THE Evening Star. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1869.
Amongst tbe remarkable speeches of the session, as reported in tho New Zealand Hansard, is one by the Honorable Mr Gisborne, on moving the second reading of the Bill for permitting the re-union of Otago and Southland. Its value consists in his calm and masterly exposition of the operation of the New Pt evinces Act of 1858. Eleven years have passed since that Act began its disastrous work, and he thus describes its consequences : “ Three new
“ districts have availed themselves of “ the Act, Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, “ and Southland. Hawke’s Bay, though “ not by any means a failure, is not re- “ markable for any particular success “ in regard to the operation of that “ Act. Its affairs have been carefully managed, and, although not in a piosu perous state, I believe they are in a “ fair average condition as compared « with other provinces of New Zea- “ land. What has been the condition of Marlborough ? It has been, almost ever since it has been created, a scene “ of intestine strife and confusion. I “ am not aware of any material pro- “ gress effected by the operation of the “ New Provinces Act in that Province. “ There have been two political parties “ in that Province, which have been “ constantly fighting each other, and, “ although there is at present a lull, “ it is because, like those animals of “ the feline race whose residence is “ supposed to have been in Kilkenny, “ they have almost devoured each other “ altogether, and left only a I’emnant “ of their tails as a painful illustration “ of their antagonism and voracity. “ Now, the Provincial Council of Marl- “ borough desire their Provincial insti- “ tutions to be abolished. Then there “ is the Province of Southland. Is “ that a successful instance of the New Provinces Act 1 As Marlborough “ has run into discord, so Southland “ has run into debt. The population “ of Southland is about 8,000, and the “ amount of its debt <£450.000'” Nor does Mr Gisborne see any better result from the County system. He refers to the experiment of Westland, and suras up the results of these inroads upon the Constitution by saying, “ One Pro- “ vince, Marlborough, is insolvent, and “ asks to commit Provincial suicide. “ The representatives of the Province “ of Southland have passed resolutions, “ clearly asking that the Province may “ be re-united to Otago. The County “ of Westland is heavily in debt, and “ does not show a very excellent ad- “ ministration of its affairs." Nor is it likely that more satisfactory results could have followed, when the causes of the severances are considered. The New Provinces Act was a mistake, that none but a very raw and inexperienced Legislature could have fallen into. There is a limit in every country beyond which subdivision of local legislation cannot profitably go, and that limit in New Zealand was clearly defined by its system of settlement. There may have been mistakes made by Provincial Legislatures, but they have been trifling compared with those commit, tod by tho Central Government. And not the least of the latter was the New Provinces Act, Its consequences have been repressive. They have been a dead weight, preventing successful exertion on the part of the various Provincial Governments. Mr Gisborne states that his “ tendency is towards “ the system which is in force in Eng- “ land, that is, one Parliament, and a “ number of local municipalities, or “ real Counties, not spurious imita- “ tions of local bodies, where a large “ amount of legislation and administra- “ tion, wholly inapplicable to such “ small sections ol the community, is “ attempted to be put in force.” His testimony to the value of Provincialism is therefore the more valuable. He considers the New Pi winces Act “ has “ thrown a sense of uncertainty and “ insecurity over all the operations of “ the old Provinces, Every work of “ any magnitude which an old Province “ undertook could only be earned “ on with a sort of half-heartedness,” for “ any disaffected district, perhaps “ a minority, in the election of “ a Superintendent or Provincial “ Councillor, could always hold over “ the head of the Legislature a standing “ menace that if such a thing was done “ or some other thing was not done, “ the district would become a new Pro- “ vince.” With the factious action of Oamaru, Waikouaiti, and the Wakatipu in memory, the truth thus enunciated is at once acknowledged. Yet malgre these adverse influences, those amongst us who imagine that benefit would accrue from the abolition of provincialism may be led to doubt, when the contrast drawn by Mr Gisborne, between Provincial and General Government administration is laid before them. He says :—“ When I look on “ the operation of Provincial Institu- “ tions, which are often derided, I can- “ not disguise from myself that a great “ deal of material good has been effected “ in the Colony by those provincial in- “ stitutions. I cannot but remember “ that education, public works, immi- “ gratiou,—the three great elements of “ colonization, have been entrusted to “ the charge of those institutions ; and, “ if the amount of good works is a “ test, by comparison the provinces “ have infinitely more to show as “ effected by provincial institutions, “ than tho colony can show as affected “ by the General Government. If “ there have been errors of judgment on “ the part of the Provincial authorities, “ havetherenot been errors of judgment “ on the part of the General Government? “ With regard to the debt; tho whole
“ aggregate of the debt of the Provinces “ is only equivalent to the debt in- “ curred by the Colony, and, as I have “ said before, for that Provincial debt “ a great amount of material improve- “ ment can be shown, which we should fail to shew if we tried to compare “ with it the result of our Colonial “ debts. When I look at all the works '• done in and by the Provinces, I find “ that all over the Colony thousands of “ miles of excellent road have been “ formed, sometimes over difficult, nay, “ almost Alpine districts. I find that “ there are cities, wharves, docks, rail- “ ways, tunnels, gasworks, and almost alftho luxuries of civilisation,—'vil- “ lages, schools, road boards, farms, “ herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, (( cover the country ; and all these have “ been in a great measure the results of “ the energy and the local interest ex- “ hibited by those who administer Pro- “ vincial institutions.” Mr Gisborne excepts one province from this commendation, Taranaki, where “ Nine years “ ago the representative men thought “ they could conquer a permanent peace “ there. That tempting fruit dangled “ before their eyes, but I am afraid “ that long ago they have found it in “ their mouths to be only bitter dust “ and ashes. The colonisation of Tara- “ nald has been paralysed for the last “ nine years and the whole Province “ has been scarcely more than a mili- “ tary camp.” Sic gloria belli.
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Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2023, 29 October 1869, Page 2
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1,127THE Evening Star. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1869. Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2023, 29 October 1869, Page 2
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