The Evening Star. SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4081, 25 March 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star. SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1876.

Thb more the speech of. Sir Julius Vogel is studied, the more will his views commend themselves to general approbation. We are not prepared to say that all the details of the measures to be proposed will prove satisfactory to any one. There will be no one who will acquiesce in all the Ministry suggest as a substitute for Provincialism, Perfection is not to be expected in any human device, and if it could be achieved, perfect intellects would alone be able to comprehend it. This, however, is plain,-the Ministry are giving earnest attention to the arrangements necessary for carrying on the work of local self-government on the demise of the Provincial system. Nothing seemed more difficult than to form a plan that should avoid the evils of centralisation and yet render it possible to conduct the affairs of the country satisfactorily. So perplexing a problem proved so far beyond human ability to solve, that Jhe short-sighted, who could comprehgpd no means of pupular administration apart from Provincialism, jumped at once to the conclusion that the choice lay between it and Centralism. It was useless to reason with the Grey faction. It was useless to point out that Provincialism was one of the worst forms of Centralism. The disciples of Grey and Company did not care for reason: like the silversmith party of old at Ephesus, when they extolled their idol, and contented themselves with shouting “ Great is Provincialism—- “ Down with Centralisation.” We have no doubt many sincerely thought this a sufficient answer to those who, with clearer .light, comprehended the evils of the system sought to be abolished; while others, who fully recognised them, hesitated to advocate change, through the evident difficulties of satisfactory reconstruction of our administrative machinery. Sir Julius Vogel, as the mouthpiece of the Ministry, has shown' how these difficulties are to be overcome. He acknowledges that at first sight they seemed almost insuperable, but closely examined they vanished. It was possible to adapt existing institutions to the proposed new arrangements, to leave those intact that fulfil their functions, to remodel those which do -not, and to adapt one general principle to all, so that every part may dovetail into, and work harmoniously with the rest. We shall thus have one legislature for all; and this, through identity of law throughout the Colony, will tend to create a healthy national sentiment. It will not henceforth be of Auckland” or “Otago,” or “Wellington,” but “I am of New Zealand.” Amongst ourselves rivalry is a benefit when each district strives to the utmost to develop freedom, education and physical resources: but beyond our borders, the larger feeling, the pride of nationality, can only be justly indulged by regarding the country as a whole, worthy of being loved because of its institutions tending to the comfort and intellectual and moral well-being of its inhabitants. It is altogether a false nomenclature to call this centralisation. Although law-making will be confined to one Parliament instead of nine as heretofore, it is more truly the work of the people themselves than was the multiplication of Ordinances by Provincial Councils. There is also this advantage, that those sometimes annoying difficulties which are inseparable from territorial divisions, whereby a man, acting legally on one side of an'imaginary line, may be a trans gressor of the law by moving a couple of inches on the other, will ultimately be avoided. So far as legislation is concerned, self-govern ment by the people is retained in its integnty by the proposed plan; and administration is to be really—not m name only, as hitherto —to be placed in the hands of the people. This has been the tendency of Sir Julius Vogel’s measures ever since he took an interest in public affairs. His opponents have a very convenient, habit of forgetting this. Many of them will not even acknowledge it when,reminded ofjit: but it is nevertheless true. To him Otago was indebted for the application of the municipal system to many of its inland towns. Their improved condition, wherever it has been adopted, sufficiently attests its advantages. There is a tendency to over-do the principle in the neighborhood of the City, and to subdivide until the burden of selfimposed taxation will become intolerable. This will, in the end, cure itself. In the meantime, the soundness of the principle is demonstrated, and it is this true system of local self-government—local applica ion of the law—that is to take the place of the sham one now abolished. That there must be supervision is evident, and if supervision, necessarily responsibility. Administrators, whether members of Shire Councils, Municipal Councils, or Road Boards, must beheld responsible for carrying out the laws, and if so to whom? Necessarily to Parliament through its responsible Ministers, and ultimately to the people through Parliament. • The circuit is thus completed, and the people are made their own law-makers and law administrators. It is intended to introduce this principle with as little derangement of existing institutions and engagements as possible; and we have no doubt that the advantage of the change will speedily reconcile all classes to it.