THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1867.

Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 273, 12 October 1867, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1867.

The Comity of Westjand Bill has now passed through both Houses of Assembly, and will probably by this time h>tve been assented. to by the Governor and proclaimed law. We must confess we did not expect such an expenditious piece of legislation '; but we suppose the haste— rye had almost said indecent haste-^with. which this Bill has been hurried through Parliament, may be attributed to the near approach of the close of tlie session, when the " innocents" are usually slaughtered without much consideration, 4- spoecly and. most wonderful change in the Government of this portion of New Zealand has been wrought within a few days. j "We may consider that we are" now no longer a portion of the Province of Canterbury, but a district in the County of "Wesbland. We have not separated from Canterbury, not in anger, but with hearty goodwill on either side — each *evideutly highly pleased to get rid of the other. We do not mean to refer to the past, to its years of bickerings and discontent ; we rather bury the past out of sight and part in peace. "We have quite enough to do to look our present position fully in the face. We are separated from Canterbury and constituted a County, of .which it is sup-' posed that Mr John Hall, the Post master-General, has been nominated Superintendent by the Governor,, and he may shortly be expected at Hokitika to assume the reins of office. He will be assisted by his Council, composed of eight members, four of whom will be returned by the electoral district of Westland, two by the town of Hokitika, and two by the town of Greymouth ; but of this Council the nominee of the Governpr will, be the chairman. It is not yet known whether Mr Hull comes to Westland with the delegated powers of the Governor under this Act and also under the Go.ld Fields Act, or whether he merely comes to set in motion the machinery w^bich lie has had a very active hand in 'the construction of. We believe the latter supposition is correct, for the proposition put forward by our Hokitika contemporary that the Post-master-General of New Zealand is to reside pernmriently at Hokitikaj in the County of Westland, and manage his department therefrom, is simply ridiculous, and 'not worth further consideration. At ariyrate Mr Hall will be here soon — at least he will be in Hoki tika, and perhaps an invitation to him to visit thi-i district might induce him to come here; 1 '- We will then know the worst of this matter, and we expect to bs told something which we believe has been hidd en, t beneath all this- seeming anxiety on the part of the General Government to conciliate the people of Westland. No good can result from disguising the fact that there is very little hope now that anything can possibly be done this session to bring about the Annexation of the Grey district to the Province of Nelson. The delay which book place in the despatch of the petition has, we expect to hear, been fatal to it; with the utmost expedition it can scarcely reach Wellington before the prorogation of Parliament. This delay was partly due to a set of circumstances connected with bad weather and delayed steamers ; but there is no mincing the fact that it was also in a large measure due to the procrastination of certain members of i the Annexation Committee. Those "Sleepy-hollow" influences, which come periodically upon our community have been at work again, and this time we believe they have worked the destruction of the petition ; at the least they have been the means of indefinitely postponing the realisation of the only scheme whidii will be the salvation of this district— Annexation to Nelson. Should these anticipations prove cor. rect, we do not mean to relinquish the fight — it may be postponed, not given up. - Meantime the best thing we can •do is to consider who are the two best men we . can" send to represent Greymouth in the new' Council of the County of Westland; if we wish to be represented in that Council ; but it is also a matter for us to consider whether we will consent to act under this new Bill, or take any part in the Council's deliberations. The inhabitants of this disti-ict have ,by neither act, word, nor deed, assisted .or encouraged the passing of the County Bill ; but on ; the other hand hare been hostile tp. it all through/.'

Not one' signature to the petition, which has been the cause of the passing of this Bill was obtained in the Grey District ; but we believe that thousands could have been \ obtained against it, We do not Counsel the doing of anything unconstitutional, or ask our readers to leap at the conclusion that the BUl" is bad, and that the district has suffered an injury ; we simply wish them to consider the matter fully and fpirly "before ] they tacitly become consenting parties ! to an order of things* which may prove detrimental to tho best interests of the district. Since writing the above, our worst fears have been realised, as we learn b) r : telegrams, publiehed in pur Hokitika contemporaries, that Parliament was prorogued on Thursday, and it has been 'officially announced that the Hon. John Hall has been appointed LieutenantGovernor of Westland. There. is as yet no announcement -as to^ the proclamation of the Westland County Bill ; but the appointment of Mr Hall puts it beyond a doubt that it is the full intention of the Governor to put the Bill in force without delay. Therefore, we expect no good result this session either from the mission of our delegate or the Annexation Petition.