SUPERINTENDENT'S SECOND REPLY TO THE PREMIER.

Evening Star, Issue 4107, 26 April 1876, Page 2

SUPERINTENDENT'S SECOND REPLY TO THE PREMIER.

The following second- reply has been for warded by His Honor to the Premier re provincial matters. Sir,—l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 13th April, from which it is clear that your opinion and mine as to the effect upon the Province of 0;ago of its abolition are wide as the Poles asuuder. I therefore feel that it would be only wasting both your time and my own to prolong this correspond* nee. At the same time, I cannot refrain from referring to some of the leading points in your letter, and here I may say that I do not think you wore called upon to review the actions of the Provincial Council of Otago—a body responsible solely to the electorate of the Province. Nor was it necessary to assume that everything your Government thought fit to propose would receive the sanction of the Colonial Parliament.

Your letter is of course a political manifesto to convince the people of Otugo of the good tuey will obtain by the Abolition of their Province and their local Parliament, and by the absorption of their local revenues ; and you must forgive me if 1 follow your example in entering upon a political discussion, which I deprecate. I may say that had you been administering a law, and called upon me to aid you in so doing, I should not have withheld my aid or advice. As it is, 1 was advised—and lam also of opinion—that the sending of the Commissioners was without legal warrant or constitutional authority; the Parliament never authorised such a st. p, and voted no funds for such a purpose. Your letter of instructions, as well as t hat now under reply, foreshadows a policy that the Parliament has not yet considered, far less ratified. There is no Local Government Act, and ms yet no provision made for carrying on tbo departments of the Provincial Governments. What law, I ask, are you administering ? ‘ I looked upon the action of your Government os ah encroachment upon the rights of this Province, which, as its elected head, I was hound to recent; and I feel assured that had you been the head of the Provincial Executive you would have counselled more extreme measures than I resorted to. Indeed, I cannot but remember how nobly you aided me with your advice and influence in resisting the General Government encroachment on our rights some years ago. You entirely misapprehend me by supposing that because the wealth of Otago far exceeds that of 'other Provinces its interest in my opinion is to evade a share of general responsibility. On the contrary, I for one, am quite prepared hat the Province should assume a very large proportion of the past obligations of the Colony, provided it is relieved of all future liabilities other than those to ho incurred by itself for its own benefit, or those which may be necessary for purely fedeial puiposis. I have no desire to dispute with you that since 1870 Otago has received a large, share of the Pub l ic

Works and Immigration Loan. I .-übiuit, hov. ever, that it has not received more titan its due proportion, or than it is able to repay. Ami this, I fear, is more than can be said in res.ioc' of various other portions of the Colony Wt ii. upon this point, I w>»uld most emphatically protest against that phase of your present policy wlii hj proposes to render Otago liable for the debts incurred in the construction of railways in other ports of the Colony, notwithstanding the solemn assurance that to each Province would belong the profit or loss which might accrue trom the rai.ways constructed within it—assurances embodied in the. Immigration uud Publio Works Agt—aud but for which that Act never would have been on the'Statuto Book. It is this readiness with which, ot the instance of a powerful Government, the good faith of the Colonial Parliament to-day may be cast to the winds to-morrow, which shakes the confidence of myself and others in the stability- of legislation which professes to secure to any part of the Colony the exclusive enjoyment of those advantages which may have boeu derived from its _wn fo ethought, or superior energy. Ido not know that I tightly in r-erpret your moaning when you say that, we should deter to’the opinion of those who supply the money f.-r developing nur resources. If in moulding the political institution*, upon which the future haj.piu. s- mid freedom of ourselves and our children i-o iargely depend, we ate to ho influence) l,y the opinion of money-lenders, all I c-m say is that it will be a sad day for , New Zealand when this time comes. How can you reconcile y our assort ion that Otago has not been a sufferer by Golonid finance, with the fact that' in addition to its obligations in respect of the public works aud defence loaus, it has contributed upwards of two mill onsof money to tne Colonial chest, for which it has received little or nothing in return, saving the empty honor of being represented iu the General Assembly, is, I confess, beyond my comprehension.

