THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1868.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 140, 17 October 1868, Page 3

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1868.

** Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to ?rgua freely according to conscience, above all other liberties.’* M ILTON.

We very much regret that the first Resolution of Mr. Hall’s proposed financial scheme, dissolving the partnership between the General and Provincial Governments—agreed to as it was by all parties in the House —should be quietly shelved, because the Ministry were not in a position to tack on it their own pet mode of adjustment j nor allowed to demand from those Provinces which have little or no Debt, the same amount of Taxation as from those others which are enjoying the benefits arising from the expenditure of large Loans. No doubt Canterbury and Otago—having a large Land Fund in addition to their share of Consolidated Revenue ; and Nelson, with its large Customs and small debt—are better off under the present system than they would be under almost any other that could be entertained, but justice to the whole Colony demands that steps should be taken to place the financial position of the other Provinces on a more permanent basis. If this is unattainable, then let them be at once and for ever extinguished, rather than be obliged to die a lingering death.as at present. But the Stafford Policy has been in every sense one of drifting, and the present arrangement, whereby this Province is to receive a temporary loan, is only another instance of the same management, enabling us to drift on until next March, when we shall find that the Land Revenue for the year will ;.not be nearly sufficient to pay the advances up to that date, and the Province consequently in a helpless state of impecuniosity, and the Assembly not being in Session, vve shall be compelled to accept any terms the Stafford Ministry may choose to impose. That there are political reasons why it is impossible for Mr. Stafford and the ultraCentralist section of the House, to adopt the financial proposals of Mr. Fox, we can truly believe, but while we also believe these reasons to be based upon the hope of carrying out such a scheme of Government as we must utterly condemn, it is not our intention to pursue that subject any further at present. We can only regret that the Ministry were unable to adopt Mr. Fox’s just plan of giving each Province an annuity iu lieu of its former partnership share in the Consolidated Fund, and contrast with feelings of indignation, the position we are now in, with what it might have been !

Let us consider what our true position is, and see how much better it would have been, no less for the Electoral district of Picton, than that of Wairau, had both our Representatives supported Mr. Fox’s policy. By the present arrangement we are to receive such an advance as will enable ns to pay our Superintendent and other officials, keep up our gaol, police, hospital, and harbours until next March, when the Colonial Treasurer expects the sum to be recouped by the confiscation of our Land Revenue from this date till then ! But the fact is, that the proceeds from Land Sales have d windled down to next to nothing, therefore the Land Revenue consists only of the rental accruing from the Runs held under lease, paid yearly in February and March, and amounting to some £4,200 or thereabouts. Now, seeing that the cost of the Departments from the present time to March according to the last Appropriation Act, including two months’ payments overdue, amoufits to £5,332, it must be evident that when the Colonial Treasurer has received all the rents, and even allowing £IOOO for Sales to that date, we shall still be in debt! Besides, what guarantee have we that any further advance will then be given, seeing that we have no chance of repaying it before March,. 1870, if then ? But if wa could 'obtain further advances, it not m )U3trdu3-"that we shoul i b .oiiged to-pao'ou:’--hands iiijcur pockets to • - . • * ' ■

mend every hole in our roads—and the defects already existing in this way are legion—instead of having our Land Revenue available for that purpose. dSTot that we object to be rated for our roads, but no rates that can fairly be imposed, and justly paid by the people at large, will be adequate of themselves to meet the requirements.

vVe feel tempted to draw a picture of the ridiculous position in which we are placed. The official staff employed at a large expense—and for what ? To raise their own salaries, and those of the police, &c. ! To say such a state of things is unbearable, gives but a faint idea of the public mind, but we trust that the Provincial Council will speedily be called together for the purpose of considering the position. To our Representatives there we would urge that they make a firm stand, and refuse to accept any advance on such terms. Rather hand over the police, gaols, and hospital to the care of tlxe General Government at once, and demand that the whole Land Revenue shall be devoted to its legitimate purpose, by distribution to Local Road Boards ; or at least insist that any advance made shall remain unpaid until the next Session of Parliament, when doubtless the partnership between the General Government and the Provinces will be dissolved, and some scheme of adjustment shall balance the account.