THE Grey River Argns. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1867.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 195, 13 April 1867, Page 2

THE Grey River Argns. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1867.

' The further that brilliant idea of the - Government — the Westland Commission • — is developed, the more absurd and 1 useless does it appeal*. And we should I fancy that the Government cannot be ' without qualms of fear lest it should be ; the means of their own destruction — a J contingency that is by no means an improbable one, Assuming that the Commission had been composed of the very best materials, and that the subjects 1 for its consideration had been clearly defined, it would still have been a mis--1 take, excepting it could be satisfactorily '. shown that it would be the means of r bringing together a mass of facts that i would be of service to the Legislature. ' But the "YVesfcland Commission, from first to last, has been nothing but a . transparent dodge. It has answered its ; purpose so far in that jt has relieved the • Executive of a good deal of embarrass--1 menton critical occasions, ancl has thrown [ dust in the eyes of the people of West,. land, and sweetened the stomachs of 1 the Westland members. But we venture 1 to say that the Commission will, for all j practical purposes be absolutely useless, and decidedly not worth the LIOOO voted for it. If we remember coi'rectly ■ the main subjects which the Govern- , ment professed its intention of referring i to the Commission were— the best i system of Government for Westland; the sale of land; settlement of the ! alleged debt of Westlaud ; and the ; division of revenue between Canterbury i and Nelson — these, we believe, were > the leading topics, although minor ones J might have been mentioned. .Looking . at the composition of the Commission, s we cannot bring ourselves to believe that the Government had any serious idea of leaving the most important of the subjects to the decision of the Commission. We shall not be surprised to find that, for form's sake, the report of [ the Commission will say something ' about them, but that something wjjl go . for as much as it is worth, and no more. Our firm belief is that the Government J having asked for and got their Com- , mission could not well back out of the . affair, and were compelled to make a show of doing something. We should ! like to know what the Westland racm- : bcrs of the Commission can say on the ; subject of the administration of affairs ! in the district, which they could not ' equally well and with more force say in the Council 1 And as to the settlement of the alleged debt of Westland, is it at all probable that the Government dare propose, or that the Council will sanction, an arrangement proposed by a Commission, seven members out of eight of which are Westlaud men ] We are quite sure also, that the Nelson Government- would not recognise the Commi&sion as an arbitrator between the two Provincial Governments. The only subject on which it is at all possible that the Commission may be of use is the sale of laud, on which special information is needed. But we cannot exactly see what the recent holiday trip in the Bruce has to do with the real work of the Commission. No doubt it has been a very enjoyable affair to the official excursionists. They may hare improved their geography a little, and, under the tuition of Dr Hector, found sermons in the stones which they brought away in their pockets. The ornithological and piscatory studies which, we understand, formed an important portion of the work of the Commission, will doubtless have fed tfreir minds, as well as their stomachs, and the members will have accumulated a.store of entertaining information on a variety of subjects. But we should like to know if. the L 75 per day for the steamer, and say L 25 per day for expenses and salaries, has been spent for any practical good to the Province 1 , Has any information been gained by the Commission which the Government did not already possess or could not obtain without difficulty through its proper officers 1 The " West Coast Times " predicts all sorts of important results from the excursion, because, says our contemporary, " the members are observers." Whether this is intended as "sorter ironical," as Artemus Ward would say, we don't know, but we find it difficult to see any practical value in. the fact. We are told that the illustrious party put into Milford Sound, and took a cursory, view o.f the country, to ascertain its suitability for settlement. Now what in the name of all that is sensible have the Government got to do with the qneslion of establishingfresh settlem cuts, when they are at this moment rapidly losing its population mainly through inattention to its necessities. There is quite enough work to, be done in opening up the country already .-known, and in^_p_yoviding : '|^tisf^pry gdvera'uient

for tbe population. Let the Government set itself earnestly to the real work of government ; it has done little in that direction, as yet, but tlie time has come when it must be compelled to fulfil its duties. And we trust that, in the next session of the Council, the Government will be forced to adopt a definite policy regarding "Westland, and no longer be allowed to evade responsibility by means of the humbugging pretence of a Special Commission,