POLITICAL GOSSIP.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1440, 5 September 1884, Page 2

POLITICAL GOSSIP.

. * i . ' •• (from our own cokrespondent). Mr Stout has once more got the ball at his feet, and assuming that he i 3 still "sound on the Goose," it is probable he will on the coming occasion meet the House with a fair majority at his back. Many of the Otago, as also not a few of the Canterbury members by opposing the former Stout- Vo ; .'el combination have given their opponents in their respective constituencies a pretex for kicking up a dust— an opportunity which, by the way, has been taken liberal advantage of, but it is more than probable that when the whole facts are known the action of the members in question will be regarded in quite a different light. With regard to the combination in question, it was known before even that Ministry was sworn in that the

Government could not command the : confidence of the House. It, was felt l>y-;.,a1! that tin- union of Stout witli Yogel in vol vi:d s,uoit^^acfl'i^< i .a''o| > pj|.;iii^ is ciplc on both sich'Kas tt) forfeit vespe.bfj. |Tl^B|Only bom I \\\lich brought them was thp cpmuxon $esire flof £|p&. A lai'ge 'po)tioii of Jche G^r^y :party, with whom Scout had formerly actp.cl wore disgusted at what they deemed a slight passed upon their 'chtPft a riartJeo^S'vSir o H~fcli<? "fmrtrof We of their members. The North Island •'liadn 5 were dissatisb' ed al most to a man ■ with the composition of the Cabinet, •whiles-many of the Sooth Island- mem" beis who were pledged to Yogel decinred that they had not come to the House to support the Grey party without Grey, and that if Yogel was foolish enough _ to ally himself with t^itlfaciioTi, su4h a political J^pily^ was oiify £o t>e explained by the supposition that failing health had clouded his fine intellect, and rendered him unfit to be a leader. There was, however, a suspension of "judgment pending the announcement of. the Ministerial policy by th« Governor. When this was made all hesitation vanished. Those members who were unpledged wentinto open Opposition, while, many of tlie.se who were pledged to \ogel expressed unequivocally their hope that the combination would be overthrown. The Speech delivered by His Excellency was looked upon as weak, and, at the same Lime an insult to the sense |of the ilonse. Its openly co.nflio.tujg.. j clauses weie read as t!io natural outeone of opposing principles in the Cabinet, nullifying each other. The West Const, mmnbe.rs hold a meeting on the morning of the debace, and came to tho conclusion that the Government could not stand, and that therefore, it was useless to incur the hostility of the; Hmi.se •tgpan^iloek: vote in favor Oc the;'" Ministry.' "'They agreed not to discuss the Government policy, as under the circumstances, sucb/discussiou would be time, wasted. It is hardly necessary now to enter upon a criticism of the Governor's , ppcech, but one itenvmay ha mentioned : as aWuipleibf ike. whole. The Spend) referred to Lhe construction of the Otago Central railway; the line between Kapier and Pahne'Stou North; the line from Nelsoulo Eouudell, and a continuation ' of the same 10 meet the line from the • East tbitilie West Coast . Tlift other 1 hie mentioned was that from Auckland to Wellington. All these lines, according to the Speech, were to be constructed by the Colony, and the cost together would euceed six millions of money at least. And all this in view of the fact that when the I last three million lonn w:is raised a pledge (indirect, ib is tvne) was given liy Colouv th.it no more loans he floated till 156(3. Now,'ofthe three millions last raised only* some £800,000 remains unexpended, and yet in the^face of these hard and inexorable faces all these fine promises were thrown out ? In stating just now that the speech promised that all the lines of railway mentioned would be uiid'M-Gaken by the Colony, I should havb made one notable exception in the case of the. East and West Coast railway. The Colony was to construct | the Otago Central and the whole of ! the other lines, but al: the Government committed itself to in the speech was to endeavor to have the East and West Coast railway constructed by private enterprise. Why this exception if the Government were sincere at all in tho matter 1 ? The thing was plain enough. With an ascendancy of Otago interest in the Cabinet and j Macandrew placated regarding the. I Otaso Central line, the reference to the East and West Coast railway was merely thrown in as a bait for the West" Coast votes. It was a hollow pretence which was seen through at once, and incurred the instant hostility of all true friends of the East and" West Coastline. Moreover, the device had not even the merit- of being ingenious, for if the House had <?n---j clorseil tho Speech it would have I lvnctic'lly decided that the En.pt- and ' West, Coast line was the only railway !in Now Zealand which the Colony i should not, bo nloflofpd to. and had such ! a vrvdiot gone forth to the world there. | would hnve bwn im chance whatever oF private, enterprise taking it up? The fact was the whole of the proposals were too palpably made to cntch votes only, and being utterly roy)ugim.nt to common sense wero rejected by those; whom thpv were designed to entrap. If any additional instance was needed to show the want of honn fides on the part of that Government in its intended dealings wi h the East and West Csast railway it is furnisher! in the fact that the lires which the Government proposed to complete at the exppnse of the Colony were substantially the lines authorised by the New Zealand Loan Act of 1882. with one notable exception there authorised, namely. £100, 000 for the extension towards Keeftoni of the Grey — Keefton railway. Concerning this item the Speech was strangely silent — did not even refer to it inferentially. Ik was impossible that such an omission could have arisen from inadvertence, and there wns much to prove that it was the result of studied intention