THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1693, 7 January 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1874.

The benefits which the West Coast Goldfields would derive fr6m their political' amalgamation under one government is a 'subject which has been often and fully discussed, in favor of .which petitions have been signed, and orators' have bravely rßfoirape'd'th'e country. -iAs'y'et, however,' all these efforts, have ifailed to attain the> 'end'desired. ;If we i 'may i judge from ihe r speeches of tte : candidates at the late' election, it ia i highly; probable that, a new at tempt in this direction will be made/at j an early date. Our present .Superintendent has stated that Tie is strongly irt favor ( pf.the' scheme, and' wiU:be prepared to forward'it'; he aid' not, nowev,er ? forget that <the consent of two parties was necessary 4o : an'y fl c6ntrsct of this kind, and: it was,here n of course,, that the. nib was^.tp be anticipated. ; > Since v the failure of the attemptin 1872, IS all ' agitation upon tne v subject.has ,ceased ; although the desirability ,ofj tlie, end sought is almost universally admitted. The reasons for thit. failure were; threefold.' The first of these was the opposition of tlie Nelson folk^, headed by Mr Curtis, whose influence: in . tHe Assembly was at that time of mTiqh; value ,to the Stafford party, and who was consequently able to offer, a 'powerful resistance to all efforts at dismemberment

of his Province. Secondly, the premature abandonment of the by those who were at one tinle/lts most- zealous, champions. This appears to nave been chiefly the consequence of a hasty conclusion, that the resistance above-mentioned was. so. _ t ßtrong.,aa.,,to, render ..thejiask. of fighting against it hopeless. Thirdly, the lurking dread on Ijhe--part of Nelson South-west, of the financial embarrassments' in which the County of Westland was then involved. Of Nelson opposition it is useless to expect that it i will have been in any way diminished by the lapse of two years, and we may feeL .'quite certain that Mr Curtis will fight tooth and nail to retain the We3t Coast under his rule^ even though it should be the unanimous desire of the people to obtain separation. As to the faintheartedness of those who promoted the movement, the remedy for this is in the hands of the people themselves, a.nd it will be for them to see thatijn the event of a renewed effort to ob,^\n an united Government, the cause is committed to the keeping of persons in 1 whose staunchness dependence can be placed. The third difficulty is really the v ° principally one, and unless an adequate solution of this is offered by ; Westland, it is not to be supposed that the Nelson portion of the Coast will join heartily in any endeavor to procure the union of the two districts. The main object of the inhabitants is to obtain the expenditure of their revenue Upon their own district. It is certain, therefore, that they will not be warm favorers of any proposal which, while it establishes one Government, and is so far useful, simply converts their present privilege of contributing to the ornamentation and advancement of Nelson proper, into that of participating in the payment of Westland's ■ debts, or of the interest thereon. The dread of this is, we believe, the real secret of that lukewarmness on the subject which, the . inhabitants of the Nel.°on side of the Grey have displayed/ arid Westland may feel sure at the outset, that however great may be the economy and'other advantages derivable from the proposed union, it will not be acceptable: ;to the ; Nelson side, unless a ", strictly equitable adjustment of the public burdens as between the two districts is simultaneously secured. ' This obstacle caririo^, we should imagine, have failed' to present itself to Mr Bonar at the time that he avowed himself an "advocate of the union of the West Coast, but no hint did he give of the manner in which he proposed .to get , over the diffir culfcy. And yet we can hardly suppose .that where so guive an objection exiats to a scheme on the advantages of which the people are wellnigh unanimous, Mr, Bonar would be contented to advocate the scheme generally for electioneering: purposes, without having in his mind some plan by which he anticipates that , the difficulty can be removed!.. On this point, however, it is improbable that there will be any further explanation given until the. proposal takes a more definite shape, as it probably will, if the inhabitants of Nelson South- Wesc desire it, before the General Assembly again meets. Meanwhile, however, and considering that the people of the north side of the Grey are yet perfectly quiescent as regards the suggested change, there seems to be just a little element of the ridiculous in the fatherly anxiety of Westland politicians, who have their own local Government, and are not the 1 thralls of a distant city on Cook's- Straits, : to deliver their less 'fortunate brethren <^f the Nelson Gold-fields from the band 6f the; oppressor. It is so very !hard in these times for people to induce the world to believe in their disinterestedness, that we fear the unselfishness of Westland will be liable to be misconstrued, and its political philanthropy attributed by those who ar,e unacquainted with its real goodness 6f heart, to far : different motives from thode of humanity. - i :