Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1870.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 798, 23 June 1870, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1870.

At the same time that the Provincial Council in this Province was endeavoring to simplify the machinery of Government by dispensing with the Executive Council, and making the Superintendent merely its own executive officer, the reformers in the Province of Nelson were at work in a directly contrary direction ; and tbey have now established for that Province a system of Government. After a sitting of five weeks, occupied chiefly by the discussion of questions of a purely personal character between the Superintendent and the Council, it has at length reached its climax in the passing of an Executive Amendment Act. This act provides that the Executive Council shall consist of five members chosen by the Superintendent, of whom three are to be members of the Council —these three to be subject to removal from the executive as often as they cease to hold the confidence of the Council. The object of this act appears to be the effecting of a result precisely similar to that produced by the more simple action of the Hawke's Bay Council—viz, to take away from the Superintendent all power of independent action, and to reduce him to, the position of a mere servant of the Council. One reason for the extreme action taken by the Nelson Council is that during the recess the Superintendent failed to effect a reduction in Mie salary of one of the officials after such reduction was decided upon by the Council. The officer in question is manager of the Brimmer coal-mine, and overseer of public works on the Grey. His salary was reduced by the Council from, c£3oo to £250; but in order that the services of an efficient officer should not be lost to the Province, the vote iof Council was not carried into,

effect, and his Honor actually paid him £33 10s in excess of the yote of the Council. In addition to this, there were other items of unauthorized expenditure, bringing the total to £62 10s —no very large sum, by the way, when compared with what has often been the case with. us. This expenditure the Council has refused to sanction ; and the Superintendent, consequently, has had to refund the £33 10s to the Treasury, besides becoming liable to an additional penalty of £IOO, although it does not appear that he had any other end in view than the necessities of the public service.

If the Council is to be the direct governing body of a Province, and the Superintendent merely its agent, we must say that the plan adopted by che Hawke's Bay Council is by fat' the most simple and eligible of the two; but'we believe that there are some fatal objections to the scheme, which, however, we shall take another opportunity to point out.