The politics of retrenchment: the origin and some aspects of the politics of the Hall Ministry, 1879-82

Abstract

The term "Continuous Ministry" is frequently encountered in books on New Zealand history, yet with the exception of a few individuals like Vogel, Fox, Atkinson and Whitaker, the politicians involved have been almost forgotten. Similarly, the different problems and political objects of the individual ministries covered by the term have tended to become obscured by broad generalisations. It is not the aim of this thesis, to contribute to the debate as to whether the "Continuous Ministry" should be regarded as "liberal" or "conservative" although, in view of what has been written in the past, these terms do inevitably occur from time to time. Nor is it intended to provide a general interpretation of the motive force behind New Zealand politics at the beginning of the 'eighties, but the themes of economic development and, in particular, the competing demands of the different localities provided the political atmosphere in which the Hall Ministry existed, and therefore have had to be taken into account. What this study does set out to do is to examine the political and economic factors which brought into power one particular ministry within the period embraced by the "Continuous Ministry", to discover its main objectives and the way in which it set about achieving these in the light of the prevailing economic conditions and political influences.