The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1873

Evening Star, Issue 3240, 9 July 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1873

The division on Mr Stout’s motion can have disappointed no one except the mover and those sanguine gentlemen who aspired to office. It was, however, a very marked expression of the opinion of the majority of the Council, that no blame whatever should be imputed to the present Executive in connection with the Maerewhenua sale. Following so soon after one of the most bitterly contested elections which Otago has yet seen, the division is a distinct ratification, by the electoral districts, as represented in the Provincial Council, of the majority vote of the Province on the Superintendency election. Mr Macandrew and his Executive at one and the same time represent the opinions, and possess the confidence, of the majority of the electors and of their representatives in the Provincial Council. Mr Stout is to be thanked, perhaps, for making this fact so clear at such an early period of the session ; but, having done so, let us also express the hope that he will not waste any further time in demonstrating the strength of the Executive and the futility of his own opposition. His ambition should be satisfied. He has succeeded in showing the public how much ingenuity and labor is required to ensure a complete political failure. To go any further in the same direction would simply be risking political extinction ; and as we hope for better things from Mr Stout in the futux-e, we should regret if, by his own act, all chance of recovery were lost to him. It is to be regretted that the debate has not been fully reported. Had it been, we are satisfied that the Province would unanimously ratify the judgment of the Council; but in the absence of a comprehensive report, the public may accept our assurance that the verdict was in strict accord with the evidence. Last evening’s debate was enlivened by an able speech from MrFisn. His argument was supplemental to Mr Haggitt’s speech on the previous day ; and had there not been another word said, these two speeches must have convinced the Council that there was in reality no peg on which to Jiang the vote of censure on the Executive. Mr Turnbull also, in a short speech, stated the facts of the case, so far as they were officially known to him, in a way that proved that the late opposition to the sale had been got up for political ends. But in any case, the present Executive had nothing whatever to do with it. The Hon. Dr. Menzies, on the other hand, occupied a somewhat anomalous position. He eulogised the non-political constitution of the Waste Land Board, and in the B.auje breath censured Mr Tolmie for not going to the Board in his capacity of Provincial Secretary, and there using his political influence to induce the Commissioners to defer to the opinions of the Provincial Council, as embodied in a resolution assuming the right to dictate to the Board how it should discharge its functions on a particular application then before it. Does the hon, gentleman not see that if Mr Tolmie had acted in the way indicated by him, and which would have ensured his approval, that the non-political chai'acter of the Waste Land Board would have been destroyed ? Practically, Dr Menzies would make the Waste Land Board a registering machine for any dominant political party in the Provincial Council. Of course, he did not mean this- but ffisargument amounted to it, and to nothing else. In his case, we have one out of mapy examples might cite, of high-minded and honor-; able men being led Into inexcusable' error by a blind adherence to party. If| there had been any principle at stake, ;1 we could have understood the stand: which Major Richardson and Dr Mekzjes took; but the whole affair; was devoid of principle. It was an attempt to scale tfrp Government benches for the sake of officeone of those incidents in the working of re- i preservative institutions which warn; thoughtful men that those institutions are far from perfect. But as the political atmosphere lias now been cleared, we trust the remainder of the session will be passed under a serene sky. There is a grave responsibility resting on the Council, The last Appropria-' tion Act has expired three months,

No payments can be made from the Treasury until an Appropriation Act lias been passed. Meanwhile, very great injury is being inflicted on individuals having claims against the Government; and the highways of the Province are getting, in many places, into a very bad state through neglect of necessary repairs. The continuance of such a state of things would be a disgrace to the Province. The Council should forthwith enable the Government to discharge its obligations, and carry on necessary public works. And as the General Assembly is to meet in a few days, it should complete its business in time to enable the Superintendent and other Otago members to take their seats at the commencement of the session in Wellington; otherwise, we fear that the interests of this great Province will suffer.