THE ABOLITION RESOLUTION.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 9, 3 September 1874, Page 3

THE ABOLITION RESOLUTION.

(Our leader crowded out of last issue.), It is a practice with some parties when relating an anecdote that no sooner have they made a commencement than Some- word or incident recalls numerous other stories to their recollection, wfyich they parenthetically detail with such minuteness that the original anecdote is either altogether lost sight of or only divulged by snatches. Such seems' the ,;..arr.eteristic of the debate which has taken place in the Assembly upon the Forest Bill, and i'c must be admitted that at least one c.'it.c question;, which then cropped up 'was not second in importance to the one under debate. We refer to the matter of the- abolition of tha Northern Provinces, which was introduced by die Premier* and passed in tlie Assembly by a large majority The astonishment with which bor.h members and their constituencies first heard of the proposal was only equalled by the surprise which was occasioned by the support the Premier hc-s secured for this new scheme.

The question of Centralism versus Provincialism lif<s long been a vexed one, and has been the- occasion- of much strife, the lion. Mr. Yogel ranking upon either side as it -best suited his pet ideas for the- time being. It is impossible for any one not to see that the provincial institutions have proved most beneficial to the country, and but for them the work of colonisation would no;;, have been in its present advanced state. No one central Government could ever, during tbe bygone days of the country, have accomplished what has been done by provincial machinery ir. the matter of roads, bridges, public buildings, and public works of every kind. N ow, however, by the establish menu of telegraphs and railways throughout the whole colony, there seems a prospect that the expense incidental to the maintenance of so man y separate Governments may shortly be saved, and that the business of the Colony may be efficiently conducted by one central Government. Such a change, however,. is not one to be rashly brought about. It is necessary, in the first place, to establish, foster, and extend local institutions, to undertake a portion of the work hitherto performed by the Provincial Governments. This might, be accomplished by Municipalities and Road Board*-, and by the extension of tbe area of Road Board districts into Counties, as already provided for by Ordinance. Let this 'be clone fi.\sv,; let the public get acquainted wiih the working of, and acquire confidence in the efficiency of such local bodies, and then will be thetime to abolir-ii Provincialism But to sweep the Provinces out of existence at one fell sovoke afc the bidding of one individual, as if by the wand of- a magician, find without having previously provided and proved the necessary machinery to take ihe-r place, is what every son--ible man must consider ihecountry wo«ild be most unwise in s.-b---mitting to. In considering this svbjcct there are a few points in conneciion with i*r which the public ought not to Jo.se sight of. Tn the fi.;-_ place, it Is evident the scheme did not emanate from the Government, be ! i'.-ovn Mv Voc-el alone. This is proved by Mr. O'Ro^kk's indignant repudiation of all knowledge of the ma':ier when ihe Ppemier introduced tlie resolution, and also by the immediate resignation of his seat on. the Government bencher.. Again, the scheme was unpivmeditated, even upon Mr. Vogei/'s parr. : it w^s merely tluealennd by him abruptly and in the heat of passion on the sth in*.-'., because the Sunei*ia';pndent o." Wellington had strongly opposed the Forest Bill. In making his Financial Statement, too, the Premier astonished the Mouse by the liberality with which he proposed ro contribute to the necessities of the Northern Provinces out of the Colonial Treasury. Even in his explanatory statement, on the 7th, he said the Government: had come. to the conclusion not, to take action in the matter this session, and this because an understanding existed that the session should lie a. short one, and ilso because " there would be a general feeling that it would be a dangerous indulgence for large legislation to be hurried, and withour. due notice," and "he thought such a measure would be more acceptable if it came iVom the country while Parliament was not sitting." Notwithstanding these statements, the next we hear of the mailer is vhe introduction of v the resolution. Again, an extraordinary admission is made by Mr. Yogel. He says that one of the speeches upon the Forest Bill " was of such a nature as to direct the attention of the Government to the whole question of Provincialism in the North Island especially. As a result, t.hov arrived at fisfures which showed, to an ex-lent he never drearaed of, or members eenerally. supposed the. enormous proportion of revenue and mean*' expended on i-his island that was indirectly supplied by the machinery of the Colony, and the Assembly," Seeing that Mr. Vo'*ei< has so long been Premier, Treasurer, and factotum of the Government, it does seem strange that the speech of a member of the House was necessary to acquaint him with the enormous proportionof Colonial revenue expended on the North Island. This state of ignorance is certainly not an argument in favor of entrusting the affairs of the Northern Provinces in his hand. Further, Mr. Vogbl applauds the manner in which the work of the Provincial Governments of Otago and Canterbury has been conducted, .and says that if the people in these Provinces were satisfied with the way their

