THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Evening Star, Issue 4222, 7 September 1876, Page 2

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

Several meetings were held, last night in ' different parts of the Province to consider ) the proposed Constitutional changes. With the demand there is upon our space we oan- | not do more, than chronicle the conclusions ' arrived at. i GREEN ISLAND. About 100 of the residents of Green | Island, Abbotsford, and Walton met at the i Drill-shed at the first-mentioned place; Mr Eagerty, the Mayor, presiding. The ! speakers were Messrs Louden, Wm. Thomson, Pinkerton, James Runciman, Stoddart, Gilmour, James Millar, &c., and the resolutions agreed te were:—• That this meeting considers that the people of Otago axe being deeply wronged in having a form of Government under which they have grown and prospered amusingly tom from them th 9 ( r will—more especially seeing that the General Government have utterly failed in providine anvthimr Satisfactory to take its place. * That this meeting considers that the Counties Sill is entirely unstated to oar wants, and the Otago members should accept of nothing short of the localisation of our railway and land revenues * and above all the control and admiuistration-of our waste lands. ■ Seeing that the Genera! Government have failed in providing a satisfactory form of local , selfgovernment, this meet ing is entirely at one wifch Mr Macandcew in his resolution in reference bo iwiiw together a fresh Provincial Council, and thereby give the people of Otago an opportunity of Raying what form of government they desire. That this meeting views with alarm and indignation the action taken by a tyrannical majority of tbe House, representing a minority of the people, in thrusting upon us a form of government totally ‘ unsuitable, and that we will take strong measures to resist them. That this meeting desires to express its approbation of our member's (Mr Seaton) action m the House of' Representatives, and desires him toilsupport Mr Macandrew’s resolutions; and, in - -the event of their not being carried, wb recommend that he and the rest of the Otago me;.ibertt will enter a protest against all the proposed Gons&tutional changes, and return to Otago. That the thanks of this meeting be accorded to oar member (Mr Seaton) and the rest of the Otago members, with the exception of Mr Vincent Pyke mid Mr Manders. BOSLYN. ‘ iit. Thirty-five persons attended the meeting in T ßpslyn Hall, and Mr Wales, chairman of the Road Board, presided. The principal speakers were Messrs A. C. Begg, LanglaiLds, R. A. Lawson, 'Craig, Cunningham, and T*>dd; and the resolutions agreed to were:— That the proposed system of Counties is entirely unsuited to the circumstances of this Province, and that Provincialism has- been proved by the experience oL twenty years to be admirably salted to our tepairements, and calculated to advance the best interests of the Province and Colony. . That any policy which in any way interferes ?with the right of this Province to spend its own land rerenue and sncplns railway revenue, Would be highly injurious tb our btst interests, and would be a direct breach of frith on the port of the Colonial Government. That this meeting thanks the .majority of Otago representatives for the stand they have made in resisting the centralising policy of the General Government, and engages to support tbem ihiany further steps they may think necessary for protectingour Constitutional rights. That in the opinion of this meeting, it would he a digrace to the Colony were Sir Julius Vpm) appointed as Agent-General iu England, after me unworthy manner in which he has deserted his political duty. NORTH-EAST VALLEY. Tiie meeting in tbe schoolhouse was presided over by Mr I. Green, chairman of the local road board; and was addressed by Messrs G. Calder, T. Short, A. G. Watson, and W. Hatton. The .resolutions adopted were;— if That tbe present Assembly having provided no workable system in place of the Provincial Government, it is undesirable to abolish the same until a proper substitute, approved by a plebiscttum of the people, shall have been prepared. That in the event of the Assembly failing to agree to the resolutions prepared by Mr Macandrew, it will, iu our opinion, be advisable for the representatives of Otago to waive all further discussion on the subject in tiu> Assembly and take independent action for their constituents in bringing their grievances before the Imperial Parliament. That this meeting heartily approves of the stand the fnomber for Eoslya (Mr Bums) has taken to obtain ;ast consideration for the Province of Otago in connection with the proposed. Constitutional changes. ’ •' THE PENINSULA. , The residents of this, district held their meeting on Tuesday night. The sjefAew

