SIR F. D. BELL ON THE ABOLITION OF PROVINCES.

Evening Star, Issue 3787, 14 April 1875, Page 2

SIR F. D. BELL ON THE ABOLITION OF PROVINCES.

As member of the General Assembly for Mataura, Sir F. D. Bell last night addressed the Invercargill portion of bis constituency; and his speech, of three hours and a half’s duration, was wholly devoted to the abolition question. He premised by stating that finance was the real cause of the abolition question being brought forward last session. The difficulties of the Colonial Treasurer, when called upon to provide for the necessaries of the Provinces, had been growing from one thing to another; and when, in order to fill the Provincial treasuries, the Colony had to borrow for that purpose the abolition question was practically precipitated. Mr Vogel’s proposal was by no means a new one. A somewhat similar proposition had been made in former years, not only by those hostile to Provincial institutions, but also by those who were the foremost champions of the Provincial system: for instance, by Mr Reynolds, Mr Macandrew, and Mi Curtis, as well as by Mr Stafford. There was a great deal of inconsistency among many of our public men on this question, but those who had been,guilty of that inconsistency were neither ashamed of it nor did they for a moment E retend that it was possible to avoid it. For imself, and he might say the same for many other members, he did not hesitate to say that, if the circumstances were the same now as they were in 1867 and 1868, when the struggle was taking place as to whether or not Provincial institutions should bo maintained, he would act exactly in the same way now as he did then. After pointing out that the country had practically pronounced in favor of abolition, and expressing the opinion that fthe majority of the colonists were in favor of the proposed change, he proceeded to show that the time had come when Mr Vogel’s plan should be carried out in some shape or other. Quoting from the finances of 1874, he pointed out that Otago contributed to the Customs’ revenue L 407.222, or within L 30.000 of the total contribution of the North , Island, and on all items of revenue only onesixth less than the North Island. Hence the bitter opposition to a proposal to interfere with a system that produced such results. The fact and Canterbury alone contributing i. 200,000 mere than the North Island meant that the latter must come to the Colony for the means of living. Then as to the Land Fund, which, for 1874, amounted to Ll.059,000: of which Otago contributed L 298,000, Canterbury L 593.000, and the rest of the Colony barely L 168,000. He drew attention to these figures because it was from their very magnitude that a danger was threatened to the Land. revenue in the future. They could not disguise from themselves what was going on around them, or help seeing that a very strong and determined effort was to be made by some North Island members to abolish the distinctions of the Land Fund and put it all into the Colonial Treasury. Of course the Otago and Canterbury members would fight hard against such an attempt, and he himaAlf believed that if they had made a fair fight of it there would be no fear about their gaining the battle. Although he did not distinctly say he meant to join in the attempt to wvest from Otago and Canterbury their land revenue, there was every reason to suppose that Sir Georgs Grey would be one of toe leaders of the' movement that would b* made in that dixeou On L attempt would not by any means, be the first of the kind, and there was no reason to suppose that the result of the ensuing contest would be different from that of previous oae3 * They had Mr Vogel’s distinct assurance . that she Land Fund would be left untouched: indeed, if the Bill the Premier had outlined were introduced it would bring about a state of parties that would virtually secure the Land Fund to the Province. Unless he took an entirely different line, foreign to that he presumedly held, the Land Fund must bo safe. At the same time, there could bo no doubt the Colony must make provision for carrying on the public service in those Provinces that, unaided, were unable to do so, and all would, concede that it was a primary duty to provide for the preservation of public order, education, &o. Assuming that toe Provinces were abolished, if he was asked what he would substitute in their place, his answer would be, “ Nothing.” If he thought the change involved the establishment of another constitution, he would have nothing to do with it. Ho endorsed Mr Vogel’s programme, by which a simple transfer ot departments would take place r from the Provincial to the General Government. The functions of toe Provincial Governments had latterly become of a purely municipal character. He illustrated thu position by reference to Otago—the revenue of which was L 113.000. What would become of this if the Provincial system were abolished ? Simply, instead of being spent by the Provincial Government, it would be spent by the Road Boards without its intervention. The same would happen with the goldfields. The Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works was an example of the working of this system. What the public were really interested in was the proper administration, and not by whom it was done. He sketched what he considered should be the first steps towards assimilation to local government at Home. Road Boards should be the common denomination; then they should bo grouped together, and then these groups again centred as Counties, which would avail themselves ot the Provincial Councils as the last place in which the appropriations would be made after discussion. This would avoid violent change, but eventually he would have a local budget brought down for consideration by the Colonial Parliament. The present head of the Public Works Department was perfectly competent to exercise the supervision such central control involved. To make the application of the system equitable, and to save the appropriations from being the battle-ground of party, it would be necessary to make them under a uniform law. Before these changes could take place, however, the Assembly representation would have to be readjusted; and to ensure the best results the reform would have to be entered upon in a spirit of mutual concession. He concluded by stating that he would be a candidate at the next general election. On Mr Outhbbbtson's motion, a vote of confidence was carried unanimously.