NELSON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 655, 16 February 1859, Page 3

NELSON.

We have papers from this province to the sth inst. The regatta took place, on the 2nd and 3rd of February, with a moderate breeze on the first day and a stronger brie on the second. For the Nelson Challenge Cup (to be obtained,by a vessel winning in two successive seasons,) the cutter Auckland came in first, beating;the Flying Fish (Duppa), and the Ocean Sprite. (Dash wood). A two-oared boat race and a match, among watermen concluded the first day ,_ The Yacht Cup,,for vessels under 50 tons, was .won also by the Auckland against the same twovessels; that r.an in the Challenge :race, but the Flying Fish entered ; a protest. A two-pared boat race, a cargo boat match, and a match between coasters, won by the Supply'against the Elizabeth; concluded the regatta."

The most important news is of the SEPARATION OF THE-WAIRAU. (Communicate^ to the' Nelson Examiner.') At a. meeting held at the Wairau Hotel, on the 15th'February, t in pursuance of a notice published in the ' Colonist' arid' Examiner' newspapers, Qeorge White, Esq., in the chair, "

Mr. Ward opened the meeting by stating his reasons for having taken upon himself to -call the settlers of the district/and proposed the following resolution:—" That the inhabitants bifihat'portion of the Province of Nelson 'lying-to the 'eastwardof the dividing- range between Blind Bay and the Wairau claim; for themselves the; management of their own local concerns upon the following grounds: the population and wealth of the,district are such as to justify such a claim; because nature has-made, theccountryithey inhabit so geographically distinct .from Blind Bay thaltheir dependence upon that part of the province as a centre is attended' with great loss of -time, inconvenience, and annoyance; because various' laws suitable to a district like Blind Bay are not suitable to a district jlike. the Wairau, the conditions of which are essentially different; because, while.the greater.portion of the land revenue of the province has been raised from districts lying to the eastward of Blind Bay, the expenditure upon local improvements has been next' to nothing, the money being spent elsewhere; in consequence of which the inhabitants of the Wairau are now expected to tax themselves to'construct those public works, the expenses of which should be borne upon the land fund. , Because they have every reason to believe that this will continue to be the case, vvhile they are in dependence upon people with whom they have little natural connection, and who, while their sympathy and interests are elsewhere, have the preponderance of political power in their hands. This meeting, therefore, resolves that the interests of their district will be greatly promoted by their possessing the power of managing their own local concerns and expending their revenue, both ordinary and territorial, upon the improvements of their district. In the exercise of this power, it is the opinion of this meeting that the country may be opened up, population introduced, production' encouraged and facilitated, and the interests of the districts generally consulted, and that in a manner as satisfactory and complete as the previous neglect in all these respects has been palpable and injurious."

This resolution having been seconded by Mr. H. Godfrey,

Mr. Wemyss observed^ that the only objection he had to the proposition was the fear he had that they would find the revenue would not be such as a separate establishment will call for. He thought, as Dr. Monro was present, the opportunity .should not be lost of putting a few questions to him. He had thought much about the subject, and could not satisfy himself that the revenue would be sufficient. He should like to hear Dr. Moriro's opinion as, to what our separate Government would cost, and also w hat would be our probable revenue.

Dr. Monro said he had not intended to take any active part on the present occasion; but as Mr. .Wemyss had asked him several questions, he would reply to him as, well as he could, with pleasure. As regarded the nature of the establishment, that would depend upon what the residents of : the districts would themselves decide. The act compels you to have a Council and a Superintendent. The Superintendent would requite? a clerk, perhaps, an d he thought it desirable that there should be a Treasurer. A gaol would be required, and a court house. All necessary public departments.might be provided

