THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1868.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 126, 18 July 1868, Page 3

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1868.

“ Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all other liberties.” —Milton.

We publish, elsewhere a Memorial to the General Assembly from—Well, we do not know who from as yet, since no names are attached, but we may say from someone in the Pelorus District, praying the General Assembly to constitute such district a County, or District, with Municipal powers; and we are requested to make some comments thereon. We will try our best to do so—passing over the tempting vision which rises before us, of the Mayor of the Pelorus, bustling about in the full exercise of his newly-acquired dignity, or the Government nominee, holding his Council in the city of Havelock—and treat the matter upon what we believe to be its merits.

Now, we can have no objection to the Pelorus, or any other district memorialising the Government for Separation from the rest of the Province, if they see fit—nor do we think such a course would be at all disadvantageous to this district; but we do object to a few persons in one corner, pretending to point out the evils and their remedy, of the whole Province, when it is clear they know nothing about either ! Their memorial says they are willing to leave all matters of detail—and it appears to us, of principle also—to the General Government, providing that they get all the unsold lands in their district. It further modestly suggests that the Province should be disintegrated ! Or, in other words, as they put it, that the Province should be divided into three parts or Counties, but carefully stipulates that the Pelorus should have no connection with either Picton or Blenheim, not Wairau. Really, this puts us in mind of a late representative of the Pelorus in the Provincial Council, who used to be always harping upon “ the settled districts of the Province !” meaning the Pelorus and Picton ! They require an Act that is simple, practical, economical, and just! We heartily and sincerely wish they may get it. We so recently went into this question, when Picton was seeking to be made into a County, and separated (including the Pelorus district in its programme, by the way,) from the rest of the Province, that it will not be necessary to retrace our ground, the more especially as that article remains unanswered. We shall not here say more than that, judging by experience, we do not believe in the system at present, nor have we any faith in the present Ministry passing, or introducing any practical measure for Local Self-Government. As to the economical view, looking at all the measures that have been passed, we may be excused if we doubt this also. We do not maintain —nor have, we ever done so—that the present system is the best that could be devised, but this we do insist upon, that no practical measure for taking the place of Provincial Institutions, has as yet been laid before the public, and until such is done, it is nothing short of madness to trust to anything the General Government may do. Until some general measure is passed for the whole Colony, the wants of the people will not be satisfied, since what will suit Picton, will not suit the Pelorus, nor many other places.

The prayer of the petition wants the entire Province transferred to the General Government ! We decline to fall in with this arrangement, and be thus disposed of quietly, without being even consulted in the matter. If the people in the Pelorus want to throw themselves upon the tender mercies of the Ministry, we do not, at least until some measure is framed for securing real Local Self-Government, and not a mere sham, the same as Westland. The Picton demand for a County Council, &c., was a modest one to that before us, and we take our leave of the subject with the expression of a hope that the people of the Pelorus will pause and reflect ere they leap, Curtius-like, into a yawning abyss, the depth of which they are unable to fathom.