THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Cromwell Argus, Volume VII, Issue 316, 1 December 1875, Page 5

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

To the Editor of the Cromwell Ann us. Sir,—As the general election will take place early in the new year, it is time our grievances were being trumped up and made known. Although a Bannockburnite, I must deal with some subjects from a general point of view. The first and most important matter we have to deal with is the proposed constitutional change. flavin v read the whole of the debate on the Abolition question, as reported in Hansard, and all the speeches ma le by the leaders of the Opposition since the prorogation of Parliament, 1 am thoroughly convinced that if the financial credit of the Colony is to be maintained, the Provincial form of government must cease. Some very bold assertions have been made by the Opposition. Sir George Grey harps on one string, the Libert}- of the People,—which he says is to be taken away, an argument that has to my mind been most conclusively shown to be groundless. Mr James Macandrew. a man who is supposed to ram his arguments home with logic and with reason, asserts that the “ laud funis of the

Middle Island, will he removed from the appropriation by the Provincial Councils to the appropriation of the General Assembly, to Hnd its way into the vortex of colonial finance, at the bottom of which, I fear, thero is nothing bub financial embarrassment and disaster." That, in the face of a proposition by the Ministry to tighten the compact of 18f>(>, by localising the Land revenue. Mr Macandrew, apparently hard up for argument, said that it would be a serious loss to the Colony if the management of the police was taken out of_ Provincial hands, and, in the same breath','admitted that in this country live times as many policemen were required in proportion to the population as in Scotland. lie also stated that the Colonial finance was in a rotten state. In other words, he said,- I must confess that I have in a great measure assisted to bring about this corruption, but for the sake of showing others up 1 will expose myself. Sad, very sad ! The oftenest repeated and most absurd argument of the Provineialists is, that the Government want to demolish the present form of Government before making known what they propose to put in its place. It is ridiculously absurd to suppose that the people will be gu led in such a manner. He must be a very uuobserving individual who does not know that when the Bill to abolish the Provinces was introduced, a carefully prepared Local Government Bill was also introduced, and is now before the country as the proposed future form of Government. Having previously shown through the medium of your columns how unjustly the Goldfields have been served by the Provincial Government, it is unnecessary to travel over the same ground. Another important matter tons is the railway extension. No candidate should be supported unless he is prepared to pledge himself to leave no stone unturned to get the railway extended into the interior of the Province. In this especially should the electors who are intending to make a home exert themselves, because the allpowerful runholders will use their influence to prevent the railway being extended, thereby effectually cheeking settlement. With regard to education, one of two courses must be chosen, —either denominational or free, secular, and compulsory. No middle course will ever give satisfaction. The Education Ordinance of Otago, although in many respects admirable, operates most unjustly on a large section of the c immunity. Space forbids my dealing with local matters at present, but with your permission I may do so at a future time.—l am, &c, Progressionist. Bannockburn, Nov. 22, 1875.