The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2675, 13 September 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1871.

The country ■will feel relieved to find that the revenue is not in so disastrous a condition as the Opposition journals have been delighted to represent, Since the last Session of Parliament, reports hare been industriously circulated regarding reckless waste and expenditure, especially in the Defence Department. All this turns out to be mythical. Instead of waste there Las been economy, and although the Colony, like the world, has suffered depression through the curse of war, on the whole the prospects for the future are cheering. It is as impossible as it would be unwise to decide hastily on the various points of the comprehensive schome proposed by the Government, as enunciated by the Treasurer last night. It involves constitutional charges, which are corollaries

of the changed relation between th e General Government and the Provin' ces. Provincialism is not what it was before public works were undertaken by the General Government. The factiousness and log-rolling of Provincial Governments, their unwillingness to fulfil their duties in regard to immigration and public works, have forced upon the General Government the necessity of limiting their operations to those functions which do nob interfere with Colonial advancement. This was naturally to be expected. Perhaps in no Province has there been so unmanageable a faction as in Otago. Common sense, and common interest have been sacrificed to a pure spirit of opposition. The broad views of the General Government have been treated with contempt, and its invitations to the Provincial Council to co-operate with it for the good of the Colony, have not been deemed worthy of consideration. Mr Reid’s favorite resource has been an appeal to “the “ people,” from the decisions of the General Government in regard to the self-evident necessity for public works and immigration. But Mr Reid always forgot that his “ people” were not the “ people” of tlie Colony ; and that his narrow notions bounded the. term “ people” to the few farmers in Otago, and those followers who could not see beyond the plough. It was impossible for a Government to accept this view, and to allow those arrangements, the success of which depended upon their being carried out intelligently, to be thwarted by men who either did not or would not comprehend their value. Accordingly, now that public works are transferred from the control of the Provinces to the General Government, the latter, as the success of the Public Works scheme depends upon immigration, undertakes both. We believe this change to be absolutely necessary. Hitherto we have been dependent on the accident of the state of parties in the Province for the progress made in Public Works. It is sought now to establish a system that shall be independent of party, and, as far as possible, free from the control of the Government itself. The idea is a good one, for only by some such system can that unity of action be secured Unit is so necessary to contiuuity of design. It has been forced upon the Government; by other considerations. When, with the recklessness and ignorance so characteristic of Mr Reid’s party, the farce of recommending the construction of certain railways was gone through, and termini at Oamaru or Waikouaiti, or some petty port or jetty were decided upon, we pointed out it was of little consequence, for no General Government could be bound by local considerations. It has, however, furnished a salutary warning to the Treasurer, by indicating that the best schemes can be marred by log-rollingand that it is necessary to place the Government above the necessity of truckling to the petty interests of the Provinces, if the money borrowed is to be laid out to the best advantage. The general principles of the Treasurer’s scheme are comprehensive and well adapted to the circumstances of the Colony, Contrary to expectation, there is but little change in the tariff, Mr Yog el’s pet scheme of a duty on cereals and rice is objectionable in regard to the former, as it involves the principle of protection. As to rice, it is a fair revenue duty. The Government wisely look more to increase of population for addition to revenue, than to increased taxation; and as to the decrease in the capitation allowance to the Provinces, it is more than compensated to us by the Province being relieved of much of the Cost of the construction of Public Works and Immigration. The hurried glance we have been able to give at the necessarily condensed details of the plan, precludes more than a passing opinion upon them. No doubt they will meet with opposition from various sources; but they commend themselves at first sight to the judgment as based upon wide and generally applicable principles ; and we think they will meet with the support of the ablest men in both Houses. Fuller details may develop defects which have escaped our notice; but, viewed as a whole, the plans proposed seem calculated to forward the progress of the Colony ; and not the least recommendation of them is, that they tend to divest local Governments of that power to forward private at the expense of public interests, which has been so detrimental to the prosperity of many provinces. It will be seen that so far as Public Works are concerned, expenditure is to be localised. It would have been only right to have carried that principle into internal defence arrangements. Without this there is no secuiity against the absorption of revenue in Maori war expenses. It should not be lost sight of in the rearrangement of our Constitution. Were this done, there would be less necessity for Mr Macandrew’s divisional proposals, which, however, go far beyond Mr Vogel’s scheme for re-arrangement of Provincial functions, and will most

probably be withdrawn or allowed to lapse.