THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT AND OTAGO.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 16, 6 May 1867, Page 105

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT AND OTAGO.

["From tlie Daily Times, 22ad April J

It is hardly possible adequately to de- ' scribe the indignation which was felt < and expressed on Saturday when it became known that the General Government had decided on withholding from the Superintendent the delegation under the Goldfields Act, and had appointed Mr Bradshaw their agent to govern the goldfields. But one opinion seemed to prevail—that a deliberate insult had been offered to the province in an appointment which shewed so utter a disregard of its interests. Without any disrespect to Mr Bradshaw, and without denying that lie may possess high qualifications for such a position, it is certain that his sole recommendation was his having obtained a place in the Assembly, in which he evinced himself a devoted upholder of the Government- He may be fitted to assume the virtually irresponsible control of two-thirds of the province, for such the government of the goldfields amounts to; but there is no evidence of it. He is without /ifficial experience on the gold-fields; his provingsuitable.is, in short, a pure and remote chance. The well-being of the province may be comparatively a matter of indifference to the General Government, whilst to every resident in it it is a matter of vital moment. It may easily be imagined, therefore, ,l how violent is the indignation felt at the carelessness, to speak mildly, of the General Government of interests ’ which, to the province, are so important. Those who remember the indignation which used to be expressed when the Colonial Office was in the habit of disposing of colonial patronage to political connections, irrespective of their fitness, may conceive the kind of indignation felt. For the rest, the peculiar circumstances of the case, and especially the proximity of the offenders, intensifies the indignation. Indeed the anger is so strongly expressed that a few words of caution are necessary. It would be a matter much to be regretted if there were to be any violation of the law. It may be assumed as certain that, without infring- _ ing the law, Mr Bradshaw will be prevented from exercising any real power.' It would be impossible for the Brovin-. cial Government to allow the Control of two-thirds of the province to be handed over to Mr Bradshaw; and we may presume, therefore, that a settlement of the question will be delayed in one way or other until the Assembly meets. Then there can be no doubt of the result. It has always been the pride of the New Zealand Assembly to prevent itself being made the avenue to personal aggrandisemant. It will resent as an insult such an appointment of oue of its members, when there are sc- r.*s of persons possessing official experience to whom it might have been offered. It is hardly too’ much to say that personally Mr Brad*' shaw is more entitled to commiseration than indignation, since his ambition, is sure to be disappointed; and besides, the quareel is riot with him, but with, the General Government. Yv e cannot, therefore, too strongly counsel moder-. tion and an avoidance of anything savouring of insult or persoual hostility. We have as yet not touched upon the larger question of whether a delegation of the goldfields control to anyone but the Superintendent is possible. Our present space will not permit of our’ saying more than that a second Government within the province, as such a delegation to anyone but the Superintendent would be tantainount to, eaunot possibly work. The whole province would suffer, and what is distasteful to the whole proviuce cannot be made to continue.

The Daily Times of - the same date contains the following letter from Mr Stafford to the; Superintendent of Otago. It is dated Wellington, 16th April 17— ... ' Sir,— The delegation tothe late Superintendent of Otago of the-powerk-of his the-Goi vernor, under the Gold4elds Act, 1806, haring

pow lapsed,. the Government has appointed Mr J. B. Bradshaw to be its agent at the gold-fields in the Province of Otago. Assuming that the late Superintendent has left fn charge of the Provincial Government all official documents, maps, &c., connected, with the administration of the gold-fields,; I shall, feel obliged by your .causing them, to,be transferred to the charge of .Mr Bradshaw, who is duly authorized to receive them.—l have th'e honor, to he, Bir, your juosfc. obedient servant, - We understand that Mr Bradshaw, during Saturday forenoon, personally applied to, bis Honor for a transference of the documents, ahcl the Superintendent replied that if Mr Bradshaw would niake the application in writing, it would be duly considered by himself and the Executive.

It ,was rumoured on Saturday that Mr Bradshaw intended to-day to com jnence a tour through the goldfields. A circular has been addressed by the General Government to the Wardens and other goldfield officers: and we believe that it is therein stated that salaries, &c„ will in future be paid only on Mr Bradshaw’s authorisation.