local- affairs were administered, they couhl see no menaces in . his_ proposals. This, we think, may be regarded gimply as an attempt, to secure the votes of Southern members, for he word t{ especially,'' quoted above, would seem to indicate that the attention of theGovernment had been directed to the question of P.-oyincialisra in the South as well as in the N orth — otherwise, it has no meaning 1 ot all. "He may, how-, ever, have considered it would-be hazardous to attempt to abolish the whole at once. The Phemibr no doubt originally calculated upon the "support of the Southern members in abolishing the Northern Provinces. This done, the inhabitants of. the North Island would feel insulted . and degraded until the South was placed upon the same footing as themselves, and the support of the whole of their members might be relied upon for the accomplishment of this object. By thus setting North against. South, .the hangers-on upon tho Government would no doubt make up a majority. for the Premier, which-.. ever side he might be dealing with. There 'is only-one other point to which we will at present refer, and that is as to the substitute to ba .provided for the Provincial machinery. Mr. Vug-si. says that

when they altered the present system they would; introduce a system of local control, and place it in the hands of the pco-i-le.

This, we conceive, is placing the cart before the hoiv.e. Me says abolish. Provincialism, nndi hen the Government will propose something ov other in its phiua. Every sensible man will, say, shew us, and let us try and see the efficiency of that something, and then do away with the Provinces, but not till then. In connection. with the Public Works and Immigration- policy, the Premier said, in. effect, to the House " the success of the former depends upon the success of the latter, but yea vo.o the money, and I will . bring down such a welldevised scheme of immigrati-m as c.mnot fail." The Hou. c *:e foolishly obeyed, and the well-devified scheme has yet to be propounded. It appears to us that the majority of the members have again fallen into a similar trap. After a carofnl consideration of the whole circumstances of the cas«, we think it is evident the question is one which would only aff..ct the North Island, and in the di*-ca-*. , ion of which the Southern mom her-: might have stood aloof,. prov : .' 7 srl l r c. VoarcL's promises with reference to this Island could be relied ivoon. :sut a review of ilivt, gonrh-mitiii's p-1-.t political c.^raer certainly is : 11-ca!culati»d. t > in->;>:i*:-?. cm-fitlr-nco in lhi>- ?.y)e-3t *-\l though in some Provinces in : 'ie, Novell the abolinoii of Provr:-',' di-m may abstractly bo- fr.Y. .-July entertiv.-e.!, end alvliough in some dwv.ict"? '.ho stop tal:pn by Mr, VJa7.L is reporred Ito havo me 6 with aopviv •!, it .would ! seem that this due'-.! on has v, c.) -is j hasty as tho legislation .'•fo rn\tnr-*d ! public opinion can Lave b' j en h -ought |to bear upon 'di* nue-i.ion, -> n -.1 .i strange ! spec.ae'.o will bo pre.*-x , ii..--d if .ha oahlic |do no:. yf j t demand Lrlit 3 , Hxercue of ilipu* I constitutional rights, ur.l let i-heir voice be heard before <-:ff.:ct is given to the resolution inferred to, The srop iakon by the A *--.•_.-!?) _bly may ho one ; n tiie righ 1". direction, and may pr-.v-. the btt-st for both Islands, but iv partakes too much of the nature of hasty, haphazard, am? arbitrary leg 'station, ft) merit the imn..-dl*.te and unanimous acquiescence of the electors of any free conntvy.