THE Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri TUESDAY, 27th OCTOBER, 1874.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1623, 27 October 1874, Page 406

THE Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri TUESDAY, 27th OCTOBER, 1874.

That Sir George Grey, who has twice held the office of Governor of this Colony, and whose government was, to say the least, not less marked by prudence and success than that of any other who has occupied that position, should continue even in private life to exercise an interest in its affairs is not remarkable. In [fact we consider that in the memorial he is reported to have made to the Governor on the present political position of the affairs of the Colony, he has done only that which he might have been expected to have done, and is perfectly justified in doing—although our morning contemporary is so indignant at his interference. That he was somewhat slow to confer a representative Government on the Colony at the time when it was first placed in his power to do so is altogether foreign to the question. The Colony was then in an infantile state, and he was not singular in holding the opinion that such a constitution was somewhat in advance of the requirements of the time : besides this, it is to be considered that in inaugurating such a system he would be divesting himself of some of his powers and prerogatives and conferring them upon others—a step rulers in general are slow to take, and one that would be peculiarly obnoxious to our present Premier. In establishing the Provincial Councils, too, before calling together the General Assembly he showed his foresight and sagacity. The Colony was then, much more than now, composed of diverse elements, and he showed that he had faith in the Provincial system of local government. He doubtless saw that if the General Government were first established it would be likely to act adversely to the success of provincial institutions—which were a principle feature of the constitution—by absorbing in itself the functions intended to be performed by them; while by giving them the first opportunity of exercising them, it was rendered less easy for the General Government to encroach on their domain. That we are right in this view of the case has been abundantly proven by the history of the Colony. For several years it was a matter of dispute whether certain vexed questions should be dealt with by the local or by the General Governments; and the tsndency of the latter has been constantly to encroach on the domain of the former until it has nearly absorbed the whole of practical Government. It is quite evident that if it could have done so in the first instance the intention of the framers of the constitution would have been defeated, and provincialism reduced to a ridiculous farce. Circumstances have greatly changed since that time. What Sir George Grey considered —rightly or wrongly—somewhat premature for the infant Colony, has been long in active and vigorous exercise—and he, a disinterested spectator, can contemplate as suitable for its maturity and jealously guard, so far as practicable to him, from encroachment, and give the colonists due warning of an impending danger. That the scheme of Mr Vogel is to concentrate the power of Government in the hands of the ministry of the day is so obvious, that his flimsy pretexts fail to disguise the truth in any degree. If the threatened provinces have failed to some extent to perform their functions satisfactorily, it is mainly because of

the encroachments of the central body which have deprived them of the means of their due fulfilment; and this state of things points to reform, not destruction ; but there is no need to argue on this point—the very circumstances attending the introduction of the scheme show the reasons for its introduction. The General Government, notwithstanding its enormous sums of borrowed capital, found itself getting into difficulties. It needed another loan and more and better security to offer for it; hence the forest scheme by which a portion of the lands of the Colony were to be made over by the provinces to the General Government; and because the Provinces naturally objected to divesting themselves of their property they were denounced as obstructive to Government and threatened with destruction—but only just so far as Mr Vogel in his astuteness thought himself able to go with impunity. He did not dare to take the manly and perhaps justifiable ground that the system of provincialism as a whole had ceased to act for th e public good,. and demand its entire abolition, but he just attacked those that he thought too weak to withstand his assaults—the provinces ;of one of the islands; forgetting it would appear that some of the provinces in the other island fell under precisely the same conditions as those he would destroy—yet these were to remain together with their more wealthy sisters in that island. The truth being that while he was bold enough to attack the north, he quailed before the idea of including the Southern provinces, lest they should prove too strong for him. Sir George Grey does not assume that the constitution of the Colony, like the laws of the Medes and Persians, cannot be altered, amended, or improved; but he justly objects to any deprivation of the rights and privileges of the colonists nnder false pretences. If the Colony is convinced that centralism pure and simple is more in accordance with its weal than the present more complex system of Provincialism and Centralism combined, and moves the Imperial Parliament to make the necessary charge in accordance with its expressed will, neither he nor any one can possibly object, but when it appears that a man greedy of power attempts the destruction of the constitution simply because the legitimate checks it imposes are found to obstruct his ambitious projects, the thanks of the people are due to any watchman who will sound the warning note of caution against the threatened revolution. ■<> A total eclipse of the moon was visible in Napier on Sunday night. Sir Donald M'Lean, Native Minister, was a passenger to Napier by the Luna on Sunday. We hope that during his stay in the town he will take an opportunity of meeting in a public manner with his constituents. A Provincial Government Gazette dated Saturday, contains a schedule of 11 sections, subdivisions of the Batteryroad harbor reserve, to be offered for lease by auction on the 17th January next, and also a schedule of reclaimed sections on Gough Island, to be offered for sale on the same date. Another change in the weather took place on Saturday last, bleak piercing southerly winds setting in, which continued on Sunday and yesterday. On Sunday snow fell on the hills inland, and during great part of the day the sky was overcast with dense clouds, and there were occasional heavy hailshowers. "We have received a communication entitled " Aping Gentility," which, besides being anonymous, is hardly suited to our columns. The writer inveighs against the practice of dressing and otherwise keeping up appearances beyond one's means, and concludes with this advice:—"Never try to appear what you are not. If people do not like you as you are, their acquaintance is not worth having. Always remember that, and it will save you many a pound, and many a pang of wounded pride." The Californian Minstrels have given a series of very successful performances since their arrival. Last night a good house and an appreciative audience rewarded their efforts. The overture to "The Meny Wives of Windsor," with which the performance opened, was exceedingly good. The songs, "When the Moon" (Mr Campbell), "Down by the deep sad sea" (Mr Avery), and "Gentle bright-eyed Bessie" (Mr Mavor) were admirable; also the " Pilgrim of Love," by Mr Mavor, and "Nil Desperandum" and " When we were boys together," by MrAmery. It is, however, almost invidious to refer to and single song, when all were so good. There was the usual amount of laughable farce and nigger dancing, and a very amusing performance ended with " A shower of cats." In the Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday, Edward Mead, for using obscene language in a public place at Hastings, was fined £2, with lis 2d costs. John M'Mahon charged Thomas Doyle with an assault. Complainant had asked defendant for a shilling alleged to be owing. Doyle replied, " Pay for your tucker, you soldier-looking swine," accompanying the recommendation with a slap in the face. The magistrate said that even if plaintiff was mistaken about the alleged debt, there was no justification for the assault. Pined 10s, and lis 6d costs. Lascelles v. W. Benson, —Claim of £2l Os. Bd.—Judgment by default for amount of claim and £1 6s costs,. R, Young y. P. M/Hardy,«-»