. £New Zealand Advertiser, 26th April.] Tije fearful indignation that has been felt in Otago in consequence of the appointment of Mr Bradshaw as agent for the General Government at the gold field of that Province, has been in .the telegrams which we published told in our last issue and to-day. Our Otagan contemporaries go, so far as to

say that he has been appointed Minister for Mines, with a salary of £I,OOO per annum, and all the powers of the Governor delegated to him. We are in a position to state that their alarms are groundless, and that Mr Bradshaw is simply agent for the Government, with a salary of £6OO a year, and none of the powers of the Governor delegated to him. The action of the Executive, therefore, in ordering that the gold-fields authorities shall pay no attention to his orders, and the burst of indignation at the appointment, are altogether premature. The Times of the 22nd says that there is but one opinion throughout the community—“that a deliberate insult has been offered to the Province in an appointment which showed so utter a disregard to its interests.” Why should it be so? The Government, in making the ap pointment, were not guided by the interests of Dunedin but by the interests of the gold-fields and of the general revenue. The Times makes the old mistake of supposing that Dunedin is all Otago, which provincialists have so long been promulgating in regard to their capital towns Mr Bradshaw is a geuteleman well-known on the gold-fields, and has the support of the constituency there who thought him fit to represent them in the General Assembly.

' The Dunedin people suppose rightly that the appointment was not given to the Supetiutendent because the holder of that office was Mr Macandrew. But let the Dunedin people remember this, that though they may be led away into making choice of a Chief Magistrate with such antecedents as their present Superintendent, the General Government of tlie' colony are not hound to iinposr that confidence in him ■Which they have done. Otago people have made their choice, and must take the consequences. They must not ex pect to see any of the powers that art ordinarily delegated by the Governor to Superintendents given to Mr Macandrew, and they must expect that other parts of the colony will endorse the decision of the Government on this point. We do not intend to rake lip the old complaints that were made with only too good foundation against Mr Macandrew, but we may say that more recent investigations have only tended to confirm the opinion of the Government that where a delegation of power is necessary, it is wiser to give it to some other person.

'JLbe JtiON. J. Johksto;s. —.Referring to the recent resignation by the lion. John Johnston of his seat in the .Executive Council, the Wairarapa Mercury, 20th Tilt., soys;—“One of the most clear-headed, straightforward, and far-seeing members of tiie General Government—the Hon. John Johnston—has resigned his seat in the Executive Council. The ministerial press, aware that. such resignation, if the true Reasons were given, would have the effect of inflictiug a severe blow on their clients ceutralising policy, have endeavoured to make it appear that the resignation was xnade on purely private grounds—that his public duties interfered too much with his mercantile pursuits. We have reasons to believe either that the ministerial journals have" been misinformed, or that they have, to save the Government from injury* asother than the true reason; for the fcta fy Mr, Johnson.”;

Tnu “CitiGxox” Pauasites.—-But now for the chignons. Try as I will to stave off the unsavory subject, I cannot help myself. A horrid impertinent man/ meddling with things that don’t concern him, has been prying about with his microscope,’ and lias discovered that about three-fourths of the chignons that are bought contain the eggs of a minute creature which lie calls gregarina , which is ordinarily developed —O, horror!— in the interior of what he calls, for delicacy-sake, the pediculus humani capitis, but which may abo be devooped by the warmth of the head, especially when assisted by the the extra heat of the ball-room ; and that they are extremely prolific, like all of the lowest forms : and very difficult to get rid of, except by the use of very strong chemicals, which injure the lmir. Of course the ladies are very indignant; and of course the hairdressers are more so j and declare that after the processes to which they subject the hair, t is impossible that there should be the ieast remains of life about it: But there aie others again who support “Investigator,” and fully bear him out; and the Daily Telegraph and its correspondents have produced such a very unpleasant sensation in many heads, that the chignons are fast going behind the fire, and the hairdressers are going distracted —London correspondent of the ft elson Examiner.