One strong reason why iu your opinion the Province should be aholis. el is that during the past session of the Pr«viucial Council appropriations were passed to the extent of L 909.000. To my views this affords ouc of the best arguments in f>vor of the Province becoming an independent Colony. Large as this sum is, it is far short of what is needed to meet necessary requirements, and far short of what the Province would have at its disposal but for that vicious system ot Colonial finance iu which it has become so unhappily entangled—a system which will be stereotyped should the Abolition policy be carried out. You do not seem to be aware that when the Appropriation Ordinance was passed the Province contemplated being able to float aloau, aud that a large portion of the appropriation was for the completion of important public works, the execution of which will extend over several years. You say that ‘•concurrently” the Province has asiiflced its lands by largo sales to runholders. As to this you have been completely misinformed, inasmuch as there have been no sales to ruuholders during the past four years, excepting the pre-emptive areas to which they are by law entitled. With -regard to its landed estate, I am not called upon to defend nil that the Province has done in the past; but wore I to trace the cause of our difficulties in dealing with our waste lauds, I should have to attribute them chiefly to (he action taken by yourself in granting a re-

newal of so insuy pastoral leases ia 1660. If sales are improper, I have yet to learn that any sale in Otago has been in violation of law, or made until the absorption of its revenue by the Colo ini Government forced such action upon the Province. For your Government to complain of large sales of laud after the various reports by Parliamentary committees on its laud transactions in the North Island—transactions which no financial exigency demanded—seems to me, to say the least of it, to be singularly inappropriate. In thus referring to the action of the ' olonial Government, I also am only acting in “ self-defence." Tou must, therefore, ex. cuso my reference to the uncalled-for sacrifice of the public estate in Auckland. If there is one thing more than another for which the Provincial Government may claim credit, it is the extent to which the public estate in Otago has been husbanded and disposed of for actual settlement and profitable occupation. I venture to say that in no other part of the Colony does this apply to a greater extent. One of my chief reasons for opposing the policy now in question is that under its operation the administva'ion of the Provincial estate must be regulated by the exigencies of Colonial finance. But, even assuming that your information has been correct, and that the Province had disposed of large 'blocks of hill land to runholders, there are many and cogent reasons which might well have driven it to this course. Amongst these might he enumerated the refusal of the'v.'olonial L-gislaluro to enable the Province to anticipate its laud revenue for the construction or those public works withou whic<i the land would he comparatively valueless for settlement j and also the difficulty experienced in obtaining payment from the. Colonial Government of moneys to which by law the Province is

entitled. I wouliTpoint out to you that there is taking placa in Otago a very considerable amoautof Bgrictdttxral settlement on deferred payments, and that this has to ho followed up by providing the means of communication, schools, and many other requirements, to meet which money must be had. Assuming that funds cannot he obt lined otherWMe Itan from land sales, I am of opinion that it would be far preferable to sell purely pastoral laud to runholders at 20s an acre than to plaice it in the market for disposal by wholesale to speculate; s, large areas of valuable land which still remain, and which it is the policy of the Provincial Government to preserve to meet the requirements of agricultural settlement. . t

to withdraw from ordinary purposes (which, I presume, means from sale) enormous blocks of country, “for fear laud might be otherwise absorbed. It is quite true that years ago the Provincial Council resolved to set apart several mill ions of acres as endowments for education, hospitals, and other public purposes, in which resolutiou the Colonial Government did not concur. Ultimately, however, 500,000 acres were agreed to be Crown-granted. I foil to see in this action of the Provincial Council any reason why the Province sh'iuid he abolished, but the reverse. lam disposed to regard this action as a far-seeing apprehension of that ceutralistio policy against which 1 am contending—a policy which, whatever may be your present intentions, must inevitably result in tho general consolidation of pnblic assets and liabilities throughout the Colony, Among the former, of course, must be included bur land tun-1, our education icserves, and, as likely as not, all other reserves besides. I would not for a moment impute to you any present intention in this direction, but cannot disguise fiom myself tho feeling that you are now embarking upon an ocean of circumstances which you will be unable to control—circumstances in w dch the Colony must inevitably drift into tbo position I have indicated. You might as well expect the Ethiopian to change his skin as that Centralism in New Zealand will be content with anything short of that position. Yon say tho people of Otago do not realise and are misinformed as to what Abolition means. H .this be so, why not submit for the coi sidcration of the people tho.*e measures wuicli will enable tinm to interpret for themselves its real moaning?— those measures which are to usher in the political miUenium. To my mind, whatever tho measures may turn out to be, tho .. an must be blind indeed who does uot realise in the whole autiou t.f Centralism in New Zealand during the past twenty-five . years “ one purse for the Colony,'- a consummation totally irreconcileablo with your conviction that tho land fund and public reserves of the respective Provinces will be localised.