Claim of £9 19s, alleged balance of £l9 deposited with defendant for safekeeping. Defendant denied having received any such sum, and the plaintiff's statement was far frojn clear* Nonsuited, with 5s costs. Yesterday K. Lucas, a colored man, one of the crew of the Rosalia, was charged with drunkenness.—Discharged, having been locked up since Saturday night. Charles Barnes was charged with drunkenness. The accused said he would never drink another glass, and that this would be a warning to him. It.being a second offence, a fine of 10s Was inflicted. John Reymond, a colored man, seaman on board the Rosalia, was charged with assaulting the master of that vessel on the 13th instant, at sea. It appeared that during the mate's watch, the master went to the accused, who was in charge of the pump, which was being worked by a windmill, and told him to help the mill, as the wind was not strong enough. Reymond argued the point, saying the mate had told him to put a break on, as the wind was too strong. An altercation ensued, and the accused at last took up a formidable piece of wood (produced) which had been used as a break, and threatened to knock the captain's brains out if he said another word. s The mate here interfered.. Robert Reid, the mate, corroborated the captain's account of the assault, adding, however, that the captain had aggravated the man, against whom he appeared to have a grudge.— The magistrate said that it was absolutely necessary that the authority of the master should be maintained; and had it not appeared that in this instance he had acted with indiscretion, and unnecessarily irritated the man, the full penalty of twelve weeks' ment with hard labor would have been inflicted. The offence of which the prisoner had been guilty, was one subversive of all discipline; but in consideration of mitigating circumstances, he would inflict the penalty of one months' imprisonment with hard labor. The same defendant was then charged with disobeying the lawful commands of the captain. The ship, being in a very critical state, had been running for two days before the wind, with a view of making Tahiti, when the wind changing to S.S.E.. the captain, with the approval of the'crew, decided once more to run for New Zealand. This course did not meet with defendant's approval, who refused to work at the pumps, and declared that if the vessel's course was steered for New Zealand, he would go there in irons. The mate accordingly put him in irons, prisoner assisting in the operation. He was then placed in a state-room adjoining the cabin, where he behaved so violently that the captain, alarmed for the safety of his chronometer, had him removed to another part of the ship. After a time, he expressed willingness to resume work ; but the captain declined to release him; dreading the effect his liberty would have upon the crew.—The magistrate said the captain was fully justified in confining the prisoner, and keeping him in confinement. He regarded the present offence as a far more serious one than the last, which appeared to have bean a mere ebullition of temper. Here, in a time of great peril, when every man's help was required to the utmost, the prisoner had deliberately refused to aid in navigating the vessel, merely because his views of what was best to be done differed from those of the master and crew. In this instance the court would impose the full penalty—scarcely sufficient to meet a case like the present: —the loss of two days' pay, and four weeks' imprisonment with hard labor, to take effect at the conclusion of the former sentence,