed its origin i to the inventive genius of a member of the Ministry, who, though possessing groat honesty of purpose and zeal, lacked stcn. linens of action and prudent foresight and caleuj lation legarding the details, which in carry- ! ing out such a scheme, this colony had a right to expect. Mr. Vogel's career was a long list of failures. First came the hastily entered into San Francisco Mail Scrvice. Then four other contracts within a year, ending in the i 0:10 least certain in operation, and least ! within the means of the colony than ! the other three. ]5y hastily making j | these contracts he had destroyed pending [ i negoeiations by a in England for ; an English company, able to maintain an i efficient service and, unlike a foreign com- ' ! pany, have the interests of the colony at heart. IHeha I disd lined to be bound by the moue- ! ! tary limits of Parliament, and had shown I that it was not safe to trust him with any 1

I sum for any purpose with an assurance that : it would not be exceed.* 1 . ]>.±fo:-e the r lilway lines had been determine!, or any surveys ' made, he imported a contractor ; Mr Brog--1 den cime believing- that reliable surveys and ; data were prepared to, with little delay, form i an estimate of the cost of contemplated The Government, in place of coni suiting as to the best means to adopt to remedy the deficienc}* and doing , what sane men would, went flying aw-iy from the so it ! of government —Mr Vogel to Australia, Mr j Fox to the West Coast, and Mr McLean to j Auckland, he however exempted the latter : from censure in that case, as duty often re- \ quired a Native Minister's absence. Tiiere I was one Minister of Public Works known to i law, and one not known to law and without I leiaral functions, but both of them seemed i determined to keep anywhere but at the place i where engineers and all data were located. j Ministers had got the machinery of adminisi tration in. such a mess that prompt astion in ■ any matter was impossible however neces- ' sary. The Premier had done the colony g-ood ; service i.i the past, but it was a lamentable i fact t' afc he w s now bat a mem >ry of the past. ! Mr Gisborne was an excellent man to man- ! age departmental affui.-s if left to that work. ; Mr Vogel lacked steadiness of purpose an I ; power in plodding ovtr details. He was a ; most able man, but required an amount of '■ ballast. which he had failed to find in his 1 present Mr Ormond, howevergreat his administrative capacity might be, , ! could not possibly have done his dnty satis- | factorily while refusing to remain at the seat ! of government. Mr liking for sen- , sation, large figures, and millions, had mar- j : red his pul L'c usefulness. The Government, having failed by foresight to provide for the difficulty, had in a most suicidal manner ignored accumulated information—-survey ; staSfc and surveys existing in the provinces— j 1 and instead of availing themselves thereof J had hopelessly endeavoured to build up a rival organisation. This, while Mr Brogden was daily pressing for information which could i hare beea supplied by. the provincial officesImmigration t<lo had been grossly misman- < aged. Gout adijtory insirnctioru liad been ' sent to the Agent Geueral by Ministers all ' over the colony. The character of irnmigea- , tion was noc s itisfacto ry. With respect top

; the employment oc Provincial institutions in ! working tho public works policy, ho meant ■ the whole machinery of Provincialism, such .a* engineers, surveyors, maps, rceor4-. ■ He would not discuss tho Budget Ihk would simply say that it showed the o'il system of drifting into dobt simply to e irry on a normal administration of affairs. Tho Government took office with a flouting debt of A'J7l>,ooo which was now increased to £(• 10,000, being an increase of .4:103,4:) l« a year during their administration for tho . or.lina-y expenses of civil service- Ho regarded the present position of tlie oolotiy as a : very grave one, and he shrank from tho responsibility of taking part m the future administration of its affairs. Ho would not do so had it not been that he was'not only asked but pressed on all sides to do so, anil. . had felt it his duty either to comply or resign | his seat, lie had n profound conviction that i a great crisis had arrived, and if they would" not sec industries paralysed and the public iciv-lit enditigcre.l— if they wotdd do their | duty as the representatives of tho people - | they must damand a sweeping and searching J reform, such as it was-hopeless to expwet from j the present Government. , O.i Th.ursl.iy night Mr. Fox spoke in re- : ply t) Mr. Stafford. He complained of the vagueness of the in- | diet nent preferred by .Staff >rd. There was I nothing precise in it to answer. ft w.is | emoty declamation, devoid of truth. Stafford, | in saying that the Provinces hid been suporj sede!, ontire'y mistook the character of tho ; Public Works policy. The Provinces worn. >"tMI cirryiug on public works of a certain kind, such as roads and bridges, as they had always done, and would continue to do. ThoGovernment policy was initiated for the purpose of constructing a totally different chis-i ofpublic works. Staff >rd complained of Vogel's brilliant imagination, but want of pin dent foresight. Stafford had neither humidf. What had he ever done to show the former ? as to the latter, the Governor's speech in IHC7 hid stated that the colony was enjopno* profound peace, and that there was no probability that she would ever again havo war, but in a, few months wars were raging on the E,e-t, and West Coasts, while the Government were unprepared an I without resources. Was thus prudent foresight? He denied that the Sin Franc is jo mail service was either an expensive or incflL'ient one. The House had ratified all Vogei had done in the matter last session. He should always remember with pridebeing a member of th-j Government \yhicb bad established direct communication with America, from which untold advantages wero sure to accrue. Vog -l's negotiations with Mrogdeu had b?c\\ ratified last session* and. were emb )diod in the terms of the resolution then passed. What was substantially No. 3 contract had been entered on, and all contracts were let under it. He denied that the administration of the emu try had in anyway suffered from the absence of Ministers. In I Sol), Stafford, while Premier and Colonial Secretary, went home for two years, fu 18G5, Ministers had been constantly scittered abroad, yet, now Stafford, wanted-

to turn the Ministry out, f.>r doing what ho and his colleagues had done themselves for years, lie admitted that the conduct of (ho. Government in immigration matters was not beyond criticism, but the subject was one of great magnitude and didijully, regulated often by beyond the control of any Government. Wdutever shortcomings were apparent, Ministers had done everything possible to effect a remedy Regarding the increase of the floating debt, Government in 1800, when they took office,, obtained authority for £300,000 Treasury Bills to pay off the liabilities of their pre-de-cessors. rfince that, only £00,000 moi\3 Treasury bills hid be3n issue!. Last session. £100,000 Deficiency bills wore authorised: Of these £SO(J0 were already paid off, while tl)3 present estimate; provided for the pay- | uient of £40,000. Staffed had carefully avoided reference to native afriirs. The reason was evident, but he was authorised to state that if tie Ministry should go out the--Native Minister would do so likewise, and would not, as rumoured, join a new Govern, merit. DiJ he still wish to conquer a peace, or had he any explanation of his Timaru speech about over-riding the existing J find laws? The present Government had established peaca, inspired confidence in.the nativa mind, initiated a large policy of colonisation, and the House would* require a great.O;* justification than was to be found in Stafford's, speech before it would turn them out.