for by a sum of £3,000. Then, as to the revenue, for some years to come he thought the land revenue would not bo less than £5,000 a-year, which, with customs', rent of runs, nnd other simrceß of revenue, he thought would provide a hnndsome balance, to be devoted to public improvements. Mr. A. Seymour observed that after Dr. Monro's txplivnation of the probable revenue which, the .new province, might calculate upon, he thought'those who had' any doubts as to the desirability of the proposition would find them removed. For his part he felt' no doubt on the matter. Resolution put and carried, nem. con. Mr. Goulter proposed the second resolution as follows,'which was seconded by A. P. Seymiur Esq.: —" That it is therefore the interest and duty of this district to make application to be constituted a province under the New Provinces Act of 1858, by which they will have the power of managing their own affairs, and will enjoy the appropriation of their own revenue." Carried nem. con. Third resolution' proposed by Mr. Paisley, seconded; by Mr. Ocicley:— "That as soon as the results of the census which has just been taken be made public, by which they have not the least doubt they will; be shown to possess the required population, a petition be prepared and signed, asking for separation." * Carried nem. con. Mr. A. Seymour proposed the fourth resolution, seconded by Mr. Paisley :—" That in the meantime the inhabitants of the Amuri district be requested to join the Wairau people in this petition, upon the understanding that their local requirements shall always have the fullest consideration, and that a fair share of their land revenue shall be laid out for the.;improvements of their own district." Carried, nem con. ■ - Mr. Jolin Godfrey proposed the following resolution, seconded by W; Adams, Esq.: ~'i' That a committee be appointed to carry into effect the resolutions passedat this'meeting, and that such committee shall consist of A. Seymour, Esq., Messrs. James Ward, H. 'Godfrey, John Godfrey, and Murphy. W.; Adams, Esq., desired his name might be omitted. Heiiwould render the committee any ,assistance, but would prefer not having his name on the committee.-1-Carried nem. con.

On the above interesting subject the 'Nelson Examiner' has ; the,following remarks, which indicate ,that even the most ready supporters of the General Government, antagonists alsoin particular of the Provincial Government to which they belong, feel sore at any' proposed dissevermerit of their own province:— v : : ''"'-'