to the following resolutions were Messi* Raybird, Macandrew, Allan, and Andtr•on

That this meeting of settlers ox the Peninsula are of opinion that the recent Constitutional changes, substituting a Central Government at "Wellington for the. Provincial Institutions under which we ave hitherto prospered, are. unconstitutional audi in opposition to the w shes of the great majority of the colonists. Further, they regard them as so crude and- so rashly constructed as to prove unmanageable, and as calculated, therefore, to entail upon the Colony greater confusion and dissatisfaction than could _ have resulted under the menngemont of Provincial Councils. And whereas these changes have been ostensibly contrived to curtail the public expenditure and relieve those Provinces which are laboring under financial embarrassment, this meeting is of opinion that they wilt not secure these desirable ends; nor can they refrain Lorn expressing their belief—which many circumstances tend to confirm—that they have been forced upon the country by the present administration for party purposes, and especially for the purpose of getting control of the public revenues, as a means of exalting their official status and of acquiring the control of the votes in the Assembly, and that abundant evidence of this may be seen in the fact that they have already adopted a policy of responding favorably to all applications from supporters, while refusing the same to those who conscientiously differ from

them. 'fThat this meeting express their approval of ‘the principle of self-government, as being the most just, rational, and economical, towards which all civilised people are now tending, in opposition to the traditions of every form of Centralism; and even though this were not taken into account, they still regard the New Zealand Colonies as eminently unfitted as yet for any form of Centralism, this conclusion being inevitable from the fact that, for want of the facilities of intercourse, the politioians of the North and South Islands ■ respotively must be so ignorant "of each other’s crrsumstances . and wants as to be wholly disqualified for their intelligent management. That this meeting regard this difficulty as ini. surmountable, and that they are further confirmed in this view from the fact that all the most intelligent members who have taken port in the discussion at the Assembly have emphatically declared that their ignorance of each other’s affairs is snob as to render intelligent legislation impossible. X’hat, in these circumstances, this meeting anticipates no other result than that the business of the: country will be devolved upon the heads of departments and their subordinates—a system of things which requires little penetration to see will end in general dissatisfaction, and, as in the case of men who, having the control of t-he interests of others while they may be deficient in integrity, is a state of things much worse than more mismanagement That these recent changes can only be regarded with disapprobation and dread, and altogether this meeting consider the situation so grave that they feel justified in resolving that a copy of these resolutions be sent io bis Honor James Macandrew, Superintendent of the Province, and to their re presentative, Mr James Seaton, coupled with the request that, if no other course of redress be open, they will return to the Province without delay, and direct the people of Otago, so as to find a remedy or prepare for resisting these innovations. That this meeting record, their thanks to. his Honor the Superintendent of Otago, to Mr James Seaton, their representative, and to the other members from; Otago who have acted in concert with them in the manful opposition which they have rendered on behalf of the Province. WINTON.

The following resolutions, adopted at a meeting at Winton last night, have been telegraphed to the ‘Daily Tunes ’:—

rhat the resolution tabled by his Honor the Superintendent in the General Assembly, that the Provincial Council be caked together to consider whether the provisions of the Abolition Act should be extended to Otago, has the entire approval ot this meeting. That, in the event of Mr Macandrew*s resolution being rejected, the meeting urges his Honor the Superintendent and his party to leave the House of Representatives and call the Provincial Connell together to consider the situation. That the meeting views the attempt of the General Assembly to thrust a system of government on Otago without her consent as an unconstitutional and tyrannous act, which must be resisted at all hazards. That the meeting has full confidence in Mr Macandrew, and desires to record its approbation of the manly course taken by our representative—Dr Hodgkinson—in the House of Bepresentatives.