THE BLUFF.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 471, 9 May 1857, Page 6

THE BLUFF.

(From the ' Gtagri Witness,' April ;18th.)

The Southern post has brought ■us the report of a meeting held at Invercargill on the 28th ultimol This meeting is of a very important character on several grounds'.' It is the first indication of anything like political life; in: the Southland shews to what an extent the course: of legislation of the last session of the Provincial Council has roused, the indignation of a large and respectable portion of the community. But the objectiffin to the, legislation is feeble in comparison with the dislike to the Executive, proceeding of the. Government. The object sought to be obtained by the southern settlers, should they be successful: iii the course which

they are pursuing, will be extremely damaging to the province as a whole, and incalculably in-, jiirious to Dunedin and the northern portion of; Otago. We do not think the advantages to the southern division r will equal the anticipations of the authors of the present move. Separation, should be avoided long.as possible* It,as quite absurd to have two expensive Provincial establishments to govern not ,4,000 people. Much better would it be for all if we could work, harmoniously together. Otago is naturally one province,; and ; any division must •be by, an imaginary line, producing much inconvenience : and perplexity. Nelson , and Canterbury are mainly; divided by, high ranges of mountains; (though the former does come somewhat over the border>) and Canterbury and Otago are separated by an almost impassable river, but throughout Otago there exists no great obstacle to communication; : ,The whole, therefore, could, and ought to be, satisfactorily ruled by one Go- \ vernment.;, But much as we dislike the idea,of breaking, up t the Province of Otago, now the i largest and finest in point of natural capabilities :in all New Zealand, we cannot possibly shut our ' eyes to facts.. That the settlers in the southern country hay been badly used, is beyond a doubl. No i one ; can peruse the petition which / was unanimously adopted at'the. meeting without feeling-that; those; who adopted it have ample cause for dissatisfaction. Neither can we be s, at .■ all surprised that they should seek to free themselves, even at a sacrifice, from the political bondage in which they have been held by the Government ; but if the past course of misman?, agement is to be repeated, so far from separation being a sacrifice, it will be a blessing to them. : When- the .Land Sales and Leases Ordinance was-humed through the Council in.about three days , without previous without ; the public having an opportunity of expressing an opinion on the measure,, or of. statingjthe effect it would hayeuppn; the various, parts of the country;. when the whole of the assumed facts were taken for .granted,, upon the word .of the Provincial Solicitor, few of the poiinqil imagined that they were placing the interests, and property of a large - portion of the southern stockowners at the mercy of the Executive^ \.';Yet it was so. The Waste Land Board, in defiance of ; the spirit of the Land Kegulatipns, was made a mere party affahvby reason of the, Executive being appointed ,' by themselves' sto be the . Board; so that the, board,, instead of being, as ; was intended to be, a tribunal.judging between the. Government and the public,.asr\vell as^between man and man, became a mere engine in ■j thehands of the Government. we do not mean to affirm .that it has been used as a political, engine, it could be so used, and may be : so. used. But without imputing, improper ' motives tp .the, board, we haye.no, hesitation in paying that had the .board been independent of the , Provincial Government, the decisions in many instances would have been very different tpwjiat they have been. . Let v.« illustrate our j femarlis by a case. The applicant; for a run : bepomes: entitled - to. receive a license for ,14 , years,,when he has complied with certain i-egu- ; latipns and put so .much stock on the ground; ITo do 1 this he must expend some hundreds of !• pounds in erecting buildings, peris, and other conveniences, and having complied strictly with ; the terms of the regulations he demands his j license. It is refused." Upon what plea ? The1 ) land is wanted for sale under the Land Sales , and Leases Qrdinance, The decision is final. The stpckowner has no practicable remed3 f." He* may expend a few hundreds more in ati endeavour to fix himself in another locality with per-, haps the same results. Now, in justice and common sense, what.difference. is there between the man who obtained his license one week before the -law was passed, and the man who had equally fulfilled his. part of .-the contract with . Government by storing his run, but asks for his license the week after ? Why^nonel And had the board, been Unconnected with the Government, such applicants for licenses would have received them. But the board and'the i Executive being one and: the same, the necessity ;of carrying out.its own measures causes it to overlook the injustice it commits, ,ar.d the property of a most important saction. of the public is placed at the mercj^ of the Government—an uncertainty of tenure which paralyzes action; and hence arises a great portion of the dis-. : satisfaction felt at the Souths; If the statement with reference to the effect of tha same law on the agricultural interests of Murihiku be correct, .we are not at all surpri-

sed at the unanimity of the dissent expressed at the meeting. Perhaps; however, the most ob« vious cause of dissatisfaction is the parsimonious distribution of ■ the public money at the South. We learn = from good authority that, of th». £5000 voted.for roads, the merest; fraction has been .proposed to be expended in the South^ and yet it is obviously true that the Gpyernment expects to draw, and is drawing, the 'larger por. tion of the land revenue from the sale of land south of the Molyneux. ; Upon the principla upon which land funds should be spent, we think there can be but little doubt. The money; derived frpm the, sale of land cannot be fairly looked upon as a tax, the proceeds of whieli may legitimately be applied to the ordinary maintenance of the Govei-nment. Its. just apprdpria* tion is to the promotion, of immigration and th» making of roads ; and as well may the inhabitants of Auckland or expect to receive our land funds and; expend them tliere, at for us to apply the land .funds derived from southern , sales. exclusively to our own want* \yithin the Otago Block. We j however, think that those who adopted the petition in question have not taken .into full consideration; the fact of so lai-go a sum as £20,000, out of the last session's; appropriationj . haying*1 been voted for immigratipp—an object .from which it is questionable.if they will not derive a greater benefit than will be received by any other portion of Otago. And; however much we may censure the Gpyernirient for not having the forethought to pi'ovide ah ef^cient staff of surveyors the moment the cheap land movement became apparent^.'we'cannot-but admit that for some time past every effort that could be made to forward the surveys 'at' the 7 south has been made, and. we may say that; the whole of thg extensive establishinerit of the survey department is engaged in effecting that object. Upon these two points, immigration and surveys, the south has novy.no cause of complaint. Looking upon the subject in a more abstract light, we cannot see that it will be possible to carry;,out'the Cpnstitutipri Act .if every Province is to becoms subdividedinto smaller Proyincfesj and each is to have its separate legislature; the laws will becpme so iminerous, complex, and coriflicting,that it will be utterly useless to attempt to comprehend them. : : On the whole we think that our southern friends '"should endeavour to become fairly represented in the present Council, and try what effect' the placing in power1 of a more liberal Gpvernineht might have upon their interest before they resort to a separation.