The meeting which washeld the other day in, the Wairau for the separation of their district from the Nelson province, * and' its '. formation as a distinct Provincial Govern merits with its own Superintendent and Council, seems to have; arrived at its con{ elusions with an unanimity that rendered any.distinct statement of its case unnecessary, any detailed accountlof its wrongs.uncalledfor, and.any calculation' of' profit or' loss, of' the probable expenses or revenue, not worth consideration.- Now we are n'otl going ; to denyrthat a good case may'very probably be made put upon..all these points,,since we have' from time to time'expressed our opinion that the outlying districts had fair grounds for complaint against bur Provincial Government for the little knowledge, it seemed to possess about them, the little exertion it made,to become better acquainted with them, and the1 little' interest it'took in their ad vancehient; but !we' certainly, on ah occasion so important as that which . called' them together,' should have liked to receive : from, the Wairau residents something more satisfactory and explana-; •tory thian the report which we lately published of the meeting in question, arid the resolutions which were passed at it; in order that both we and the public at large might be enabled to form some definite judgment upon the subject. that report as a fair statement of what passed at the meeting, and in the absence of any counterbalancing information, the general opinion here seems to be,, that, whatever .the merits of .their case, they have got it up very badly, and _that if. tliey^hayeno more specific.-' aUe^atiohs :'to' Jt)iing forward, or-' : are too indifferent to hunt after and put them in a prominent • light, the lukewarm spirit thus| displayed is of bad augury to! the cause they have taken in hand. The Chairman of the meeting, instead of being brie of the oldest arid most influentiar residents, selected for his knowledge of'their wants and for; his personal interest in the matter, was a chance visitor, caught flying, as it were; in his pursuit of pleasure; being no other than our facetious friend, G.'White, Esq., Clerk of the~ Provincial Council, who, following the example set by other eminent statesmen at home, was "rusticating in the neighbourhood,: arid was snatching a few brief moments of relaxation from the arduous duties of office in the short interval between the close of one| harrassirig session and the commencement' ; of the next. Again, we are left in doubt as to the character •of the meeting. . Having~been fully advertised; we should,; like, to have been informed whether it was numerously attended, whether it had excited sufficientinterest to bring up people from a distance; or whether, oii the contrary, it merely consisted of the inhabitants of Beaver, and the gentleriien whose names are given as the movers and seconders of the fyarioiis resolutions; or even, as has happened before now at public meetings in New Zealand, of those gentlemen only, with no audience at all. These are all-matters which we think they have rather un- , wisely.: left us, in. the dark about; so that in a movement which has for its object to divide our province into two portions, of which one has all the sheep "runs,' all the saleable land, and one-tenth of the population, and the other nine-tenths of the people are left "with the mountains alone for their heritage, we are left ,to conjecture their case from the unsupported assertions of their resolutions. Nor are these altogether consistent with each other; for' the first resolution positively asserts that the population of the district is sufficient .to justify the claim for separation; whilst the third shows that at present they have no reliable information upon which they can act, but must I wait for the information which the forthcoming census is expected to furnish. That the Wairau is geographically distinct from Blind Bay is undeniable, and that our. Nelson Government has shown the most unaccountable supineriess arid indifference to r facilitating the intercourse between them is equally so; but we should have liked to see the laws specifically pointed put which are not suitable to the Wairau; as we might then be able to judge how far Nelson was responsible for the defect; and 'by reference to the records of the Provincial Council ascertain how far the Wairau and its representatives had bestirred themselves, to make known their grievances and suggest the appropriate remedies. It would also have strengthened their case to show the revenue which had. been derived from the district and the sums which had. been expended upon it in return. .Some isolated.statements of this kind have from time to time been, put forward, but not collectively;; they would have, been quite new to the majority of people; and of the few who require rather to be reminded .than informed, none would have objected to receive a'gentle refresher of their fading recollections; which would have hud the additional advantage of serving as proofs of the accusations with which the resolution terminates and which now stand as mere unsupported asser r tidns. We do not deny that facts may be brought forward to show that the country has not been opened up as it ought to be, that population has riot been introduced, that production has not been encouraged and facilitated as it might have been, or that the/interests of the district have not been generally consulted; but on such an occasion these statements should be backed up by facts, and riot be subjected to the risk of being treated as mere idle declamation.

Then as to the probable expenditure. We have no doubt that all, necessary; public departments might be provided for b/ a sum of £3,000. But '.would they ? Whythe amounts put down against the Wairad in the last," Appropriation, Acf, excluding the Waitdhi- road •expenditure, amount to nearly, half, that' sum already,' Without Superintendent, or, Council, or, law, adviser, or itreasureY, or laud office, or surveys, or .registrar's office1, or contingencies of any kind V and without

counting the share of the land debt or the general liabilities. That a yearly disbursement of even an additional £3,000 a-year among them would be grateful to the inhabitants of Beaver, there can be no reasonable doubt ; but un expenditure of double that sum would boa double benefit ; and with them the power would rest of determining not only that but all other appropriations of the public money. The holders of one fifty-acre section there, divided into quarter-acre allotments, could dictate thuir own terms to the whole rural population; and, without thinking them one whit behind any other equal number of inhabitants of any other part of New Zealand in any public or private .capacity, the innate propensity in human nature to be liberal with other people's money would, we fear, bo too much even for their virtue. Arid if the disruption is to take place, is it possible that they can flatter themselves that the fifteen or twenty holders of the Amuri would travel over the rugged passes of the Kaikoras to join them, when Canterbury touches on their confines, and has already laid out her thousands in making a broad highway up to their very doors? We think not; and doubt whether they have much expectation of any great encouragement in that quarter. . But the subject wants .discussion; and we shall be glad to see it receive a full and searching one. We can only declare that we have no bias in any direction; but shall only feel happy to assist in promoting whatever may forward their interests, consistently with justice to others. We would even go further, and make some sacrifices for their sakes; and. as an earnest of our sincerity, at once make them an offer of the whole of our. Provincial Government, and would meanwhile engage to carry on our own little affairs with their chief clerks alone, so that no one should find out the difference.