The Evening Star THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4216, 31 August 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1876.

The critical state of public affairs readers it highly desirable that the General Assembly should be made acquainted -with the views of the people of Otago upon the political situation; and we were -therefore pleased to find a public meeting convoked for : the purpose of enabling the citizens of Dnnedin to lead the way to a general expression of opinion throughout the Province. It would, indeed, have been better had the meeting .been called at an earlier period ; for to pass resolutions with the view of influencing the course of events, after the Separation resolutions have been disposed of and the Counties Bill has passed its second reading, seems to the ordinary observer like joining in the fight when the battle is nearly over. A wiser selection of men might also have been made in appointing the managing committee, and the task of organisation entrusted to a body of gentlemen who would not only have seen to such minor matters as the providing of forms and tables for the meeting, but would likewise have taken care to secure the atten-1 dance of persons who could have addressed it with a little more skill and knowledge of the subjects discussed than was displayed by those who proposed and seconded the various resolutions. The oratory of the evening was of the dreariest kind; and it does infinite credit to the sincerity of feeling of the audience that it stayed through the maundering platitudes which dropped slowly .from the speakers one after another in order to pass the resolutions by means of which it desired to express its views. These defects of arrangement, however, would have been easily pardoned if the Vital end of the meeting had been attained. This was to make it strike the keynote of public opinion throughout the Province. It is perfectly legitimate for a body of men holding a certain political creed to get up a demonstration to further the cause which they suppoit ; and such de- [ monstrations undoubtedly possess a value. But what was wauted here was a daclaration of opinion upon some guidiug principle, which would have been acquiesced in, if not unanimously, at all events by the bulk of the inhabitants of Otago ; and it was exactly this point which was missed by the promoters of the meeting. We do not in the least concur in the insinuation thrown out by one of the speakers that the meeting was not conducted with fairness. We think, on the contrary, that it was conducted with perfect fairness. The promoters naturally endeavored to persuade it to look at things from their own standpoint; but it was open to anybody bolting opposite vjews to address the meeting and refute, if he could, the arguments used in support of the resolutions drawn up by the committee, while the Mayor, who had to preside on the occasion, showed a commendable spirit of impartiality throughout the proceedings. Fair play was given to all, and the committee honestly won the victory; but it was a victory which is practically certain to be fruitless, while, with ordinary prudence, it might have been made of utility to the whole Province. Will the most enthusiastic Provincialist blind himself to the fact that a large portion of the inhabitants of Otago dislike Provincialism ! That, indeed, is not an argument fof a Provineialist deserting his -colors. If a cause is worth anything at all, it is worth fighting for, even in the face of defeat; and had the committee avowedly wished to make a Provincialist demonstration, they would not have been open to blame for doing so. But the committee voluntarily chalked out an entirely different course for themselves. They expressly undertook> in their resolutions, to speak on behalf of the whole Province ; and having thus entered on a larger sphere, they should, for the moment, have abandoned their private views, and embodied principles in their resolutions which would have been generally acceptable. Nor would they have needed to go far to find such principles. As it is, the meeting will be taken just for what it is worth, and nothing more; whereas, if wisely managed, it might have become the precursor of numerous meetings in different parts of Otago, all following on the line which it had laid down, and uniting the inhabitants of the Province j together in common action for the public I weal,

Perhaps the best end which the meeting will serve will be to show the thorough discontent which prevails in this part of the Colony at the present aspect of affairs. Six months ago it would have been impossible to get a public meeting of any size in Dunedin to pass a resolution unanimously in favor of Provincialism. That form of government is no better now than it was then, but people look hopelessly around for a substitute. A Constitution in ruins—a Ministry falling to pieces—and a Parliament demoralised— is the spectacle upen which the Colonists of New Zealand gaze. We have several times remarked, but it may well be mentioned again, that, so far as appears, when the 29th September is come and gone, Provincial institutions will have vanished, and there will be naught in the shape of local institutions to replace them; unleso, in the meantime, some measure different from what has yet been laid before it is passed by the Assembly for the purpose of filling up the gap which exists in the Constitution. There is, indeed, the Counties Bill; but since that is to be made permissive in its operation it may safely be asserted that it will have no force over at any rate a great part of Otago, unless it be entirely remodelled in committee. Here is an emergency which i, all parties in the Province may well unite to' meet. There are scattered about the Colony Centralists who believe that Road Boards and Municipalities are quite sufficient provision in the way of local government for New .Zealand's wants ; but that opinion will scarcely find advocates here. In Otago Abolitionists and Provincialists alike concur in demanding a full measure of local selfgovernment. That the Province should enjoy its own revenues to the full, and that it Bhould have the power of managing its local concerns are fundamental articles of everybody's political creed in this part of the country, and it ought not to be difficult to finqs a common standing ground upon which all the inhabitants of the Pro- I vmce can assemble in harmony. That is what the promoters of meeting should have sought, and that is just what they failed to seek. Had they found and pointed out this common standing ground their proposal that the Otago members should, under certain circumstances, withdraw from the. Assembly, would have come with some force, although the propriety of such a proeven as a last resort is very doubtful. The contingency must be very grave indeed to warrant s.acn a measure. Further, it must be conclusively shown that the end in view can be attained more effectually by the members withdrawing from than by remaining in their places in the Afiiembly. On this point the advocates

of withdrawal completely broke down at the meeting. They scarcely proffered any arguments whatever in favor of their scheme; but seemed to think its merits self-evident. Surely these gentlemen eould hardly have reflected upon the probable results of the contemplated secession It would certainly not break up the Assembly, nor prevent it from enacting what laws or passing what measures it pleased. Practically, the effect of the secession would be to make the Colony, for the time being, the prey of the Canterbury runholders, the billet-hunters, and all the other foes to.good government. The proper place of the Otigo members is the thick of the battle, where they can fight for the interests of the Province, so far as those interests consist with justice to the -rest of the Colony, in such fashion as their own consciences may teach them is right.