The Evening Star TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4023, 18 January 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1876.

As we have before pointed out, and as it is not denied by the Opposition, Auckland is the Province to which our leading Opposition members look for help in restoring the Provinces to the status quo ants. Assuming the numbers returned by other Provinces to be even largely in favor of the Abolition of the Provinces, Auckland and Otago united would form a formidable Opposition phalanx, and very possibly unseat the Ministry. We do not know much about the Auckland men, and therefore are obliged to accept the account they give of themselves. Newspapers in Auckland are not remarkable for mannerliness, either towards each other or in dealing with their public men. They are usually outspoken, sometimes even to incivility ; but as they best know the characters of those of whom they write, we cannot be wrong in accepting their estimates. Judging by their reports, we arc not favorably lm° pressed with the high principle of any of those Auckland men who may be said to be on the Ticket. Nor is it surprising that they should have been returned if the state of the electoral rolls is what is represented. The ‘ Southern Cross ’ thus describes it It is unquestionable that somo of tho results of recent elections in Auckland arc duo to the vigorous and utterly Unscrupulous manner in which the elec toral rolls of numerous districts were, many mouths ago, racked will fictitious names, and cleared of othor proper y nnahf ed psrooua, all with tho vi..,v ?imo fhlf ft.? c n ' yiU; b 1 , 110 el r tiolis of the present ; im v , hhul these ignoble schemes have been mu'■ccsful sa ? s nothing for tbeir morality fc'inki>r> entirely every vestige of party feelms?, /hick o’vht firJffw 0 i ud ßment. we contend that th* first, tnmg that the people of Auckland should demand is perfect purity of tho electoral rolls, i hat ?niip% r A acl fi toS i U tl ipu . l ' ,ty cxists in regard to the Auckland Province, we.proved most conclusively yesterday by tlie amflitlug esirosure of the fraternity of Tole voters, whose names, by W rgtt, « ed illegal falsiliention of facts, and? unwarrantable declarations, have been multiplied hy five, and made to represent five w f icb * b - v the local rating roll, can by law qualify only one voter. Multiply this curious process by ton; add to the advantage which such electoral frauds would o, vo th* iiarfv in whoso interest they are committed! th* system $ which it is admitted was "---. i I" ‘.-d.r Jiaut, and tlm result of the election for Eden would hv ivverseu.

N T o wmcioi' that by such constituencies men are returned without policy, amt capable of advocating- repudiation of a compact between the North and tloutb Islands, acknowledged and acted upon for twenty years, the conditions of which jiave been honorably and faithfully fullilled by tire South. Let the people of Otago ponder the characters and opinions of a few of their new friends in the North, as drawn by their admirers and opponents, hirst, then, is Sir Oeorue Cliif-v, of whom it is .said : Sir Guotu:e G nro" is unquestionably at tlie present time Lord of the Asuandant .11 Auckland. His reputation in the past, his position in the present, bis wealth, his diplomatic power, and, above nil tAe iteration and exaggeration by himself and hif; followers of accusal ions against the Government have exalted him to the pedestal of a local idol 'h lose people worship with a blind faith which, consider ‘ iu S 113 uow artmita ko has no Pokey, ig someth ' iug mavvellous - HivPv vpy prcbcnt carolled on the same side,' How that geatlemaa may be

