The Dunstan Times, FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1878.

Dunstan Times, Issue 835, 19 April 1878, Page 2

The Dunstan Times,

FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1878.

Beneath the rule of men extirely jcbt the pen is mightier than the sword*.

There was once a member of tho Hou«e of Commons who astonished (hat "rave assembly by declaring that he lt smelt a rat ”-—that ho saw him *■ floating in the air,” and that lie w<mld “nip him in the bud.” The soul, minus the wit, of Sir Boyle Roche seems to have been transmitted to our local contemporary. Ife is always smelling rats; and as a rule they invaiiably float in the atmosph ere of his own suspicions and nowhere besides. Suspicion is, in fact the very breath of his nostri's. From the gutter-raker to the Governor nothing and nobody escapes him. His last exploit in this direction is the discovery of a covert conspiracy for the restoration of Provincialism. A rumour has reached him that Ministers are paving the way towards a retrogressive policy. P nw or whence we are not informed; but onr contemporary waxes wroth at this display of the cloven hoof—this “ uneasiness in harness'’ on the part of our rulers. Had the alarm emanated from any other source we might have taken fright also But wo know our contemporary’s weakness, and how completely he justifies the application of the proverb which saith that. “ the wicked the where no man pnrsueth,” and therefore we feel quite easy in the contemp’ation of the chimerical danger which he has discovered. That the question of Separation is imminent we admit, and that Separation on a sound and satisfactory basis is advisable we declaie. There never was—there is not, and there never can or will he any political sympathy, or true bond of union between the North and South Islands of New Zealand ; and if only fair and oqnita ble terms can be arrived at the sooner there is a Legislature for each, with a federal Parliament to deal with Colonial taxation, the public debt and kindred subjects, the better will it he for each. But the eventuation of Separation does not necessarily involve a return to the old effete system of Provincialism, That system, we take leave to assert, is dead beyond all hope of recovery The I people of tlie Country (in which phrase i we certainly do not include the rcsi 1 dents of the big coastal towns and ( their rural surroundings) have been

far too pleasantly surprised by the beneficial working of the County system to suffer any second attempt at coastal supremacy. This is just where our contemporary, who otherwise rightly interprets public feelingou this question, becomes hopelessly muddled. What possible connection can there be between the constitution of separate Legislatures'for the two Islands and the abolition of local selfgovernment 1 So far from conceiving any danger to County Government from such a modification of the Cun stitution now, wo venture to think that County ism would be strengthened thereby. The chief enemies to the latter are to be sought amongst the representatives of the .North, which has been accustomed to rely upon the loaves and fishes supplied by a too-pa-ternal Government at the expense of the South, and has never ceased to bewail the necessity effectuated ‘ by Abolition, of looking after themselves and providing for their own wants. Too much coddling and nursing has reduced them to a condition of political helplessness. Like over-petted children they cannot walk—nay, they cannot even stand without assistance. And, inasmuch as the tendency ot the Abolition of Provinces and the concurrent cs ablishment of County Government has been to throw each community on its own resources, the weakness of our Northern friends has become painfully obvious when shown in contrast with the vigorous self-help-fulness evinced by the people of the South.

Let us then by all means have Separation if it can bo obtained on such conditions as will justify our representatives in accepting it. For us to object to it would be as unreasonable and as hurtful as for any sane man to object to the amputation of a diseased limb. But—and here we are ontirely in accord with our contemporary—let notour rulers venture to lay so much as the weight of their little finger on Countyism. For if they do their doom will be sealed. No amount of liberal professions and plausible promises will avail them aught as against the just indignation which they will inevitably arouse if any attempt i-s made to rob the people of the substance of local self-gvoernment under the specious pretext of giving them the shadow, cloak it under whatsoever name they may. But lot us meanwhile restrain ourselves. The “rumour” comes in such a questionable shape and from such an extreme'y questionable quarter, that we are inclined to sav with Si' - Charles Coldstream—- “ There's nothing in it?”