OUR REPRESENTATIVE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 753, 22 September 1876, Page 3

OUR REPRESENTATIVE.

(TO THE EDITOR OF THE DUNSTAN TIMES.) Sir,— l notice that the people of Alexandra have held a meeting, at which it was resolved that Mr Pyke should be asked to resign in consequence of his voting against the Separation resolutions. It seems at least presumptuous for a small portion of a large district thus to assume that it represents the views of the majority of the whole district. It was perfectly right for the people of Alexandra to place their own opinions on record, but'they should have consulted the other portions of the district, with a view to obtaining similar declarations, which would then have 'had its due weight. But, with regard to these resolutions, 1 have read most of the speeches made on the .occasion, amongst them Mr Pyke’s. and I am of opinion that he acted wisely in voting against them, as they were in reality Provincialism in disguise. 1 am aware that, since the question of Abolition was first raised, a great change has taken place in the views of many who were then in favor of it, which I attribute, in a great measure, to the fact that all the Dunedin papers, since the severance of Mr Pyke from the Mercury, are on the side of Provincialism. What is to be gained at this time of day by thus trying back, it is hard to conceive ; or what difficulty there can be in bringing the new system into vogue—for, although new here, it has been tried in other colonies for a considerable time, and found to work well. The dread of taxation is at the bottom of this desire to return to the old form ; but this much dreaded taxation is bound to come, whatever our form of Government may be, and the money will never bo so well expended until we feel that it is actually our own money we are spending. Under the new system, wo will have the control of the expenditure, and -we may then hope to see a fair value for it, and a stop put to that unseemly scramble among the Provinces for the money, which was one of the chief causes of bringing about their abolition. A great deal is made of the fact that the Government cannot keep their promises as to subsidies, for fflie very reason that the money will not be there. Neither will it if Provincialism were restored to-morrow. The fact , is, that many of the evils predicted to flow from Abolition, would happen in any case as the natural result of the state of the Colony, brought about chiefly by our borrowing and by not taking proper measures for settling the people on the land as immigration proceeded. Even now, both the General and Provincial Governments are more intent on raising the price of land and retarding genuine settlement than on fulfiling those promises so liberally made when the Public Works’ scheme was inaugurated. When we reflect on the proximity of the Australian continent, the liberality of the laud laws prevailing throughout it, and the immense extent Of good land still available there, this seems a short-sighted policy. We may bring immigrants to the Colony if we are willing to pay for them ; but, can we keep them under such circumstances ? Unless a far more liberal land system is adopted I feel sure that wo cannot, and in that case, to what end are wo burdening ourselves with so many millions of a debt ? This land and settlement question is the chief one of the day in triy opinion, and If this were settled satisfactorily, it matters little what our form of Government may be, the Colony is bound to prosper.—l am, &c.', Miner. Blacks, Sept. 12th, 1876.