SEPARATION.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 277, 23 December 1865, Page 3

SEPARATION.

The following is condensed from an able article on the above subject, in the 1 Evening Star—

The time is evidently fast approaching when the electors of the Province will have to address themselves to the important question of Separation, not in the fustian fashion recently in vogue—a large public meeting in the theatre, all (roth and clamor —a committee imposing only from its numbers, and the distribution of subscription forms, the blank appearance of which was emblematical of the whole proceedings—but in that practical manner which the serious nature of the question demands, ai.d in the absence of which nothing tangible or satisfactory can possibly be effected. Separation will be the watchword at the next Elections, and there can hardly be a doubt that a large majority of members returned for the new House of Representatives will be pledged in favor of, if not an entire severance of the two islands, at least a financial independence for both. The question of Separation must be rescued from the obscurity in which it has been involved by some of its bewildering advocates and popular orators. What Separation means must be distinctly defined, and then it must be resolved whether it can be sought with justice and propriety, and if obtained, can be made conducive to the prosperity ol the Province. # * It must not be forgotten that the Southern members and their constituents are equally liable with their Northern brethren for whatever liability has been hitherto incurred in the unhappy strife which we hope wiU occupy a place in history as the last New Zealand War; but, as a set-off to this, it must not be lost sight of that when the three million loan was sanctioned, it was consented to by the Southern members on the express assurance that their liabilities on account of Native difficulties were to cease, and that the South was to be asked for no more, war appropriation. llow the bulk of this vast sum has disappeared uuder the united influences of jobbery, mismanagement and incompetence is too hackneyed a story for repetition. We have become liable during the quelling of the rebellion for a sum which must cripple our resources for many years, and while our fellow colonists in the North pathetically entreat us to incur no further responsibility, but to mind our own affairs, and leave theirs alone, who can allege the impropriety of our seeking Separation on the score of injustice? ♦ CLIPPINGS FROM 'DUNEDIN PUNCH.' PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. NOTICES OP MO'jIION. Mr Walker to move—That seeing the inequality of the gifts of Providence among the numbers of the Executive, an humble address be presented to his Honor the Superintendent praying that be will cause the superfluous huir on Mr ltennie's chin, to be transferred to the top of the Provincial Treasurer's head. Mr Haughton to move—That the hon members for the city of Duuedin be numbered, and tliat Mr Grant be No 1. Mr Mouatt to move—For a return showing in detail the number of tents and other buildings in each gully and flat on the goldfields ; the nun-ber of inhabitants in each tent, distinguishing the sexes and stating whether married or single, and if married the numbers and ages of their respective wives or husbands ; their religion (if any) and the number of teeth that each person has lost, together with their measurement round the waist, the color of their hair and eyes, specifying those who squint, and whether they pronounce their H's properly. Such return to be laid on the table within two days. Mr Grant to ask the Provincial Secretary— Whether (its is reported) the Heliogabulus of the Water of Leith, commonly called the Goldfields Secretary, was carried in a sedan chair, in a dressing gown and carpet slippers, all the way from the Dunstan to the West Coast by Maori Jack and Mr Mining Surveyor Coates. DINNER TO THE SUPERINTENDENT. Mr Justice Chapman proposed the " Mining Interest." He said that through a long life of intercourse with his fellow men he had never met a class so thoroughly moral, sober, and religious as the miners. They seemed to concentrate in themselves every social virtue, and possessed a degree of intelligence far beyond the agricultural and pastoral clodhoppers. No miner was ever convicted of any crime; or if he was, he wasn't a miner—and he could truly say that the offences of miners were minor offences indeed ! (Hear, hear, from Mr Brodie.) Mr Mouatt rose to return thanks on behalf of the miners. He could only say that his Honor Mr Chapman was a very good judge. He (Mr Mouatt) had been a miner thirty years, and had never even stolen a horse or killed a " wild sheep "on the ranges. (Hear, hear, from Mr D. Hell.) It was his endeavor to wrest the auriferous treasures from the soil, and in the Council to humbug the Government out of as much as he could for the goldfields, in which he had the able assistance of his colleague. (Applause.) ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Anxious Inquirer—We cannot t-xactly explain why the ' Wakatip Mail' is printed on green paper. It may be symbolical of the verdancy of the editor's mind, which has never been embittered by calling at shanties. We reject as quite absurd the hypothesis that the color of the paper has been chosen with the view of conciliating the Irish element. In reply to your second question, we assure you that Mr Punch has n j connection with the Wakatip Male, the Bruce Trumpeter, or the Taapeka Misericordia. H. Manders—We cannot say positively whether Mr Grant will stand for the Mayoralty of Qaeenstown. He certainly will not stump up the tip you suggest for laying him on the billet.