Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1864.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume III, Issue 157, 15 January 1864, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1864.

Great efforts are being made by the Government to introduce population into this island. Men are being collected from all parts, and of all sorts, to form what are to be called “ Military Settlements.” In short 5 it is clearly the intention of the “ powers” to get such a number of men located that it is hoped that the Native question will be finally settled, not, be it observed, by force of reason, not by the eloquent teachings of Bishop Selwyn, nor by the crafty policy of Sir George Grey, nor by the skilful manoeuvres of General Cameron, but by sheer force of numbers. A startling argument, truly ; and so long as it meets the object had in view, why so far so good. We are not prepared to give in our adhesion to this probably happy result, brought about by this apparently simple means, but still we will take the matter as it stands, and review it upon its merits. Since the last Genera! Assembly thought it desirable to sanction a loan of three millions of money for the purpose of settling the Native Question, and since the method of effecting that object is to be found in the expenditure of that sum principally upon “ Military Settlers,” and since, as a matter of course, the upshot of the introduction of these people is to a certain extent

tantamount to the that money, we quite agree in the propriety of getting ag many of these importations located in this Province as possible. But when here, a very natural question is —“What shall we do with them?” QoHe so, that is just the point. There is some talk about setting our share of these proposed contingents to make roads. But we have very little faith in this sort of way of making roads. It is notoriously thg most expensive and the most imperfect me* thod known—that of Government making roads. Everybody knows that the most remarkable features in all Government undertakings are the extreme slowness of the execution and the proportionately enormous cost. It is not the business of New Zealand Governments, whether Provincial or otherwise, to do anything pro bom publico, but merely to make it, whatever it may bo, a means of finding employment for hungry dependents, and otherwise for the strengthening of the Governmental hands, but by no means for the purpose of doing the thing to be done as it ought to be done. Such a thing as the perfect doing of a given work is not vouchsafed to the Governmental intellect. Therefore, if any real work is to be done, it should be done, not by the Government directly, but by contractors under the Government. Here, then, if this view be correct, and, judging from past experience, we see no reason why it should not be correct, it is clear that the intolerable burden that the proposed road making under the proposed system is likely to prove to the country, will be quite enough to make us wish that such a tiling as roads had never been invented. Again, the great fear expressed by thinking men upon the subject of this inundation of laborers is, that unless we endeavour to

bring into the country a proportinate amount of bond fide capital to the quantity of labor, we shall speedily find ourselves overrun with a pauper population. It is manifestly most undeniable that the present system of borrowing m mey for the purpose of introducing a laboring population, and supporting that population for a time out of that borrowed money, is a most rotten and untenable state ot tilings. When that money is gone, when the last loan that can he raised is expended, and when the Public Creditor becomes clamorous for the settlement of his little bill, then, and not till then, shall we see the utter folly, the utter madness of quietly allowing that “ little bill” to be run up.

Our New Zealand Governments are not Governments to be trusted with money without the greatest caution. These Governments are remarkable—have always been remarkable—fur the unblushing manner in which they have disbursed the public money regardless of the authority of the representatives of the people, and regardless of every other consequence than the happy consequence of being able to secure a majority in the “ House” when some impertinent member calls for an inquiry into this and that. It is quite unnecessary fur the good people to be afraid lest the money now borrowed by this generation should be productive of nothing but advantage to the next. We have no hesitation in saying that if the next generation get no other benefit from us their predecessors and progenitors than what is likely to descend to them out of this loan business, it is our belief that their expectations in that direction will be most grievously disappointed. Our Government will take very good care that there shall be very little of the money which comes to their hands expended in any other way than for immediate use, —that is, for the immediate use of the then existing Government.