You say that in respect of Immigration and Public Works, the Colony has done more for Otago in five years than the Province could have done for itself in ton. To this I must entirely demur. It would not he difficult to show that had the Province been permitted to conduct those operations for itself, the rc-ult would, to say the least, of it, have been equally satisfactory, and iu all probability much more so. I have no hesitation in saying that the Clutha railway, for examp e, would have been cons-meted by the Province for at least LSO.OOO under what it has actually cost. You say that the Governments—Provincial and General together—are spending much more than the credit of the Colony can aifoid. I quite agree with y. u as regards the latter; and if this is to he adduced as an argument iu favor of Abolition, it may fairly be urged as a reason for ab dishing the General Government, or at all events, of very greatly curtailing its expenditure. It does seem strange that in (ace of the fact that tho Colonial expenditure is more than tho credit of the Colony can nttord the Government should have been so desirous, during the postfew'sessious, of increasing that, expenditure by the establishment «f new and expensive departments. An now, one word more as to what is to he in the future. You may be right in your assumption that whatever your Government proposes th - Assembly will an notion. I may be pardoned, however, for saying that Governments as strong as yonrs have in the past had to submit to a public opinion they could not control; and I feel convinced that the opinions of so large and important a section of the Colony as Otago will not be lightly set aside by the Colonial Legislature. It should not be tho aim of statesmen to ignore the feelings of those over whom they rule; and it one largo section of any country is forced into a hostile attitude towards the Government, and its opinions and feelings ignored, history tells us that there are evil dsys in store foi such a country. The justice of Otago claims,Vhieh you say are '* chimerical," may, I trust yet receive from the Assembly that consideration which is denied by your Executive. I fail to sea how the country districts of Otago can benefit by your proposed scheme. Hitherto, for example, the Provincial Council has given no subsidy to Dunedin, as they feel it to be their duty

to devote the revenue to making roods and bridges, and building schools throughout the country districts. You, ns the first step in the dcceutra'isiug process, have given a subsidy of LIO.OOO to Dunedin, and promise that it shall be perpetual. How, therefore, Dunedin can be said to have be refited more from Provincial administiMion than the country districts, I cannot understand. You have forgotten that the districts which have hitherto been most jealous of Dunedin are farthest removed ftvm it, have relumed as numbers of the Colonial Parliament stronj Provincialists. Tho people of Otngo are not so “ misinformed” as yon seem to imagine; and if, as you say, the Province has been spending mope money than tbe Colony can afford, of course your scheme means a stoppage of public works throughout the Province, unless indeed you imagine 'hat the credit of the Colony will not be injured by evi ry County and Koad Board borrowing what they p cave You,cannot, however, consider that alio icing a County or Boa t Board to borrow is a sroi-d thing, whilst granting the same right to a Province is a bad tiling.. I would ouly say further that, b-lieving ns I do, that like myself you are aiming at making iJew Zealand a great, proepc ous, and free country, it is to mo a source of tbo deepest regret that we do nut agree as to the most effect ve and only means of accomplishing this end. Much as I should feel disposed to defer to your judgment, I cannot ignore the conviction which a life-long experience of New Zealand polities has forced upon me, and if in the heat of a political controversy, not of my seeking, I have used any expressions distasteful to you, you will I tru.-t pardon such. I am well aware that iu every discussion some expression may seem harsh to an opponent tha was not so mequt by the writer. Had it not been that you iiave hitherto so liyally aud, under much obloquy in the past, suppor ed the Constitution, and dul I hope that calm reflection may yet induce you to return to your pio.ious political platform, I need not, perhaps, have entered into so much detail. 1 feel, however, that you will pardon the length, and )urhap-> ardour of my iett r, and believe me to be n timed by a strong desire for tbs continued prosper, ry and n ivancement, not only of O:ago, but also of New Zealand.—l have, &c., J. ItIACANDUEW, ~ „ Superintendent of Otago. The Hon. the Premier.