Chapter IV.
The Continuous Ministry Again.
Although Sir John Hall had taken the leadership of the House, the policy-maker of the Conservative Party was the hard-working, capable, and practical Colonial Treasurer, Sir Harry Atkinson. Sir John Hall’s work was done in his office. He tied himself to his table in the Premier’s room. He worked there day in and day out until he went a long way towards working himself into his grave. He was able to stand the strain upon his strength for only two years and six months. In 1882 he resigned from office, but not from the House. He was succeeded in the Premiership by Sir Frederick Whitaker, who soon gave place to Sir Harry Atkinson, the real leader of the party and the backbone of the Continuous Ministry.
After the harassing session of 1879 had come to an end, Sir Harry, as Colonial Treasurer, bravely faced the deplorable financial position. His path was strewn with difficulties. The clouds had lifted in some directions, but they had settled down in others more heavily than ever. Sir George Grey handed him a deficit of £800,000. In his first year he increased it to nearly £1,000,000. That sum was wiped entirely away by a fresh loan. In 1881 the deficit was very small, and in 1882 he boasted of a surplus of £200,000. In 1883 he had a deficit of £35,000; in 1884, a deficit of £150,000. He had to add to his deficits a shaky credit on the London money market, low prices for produce, and discontent throughout the country.
The causes that led up to the position are found earlier in the colony’s history than the years of the Hall-Whitaker-Atkinson Administration. The financial troubles of those days were mainly the direct result of a great Public Works Policy inaugurated by Sir Julius Vogel in 1870 and put into operation
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