CENTRALISM AND PROVINCIALISM.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 13, 1 April 1867, Page 74

CENTRALISM AND PROVINCIALISM.

(Southern/ Cross.)

There is abundant evidence that Mr Stafford’s Government!means to aholish Provincial institutions*in the! coming session, if {.possible, i It is announced in issue of; the /Wellington Advertiser, which is said to reflect!the opinions -of the Government, that such an attempt Will-he made.- i.The article to which we refer wilivb'e'found elsewhere; and ; it is worth perusal. ,c The question now is, not whether Provincial institutions are/good in theory, but whether they have perfected their work., --Looking at: it in this light, which is-the only practical view of the question; we should say. that Provincial institutions 1 have not yet accomplished that for which they were established. Their work is rather enlarging upon the Provinces than decreasing. This will appear to! any one who gives the subject the least consideration. They will find that the General Government is, nothing else than a hugely cumbrous and expensive machine for the collec tion’and disbursement of revenue. The real practical work of government is left to the Provinces; the .General Government simply interposes delays and checks, and absorbs two-thirds of the revenue of the country in the operation. ’

Iri practice, we find that the system of-, centralising government in this country interferes seriously with business. The delays and uncertainty connected with every transaction in which a reference is necessary to the seat of Government, are in themselves sufficient to condemn the system; and were any* other British community than ours subjected to such treatment, summary and effectual measures of reform would be adopted. We appeal to anyone who has had dealings with the Government since the new system of Treasury payments came into operation, to say whether or not that sysdoes not practically enable the Go vernment at Wellington to evade payment of their accounts for four, six, or eight months, in many cases inflicting serious loss to men in business. Centralism means a continuance of this system of evasion, which is as costly from its, circumlocution as it is dishonest in principle. Then, again, the necessity of sending all documents to be stamped in Wellington, under a penalty, imposes pecuniary burdens on the people in excess of the stamp duty. Moreover, it involes delays, and the possible loss of important documents, for which the Government is not by any means responsible. Indeed it w. uld almost appear as if the Treasury regulations and the Stamp Act had framed with a view to find employment for the host of placemen who are pensioned on the conutry, and at the same time-to place every hindrance'that iugenuity could invent in the way of completing business transactions. 1 1 .

, The same remarks apply to the is sue of Crown Grants; We are certain we are within the mark when we say that the delays——the uncalled-for delays—that Have taken-place-in the issue of Crown grants from Wellington, have ruined scores of struggling men in Auckland, and seriously embarrassed many more. No one’ can possibly conceive the number of instances in which heavy loss in money—sometimes ruinous loss—-has been inflicted from this cause. And the effect does not end with the individual. It is felt by the community at large. On this account great tracts of country in this Province' are to-day! unimproved, which would otherwise have been partially cultivated, adding to the permanent wealth of the Colony arid the stability of our settlement. Prom this cause much misery, hardship, and individual suffering-have been inflicted.; and so long as the system of Centralism* such as we find it prevails'in New land, so long’will these abuses continue.' • •

No doubt the Wellington Advertiser prefers Centralism to Provincialism. The preference -is natural; -Who would prefer to - plenty, : 1 indigence to opulence,' “ hard times ” to; prosperity ? Now, we do riot-wish any haim: less 4 SO to our-contemporary ; il( but- we -desire that other' plaices iri the' Colony shall have a share ; of ; the i good things of this' life,’ 'more/ especially • when these ; hhpseri: / be !jJ putfehasetJ /not envy Wellington, ahd would : riOt- have her pay one shilling towards the go-

vernment in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, or any other Province. But we want-' her to live on her own resources, and.-. nbt boast of an artificial draining the other settlements, of.trijir.„ re.venuej,_to spend.it in hey thaintaining an array of offi'cials teh'" times too numerous for the, real .public; work of the country; Therefore, fbr* the present we prefer We would reduce the General Govern*, ment; very considerably. We would, shear it of its unfair proportions. It ’ is admitted on all hands that it has, grown, out of all proportion to publicr requirement. Mr Stafford admits thiatfact; so also does his organ, the Advertiser. But do we see signs of re-‘ trenchment ? By no means. A Civil Service' commissioner was appointed, the commissioners being chosen from" amongst,the noble army, of officials > and of course the report was in every respect satisfactory.. The civil ser-; vants were to be placed on a better - footing as to pay and pension; that was ail. AMr Spence was brought from Melbourne to act on the commission, arid as his office has siuce been abolished hy ; the Victorian Government, Mr Stafford has had to make a. place for him here. So we find that Mr Spence and Mr Gisborne Have been sent on a tour to examine the officers of the Government at every sea-port on literary and scientific subjects.. This duty will occupy the examiners several months, and the pay and travelling allowance included will cost the country two or three thousand pounds. This done, we are told : another commission will be brought out from England to enquire whether the noble army might not be reduced I: Such is the proposal of the Government ; and of course, it is all with & view to retrenchment. The Colony ia thus being fooled into a belief that the ' Government is iri earnest; whereas it ' is only patent that the intention isu to increase rather than reduce expen- ' diture.

So long as Centralism continues,, there will be no hope for a thorough retrenchment. The General Assembly has become as corrupt as the Executive. Members would appear to belegislating with a view to finding situations for themselves or friends, and nbt for the public good. Since the advent of Mr Stafford: to office, the system of corruption has been per* fected, and if all the rumors we hear turn out true, we should not be surprised to find that before, the close of the present Parliament, three-fourths of the members who were returned at the last general election will have retired from the active, arena of politics to life-billets, under the Government. This is a sad but a melancholy truth. Mr Stafford appeared, when leader of the opposition in 1865,. as a purist; but it would seem that he was insincere. The number of public officers having seats in. Parliament, has increased since then,; and place and pay have been showered on others. Perhaps it was imperative on Mr Stafford to bribe his opponents* and increase the number of his. followers, by such means; but the country has suffered in reputation and money. The tone of political morality has . been lowered. The General Assembly has ceased to be respected. “Lobbying” of the worst kind has become an “ instita-; tion” in Wellington ; and any Government that desires to retain office,, whilst the seat of Government remaina there, must be prepared to continue the present system. The cure for all this is to strengthen Provincialism, until such time as the Colony has been so far and the means of communication so well perfected, that the political and commercial capital may* be chosen<by general consent. At present, it is idle to call Wellington the capital of * New Zealand. It is a ' small community* far behind' several : of its rivals/in wealth, populatidnp arid trade ; < and counot pretend to give a metropolitan tone-to colonial dolitics; ; But on acconni of its obscurity it is the better fitted 'to be the centre of intrigue and A; hot bed of jobbery; * The breath of a; wholesome public * opininion -neyer ruffles its stagnant' pool of corruption. it : is the iriterest of its inhabitants - to conserve the existing system; *. and hence no voice is raised againstnit in the: Weihugton/press, whose-.yeriality wasunblushingiyiproclaiuiedvlastusesaion,, and: through whose. ; neglect, failing to receive a bribe, the

country was kept in igaoraince of tKtf progress and scope of the legislation.