The Evening Star MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1874.

Evening Star, Issue 3619, 28 September 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1874.

Mr Reeves has attempted to fight the battle of the Northern Provinces before his constituents, and the substance of his arguments was published some days ago. Like all those who have undertaken to condemn the resolution of the House, he has confined his attention to that which he imagines likely to follow in Provinces not even threatened j but has not given one single plausible reason why the resolution should not be carried into operation, The groundwork of his opposition

appears to us of the most flimsy construction. He does not attempt to show that Provincialism in the North Island has of late years proved of the slightest use, or that it possesses any advantages as a mode of administration above any other method of local government. He made no attempt to refute Mr Vogel’s figures, showing that it has proved a most expensive arrangement for distributing revenue ; he said nothing calculated to convince the most credulous that the Northern Provincial Governments had conferred any benefit whatever upon the settlers, beyond what couldhave been secured atmuch less cost to the Colony. The gist of his argument was that the time was inopportune j which was saying in other words, ‘‘ It is quite right that Provincialism in the North should be abolished,

but not just yet.” This has always been the plea put forward by opponents of reform—“ The time has not come.” It is scarcely possible for a statesman to use a weaker argument after such a decided expression of opinion as was given by the House of Representatives, and tacitly acquiesced in by the country. When is the time for correction of an abuse 1 Admitting that in politics it is quite possible to be premature in abolishing certain established forms or institutions, the conditions justifying the conclusion that the time is not ripe should be fairly understood. It is not a new argument. When Lord Melbourne proposed an alteration in the cumbrous tariff of Great Britain in 1841, Sir Robert Peel and his party pronounced the measure premature, and they were supported by everyone who supposed his interest to be bound up in a protective system. When Sir Robert Peel in 1845 adopted a similar poliey, his old supporters said “it was premature,” but the event proved the time had arrived : the measure passed and succeeded. Precisely the same was said in opposition to the abolition ot West Indian slavery, the Test and Corporation Acts, Catholic emancipation, the various Reform Bills in Great Britain, the disestablishment of the Irish Church, and the introduction of the ballot at elections ; yet every one of those measures was carried, and proved to be beneficial. The test of the fitness of time is the ripeness of public opinion for the change, and this may b® evinced in two very significant ways : by direct expression of opinion in favor of or against a measure, or by silent acquiescence in . the action of representatives. The fact of there having been no general indication of public opinion on the matter by petition or public meeting, has been made us© of by the few who opposed the resolutions. They construe the absence of agitation in favor of abolition, into opposition to it, or at least non-acquiescence in it. It is a very convenient mode of interpretation, but quite capable of being used with greater force on the other side of the question. Let but an impartial observer consider what usually takes place, when parties are equally divided on an important political question—the Licensing Bill for example. Every clause of that Bill was watched by parties specially interested in the matter ; exertions were made by petition and at different meetings to influence the votes of representatives—the licensed victuallers on one side, the temperance advocates on the other. But no struggle of parties has been incited by the Northern Provinces abolition question. It is felt in the South that for many years those Provinces have not only not been useful for the ends proposed, but that they have been costly incumbrances, continually impeding the course of useful legislation, excepting on log-rolling conditions : that they have not conduced to material prosperity, or peace, or good government, or education; that they have been a drag and a drain upon the South Island, and that the sooner such incumbrances are abolished the better. The argument about the Southern land fund forms one leading point in Mr Reeves’s list of objections, and it is put prominently for-

ward with additions and corrections. That it shall pass away from local usefulness because the Northern Provinces are to be abolished is what Mr Reeves | terms “ a logical sequence.” He supj ports his theory by a history of the j efforts made by Mr Yogel to render it I available as security for Provincial works, which Mr Reeves calls attempts to make it security for General Government expenditure. Mr Reeves, no doubt, imagines that by reiteration these statements will at length be accepted as true, and that the cry of the land fund in danger will rouse our slumbering antagonism. We do not see why Mr Yogel— who, at any rate, generally knows his own mind and that of his colleagues—should not be believed sooner than Mr Reeves, who does not. The Premier plainly, and time after time, has stated that there is no such intention on the part of the Government : that the land of the Province is to be held sacred as Provincial property. Nor are we aware that Mr. Yogel ever did attempt to render the land fund available as security for General Government works, although he has attempted to create it security for strictly local ones, which we think is a right use for it. If it be replied that he is powerless to resist the will of the Parliament, the inference to be drawn is that if such be the temper of Parliament it does not matter whether the Northern Provinces are abolished or not: the result will be the same. In our opinion the danger to our land fund is in maintaining Northern Provincialism j that now is ; the time for securing it to ourselves )

and that if we blindly oppose a pressing and necessary reform, we shall, at no distant period, be rewarded, through the aid of Northern Provincialism, by suffering the very evil we profess ourselves anxious to avoid.