The Clutha Leader. THURSDAY, JAN. 27th, 1876.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 81, 27 January 1876, Page 5

The Clutha Leader. THURSDAY, JAN. 27th, 1876.

Mr Stafford recently addressed a meeting" of his constituents at Timaru an^l had a most, enthusiastic reception" It is well known that he has for a considerable period been a strong; opponent of the Provincial system of Government, and that to him we owe the creation of several counties. In his Timaru speech he was hard upon some of the provinces because they are in a state of bankruptcy. But why is it they are so ? Because their revenues have been absorbed by the General Government to assist to defray the immense expense the country has been put to in order to carry out the Works and Immigration Scheme — the expenditure of cash for the doing of great arterial works has absorbed the money formerly devoted to local works of importance. What are Provincial Governments ? They are only a sort of agents whose duty it is to see to the doing of local works — that is works which are primarily of importance rather to certain districts than to the whole colony. If Mr Stafford had been able to prove that Provincial Governments had performed their duties of agents badly, and instead of beneficially applying the funds at their disposal had wasted such funds, he would have adduced a strong argument for the abolition of such Provincial Governments •. but merely to abolish these Governments because it is found impossible to provide them with funds to administer is simply equivalent to admitting that there exists a difficulty, or impossibility of providing cash for such local works out of the general revenues of the colony. Admitting that most of the works hitherto done by Provincial Governments have been necessary works, there will exist the same difficulty of providing cash for such works whether the same are done by Provincial Governments, as agents, or by the General Government as principal. The works hitherto executed by the Provincial Government of Otago and the Governments oi several of the, other provinces have been of a most beneficial sort, and almost every penny which these Government have been able to get hold of have been usefully applied. The abolition of the provinces is tantamount to a declaration on the part of the General Government that there are not funds to provide for such local works. After abolition the General Government will have power to neglect such works or not ; while during the existence of Provincial Governments the necessity for providing funds for the execution of local works was constantly being urged upon the attention of the General Government. A partial suspension of local works in Otago may be loc-ked 1 3r as a certain result of abolition. The Abolition of the Provinces is simply a surrender into the hands of the General Government of the entire resources of the colony. Mr Stafford's language as regards the land question is somewhat contra- ' dictory, While expressing himself con- 1 scious of the absolute necessity of settling immigrants in the colony, he proposes to re-let the runs at an assessed rate to the present occupiers, and if they do not accept the terms, would put the runs up to auction. In other words, while professing a desire to see the country settled, he does not seem disposed to loosen to any extent the grasp which the runholders at present have on unsold lands of the colony. He does not condescend to explain according to what principle he would assess the value of such runs ; but it is very unlikely the men who would b 3 appointed by the present Government to value run-holding property, would fix a value too high to admit of its being agreed to by the occupiers. Who knows the value of a run better than a run-holder and gentlemen of this class would not unlikely be appointed to value the runs. The result would be that the lands of the crown would be handed over to the present occupiers with stipulations for fixity of tenure, and much further progress in settlement or colonisation would.be Tendered impossible.