THE CABINET.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1357, 12 March 1881, Page 3

THE CABINET.

TO THE EDITOB. Sin. — The Ministry of the day Beemstobe fast degenerating into abreds and patob.es ; a collection of waifs and strays gathered together from bye-paths and, hedges by a sort of rule of thumb, regardless altogether of any question of , the eternal fitneas in the order of thinf s. To describe them after the manner of scriptural, enigma, and say they are like old wine in, new bottles, or new oloth in old garments, would convey but a dim reflection of the hetrogenioua mass out of .which they, are' being compounded. In its original state it certainly did contain elements of cohesion if not avowed, at all events, implied I make that reservation for, the express pur : pose of meeting the case of the Ministerfor Public as it , is well-known that although his political principles wore never well defined, they were n,ever-the-less sufficiently 'pliant \to eiol^de % bare possibility of the u "demon *6f discord entering the Cabinet through him Altog^ther^ifc^^ASstttned >Mr,BaJlv&ftd sucoeeded in -making a judicious selection, and while no" very brilliant" achievements were looked for, or indeed, "were, tinder the circumstances,*^ 'poijsible^ ' Governmental machinery, as'wa^expected, wQrl^ed witU- f r oafcriteubn-J^ A-More feoin|^ '.'iranlacf: tiorifl^dVi* o^ teem^to* have eaeiiopiidirefed J upoJs'^fcte/W&e., '^"uderiibxaj ,;^rlnoJpl^i Krafc #ere^ yras'<thß jntrdduotiWof #1

" ihjfhe had none, Mid hislaculty for'deb&t© was pretty much on ft- par. Added to these "negative rirtues," he wao known and acknowledged to be a man of stronglypronounced religions convictions— -th« "Bible mv school" being one of their political outcomes. In view of «U these questionable recommendations, the real friends of the Government marvelled not a little at this selection. They soiaced themselves, however, with the reflection j that as Mr Dick was only one ia the aecularistic camp, his voice, even if he ■ thought fit to raise it, would amount to : little more than the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and that, like the flower born to bloom unseen, iti sweetncsß would be spent on desert air. Down to the present time, Mr Dick has maintained ■ silence on the subject, still it is significant that a portion of his constituency ha§ been taken by " heart of grace," and, like good people of- that etamp, have been lifting up their testimony on behalf of the | Bible in sohools. Thanks, however, to the good sense of the constituency as a whole, these efforts have been of no avail. The very latest addition to the Cabinet, as your readers have been advised, is that of Mr j Walter Johnston, member for Manawatu. Mr Johnston is another highly-pronounced ! creed religionist, although of a type diffe- . | rent from that of his colleague, the Colonial Secretary. His speciality is Roman j Catholicism, and in that branch of Gospel teaching he is understood to have attained considerable pre-eminence ; indeed, he ia a recognised mouthpiece cf the order, and some of his more recent expressions go to prove that he ia at the beck and call of the presthood, even to the verge of good taste and decorum. It is not much more than twelve months since an innocent observance took place in the city of Wellington— the laying of a Supreme Court foundation stone performed with Masonic solemnities. The mother church took umbrage at this proceeding,andincitedthereuntobypriestly interference, Mr Johnston made a bold but ludicrous protest in the Assembly. The affair is hardly worth mentioning, only it goes to prove the extent to which he is the avowed exponent] of Koman Catholic feeling and opinion. With such facts before us there is no room to doubt that in Mr Johnston the Cabinet has secured another denominationalist of the more advanced school — one who in persuance of the claims of his church insists that a portion of the education vote should be allowed for the establishment of schools, and the up-bringing of children ia tke tenets particular to tke Church. I repeat, there can be no donbt on thin point. Although not an orator, Mr Johnston's decision after service since 1871, when he delivered his maiden address on the subject, has again and again reiterated the sentiments until in fact he has now come to be recognised as ita foster-brother. It is quite true telegraphic advices state that hia views on the subject have been greatly modified. This sounds very much like a sort of death-bed repentance, and I look upon that method of redemption aa being at best equivocal. Indeed, if anything were needed to show that Mr Johnston should not have been trusted as a Cabinet Minister, it is the fact that he can waive his convictions thus readily, and make them subservient to his progress in the order of political preferments. In short this selection may be regarded aa bad, and one which is calculated to weaken public confidence in the Ministry as reconstituted. — I am, &c, Elector. Cambridge, March 11, 1881.