found voting in the Assembly, Heaven only knows, It is beyond hie own or any other man’s prescience to say. Air Whittaker comes next. He, at any rate, knows his own mind. What are his views ? The ‘ Herald’—the Opposition journal-says of him:— . We have no hesitation in saying that wo are rejoiced at the return of Mr Whitaker for Waikato. • • • • We venture to say that when Mr Whittaker’s statement of opinion goes down South, it will be felt that Auckland means something this time, and that, on really important points, we are quite united. And this is what Mr Whittaker said : There were three courses open for the Colony. Firstly, there was the restoration of Provinces to their former state. It was easy to do this. They had only to repeal the Abolition Act. If this were done, Superintendents ahd , Provincial Councils would still continue ns heretofore. Secondly’, there was Separation. When the Provincia'iflts found No 1 impossible Sir Qeorok Grey started the cry Separation. The third course was one Governfthhifc fOr tlifi Colofiy, oile hegislatuip, one Executive, one Purse.—(Loud cheers.) thfl restoration of Provincialism was out of the question. In the early days of the Colony it was impossible to govern it from t one common centre with Otago six Weeks distance from the cftpitall at Auokland; bitt Steam and the wires had removed those physical difficulties. .... Hid it not appear absurd that a population of some 350,000 should have ten Legislative Assemblies making laws for them ? The necessity for Provincial institutions had passed away. They had been useful in their time; but Superintendents, their Councils, and Executives had outgrown their boots. They might have been flourishing institutions to this day had they confined themselves to their own local functions. He could understand that all sensible m6h were prepared io oppese course No. 1 Then came the question, was it to bo Separation or one Government'? Separation had bcch a scheme of his own ton years ago. He had taken a great deal of trouble iu connection with it, and had brought it before the House. There were reasons then why we should have been better off with Separation. Now, the times were changed, and We Wore changed with them. Circumstances are new totally different. Tiled he did his best for Separation, but was Separation desirable now ? It was possible to induce the Legislature to agree to Separation as on abstract question, but when it came ti a matter of detail the whole affair would break down. There were matters involving respective interests of North and South, to which neither party could be brought to agree, and as to simply cutting the painter without a reasonable adjustment, that would be too much like two horsedealers chopping horses turned tail to tail, and would not suit Us. . , . . The country won’t revert to Provincialism, What, then, would it do in the meantime ? It would take cwo years from now to have the Imperial decision in favor of Separation. There was but one course—that which he bad already sketched one Government in NeW Zealitnd one Legislative body—one Executive—one Purse In all English Colonies the Waste Lands theoretically and practically belonged to the Crown, Its right was absolute. Neither tile Provinces nor the Colony, as such, had any claim. The Crown, however, having been otherwise provided for, handed them oyer to the Colony—not to the Provinces, or to any locality, but to the Colony. The Crown, as first possessor, had abandoned and given over the right to them to the Colony, And What had the Colony done with them ? It had passed a lot of resolutions in respect to them. There was the socalled “compact’’ of 1856, providing that the land fund should become Provincial revenue, but one clause of those resolutions expressly declared that if the Imperial Parliament did not give them its sanction they should bd no more than waste paper. The Imperial Parliament has never yet given this sanction, and the resolutions of 1856 are not worth the caper they are printed on. The *ery resolutions carry with them their own nullification. It was nonsense to call a demand to set aside these resolutions a breach of faith. They provided for their own destruction. Ho had not yet had an opportunity to go into this question, but he was prepared to do so on its merits. Iu 1858 an Act was passed appropriating the funds in certain directions; but this Act, like any other, could have been legally repealed in the next session. There would have been nothing wrong—nothing illegal in doing so.

And this is tho opinion entertained in Auckland of Mr Macandrew :

Those who hare read the speech •£ the Superintendent of Otago ttt Port Chalmers, must, I think, have been struck with the intense selfishness which pervaded it. The burden of it was, " Let Otago and Canterbury keep their land revenue and flourish,' and let the rest of the Colony sink or swim if it can." If an argument be wanted to show the. need of a change in the present system of dividing the Colony into Provinces, Mr Macandeew, thoroughgoing Provlnciftlist as he is, furnishes it by showing that he and those acting with him are prepared to go any length, utterly disregarding the interests of the Colony as a whole, so that they may retain what a vote of the Assembly unwisely placed in their power, and which clearly is the property of the whole Colony, and should be Colonial revenue. The so-called “ compact ’* must surely have been made in ignorance of the value of the lands which it handed over to the two great Southern Provinces. The sum given to the Northern Provinces as an equivalent for their share of the land was ridiculously small, if, as Mr Ldckie stated, the two Provinces have for some time past been realising L6C0,000 per annum from the sale or leasing of the Crown lands. Yet Mr Macandeew has the bad taste to charge the other Provinces with being prodigals, and with squandering their and funds.

The diverse characters of the men and objects now forming the Opposition remind one of the “ happy families ” made up of dog, cat, hare, and rat, dwelling in peace together, They are now subordinating their pugnacious instincts barring the hare, which may be regarded as the General Government—foi a common object. But in the House they ■will become a pack of hounds let loose upon the Ministry, each yelping a different note, but ending in one common cxy—“Turn them out.” With what a yell of delight a “ No-confidence ” motion Will be carried ! But, what next ? Success will be their destruction—they will seek to devour each other. Can Sir George, Premier, pull with ivlr Macandrew or D. Reid, Minister of Works; Whittaker, Minister of Justice j (Stout negleJl ,et l> an d then in Opposition) ; Rees disappointed a^d furious ; Mr Macanbkkw’s queile, Messrs Seaton and Co., grumbling, because in the shade ? Either Auckland must give up its intention to plunder the South and follow in the footsteps of the present Ministry, or no platform for united action can be constructed. And, if this is done, what will he gained by the League ? The country will say —“ better keep our present men than trust those who cannot read the Signs of the Times.”