The Globe. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1876.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 739, 1 November 1876, Page 2

The Globe. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1876.

The first of November, 1876, has ushered in a new era in the constitutional history of New Zealand. From this day the Abolition of Provinces Act takes effect, and provincial institutions cease to exist Few who have the real interests of the colony at heart will greatly regret their timely decease. They have been useful in their day and generation ; they have been the means of greatly promoting the material prosperity of New Zealand, and have been the nursery of most of our leading colonial statesmen. We in Canterbury especially, have had just cause to be proud of the manner in which our provincial affairs have generally been managed. Our Superintendents have been men of ability, and have always taken a high place in the councils of the Colony. To Mr Rulleston especially Canterbury owes a deep debt of gratitude for the conscientiousness and ability with which he has administered the government of the province. When he was first called to the head of affairs he found us in a sad state of depression, and embarrassment, but by dint of careful administration and prudent measures, we escaped from our perilous position, and have since been the most prosperous province in the colony. Had the affairs of our neighbors been managed with the skill and foresight which has characterised the government of Mr. Rolleston, abolition might, perhaps, safely have been postponed for ten years at least. But it is to the credit of the people of this province that they have ever taken more than a mere local view of colonial questions. It was felt that provincialism had ceased to be of any use whatever in many parts of the colony, and so our constituencies returned men pledged to vote for abolition. Had they taken a merely selfish view of the question, and had our leading politicians been less careful to present the arguments clearly before the electors, abolition would have been indefinitely postponed. The fate of the colony during the past session lay in the hands of the Canterbury members, and they have done credit to themselves and to the province in the way they have fulfilled their trust.