THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY AUGUST 27, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1890, 27 August 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURS DAY AUG UST 27, 1874.

.It is almost a pity that the hon. member for the Hutt missed the opportunity which he said he wished to have of speaking to the Government resolutions on the Provincial abolition question. He has himself expressed -his regret that he did not speak on the question, and, by the result arrived at, unexpectedly we imagine to him, he was almost driven to move the subsequent resolutions he did for dissolution, in order to maintain his hitherto. long-asserted position as a leader of public opinion in the North Island, to which his position in Wellington somehow entitled him. After the fighb with the Premier over the Forests Bill this second defeat will be as gall, because of the enormous majority agaiust_itAandinfavnr nf jmv ~ VogeYsTamenclmeut, which vas carried on Monday, to the effect, as previously stated in our telegrams — " That Provincial Government in the North Island be, as soon as possible, followed by an inexpensive but more thorough form of Local Government under which the Island could be divided into districts and subdistricts, which shall be endowed with substantial revenues, and that residents therein be entitled to take larger control of affairs and expenditure than at present is the case." There was not the slightest occasion for the afterthought of Mr Fitzherbert to introduce the resolutions he did, except that he had not made a display of his eloquence on the Government resolutions. The Government have been instructed by the House to consider the whole subject during the approaching recess. They are asked to submit' to Parliament, next session, their plan of governing the North Island without the assistance of Provincial institutions, and on that scheme the representatives of the constituencies will be asked to decide. In the meantime there will be ample opportunity for discussing the subject. It is one with which the various districts of the country are perfectly familiar, and have nearly all, in public meeting assembled, expressed their opinion. ; On this question the ■■" New Zealand Times " makes the following remarks, with which we entirely agree \—" It is ' very remarkable that though in Auckland, when the first imperfect accounts ot the Premier's scheme reached that city, there appears to have been an outburst of indignation and remonstrance, it has already . subsided. Furtherinformationhas reached the furthest outskirts of the Colony, and it has sufficed to change completely the current of public opinion. From Auck- : land itself we learn now that the public do not dissent from the great constitutional change proposed, but are ready to agree to its adoption, desiring only that the measure the Ministry have in contemplation should not be confined to the North. Island alone, hut should extend to all -the- Provinces, that one form of Government may prevail in New Zealand. Testimony of the same kind has come from- other quarters within the last few days. Similar expressions of opinion have been made both in the south and the west of the Middle Island. Some members of the House who elected to oppose the resolutions of the Government have found themselves in the singular position of being repudiated by their constituents almost before their voices were, silent. On the West Coast the feeling appears to be unanimous that Provincialism should be abolished, not only in the Northern Provinces, but — as the people of Auckland think— all over the Colony. .... The proposition of the hon. member for the Hutt does not really advance in the smallest upon the resolution to whioh the House has already assented. It haa been decided by an absolute majority of members that Provincialism should cease in the North Island. It has also been decided that the Government shall be asked to propose a plan of government during the recess, to supersede that system. If the House should, next session, approve of that course, it will not be without the country: having been consulted on the whole ■ subject. Members, in the next Bession, will speak on this matter, not for

themselves only, but for the country. In that case there will bo no necessity to resort to the constituencies." After what has passed it is likely jthe "massacre of the innocents" will commence, and the dissolution take place in a few days. In the meantime the members of the so-called Opposition are mustering their forces into what they term a Constitutional Reform League, of the results of which we may' hear more next session, although that would be fruitless seeing that it will be the last meeting of the present Parliament, and an early dissolution might not then be objected to even if carried.