NOTES FROM SPECIAL REPORTERS AT WELLINGTON.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 239, 3 October 1873, Page 3

NOTES FROM SPECIAL REPORTERS AT WELLINGTON.

•'W I f ec l a. yer.y. grave. sense of .responsibility i" tilllc a.single.line.on the present? t ,^ s Pr c .t,0l .political affairs. I distrust 'my judgment,, my knowledge of constitutional pW'c'odt'nf, the effect the ■■contemplated' ■policy will have'on the country in the fulure;' the chance of my looking s at the prose nt a spect; of a ffai rsl in a wi'ongfl%lll,; the , knovyhjdge of riiy - , possos-iing political pro- : •\ c.ivi ties, all tend to prevent my general .freedom of expression. ;It is well enough -1) write lightly 'when humors .bubble to w ,\' the 'surface of life, but at the present period of our Colonial historj r the man who 1 c mid do so should 'never write again." Of ! ' 'course'the Premier is master of the posi- • .lion, and, -when this is said, there ismoihing more; to add. The country and the Colony owe too, much to his sagacity and nerve, even if he this , time f lias made, a mistake in perpetuating Northern Provincialism, not to follow his lead. Thebene-

- fit accruing from his policy'would a thou- ■ sand times-more than atone for'any ephe- t ' moral wandering from the paths of sound ■ policy. If 'Provincialism is -to; be perpev .i luated—rwell, the ! Colony :• can. only hope > Jts perpetuation! will be short. People , . who live jn. Otago and Canterbury know , .nothing, about the matter. Mr. Yogel the* other evening said there .'were, news/' paper writers, and newspaper writers. TV ell, there are Provinces and Provinces;' Uhe starvelling, 'halfifamished Provinces

; ot the North no more resemble our ( ■ prosperous Province than the meanest

hack that ever came from. Grub-street nnd wrote sensational leaders in the 'Po- , . lice Gazette ' could be compared to those .. : deal daily tliunder from the columns of the * Tillies ' or any other of the pipers of: the world. Northern 'Provinces are ■ ' everlastingly wrangling with the' pawn -..•'shop—taking in;-first their spare boots and clothing, they divest themselves after of

. their coats ? and vests, and,/were it possible , and. consonant with law, would jiypotliuCiitqtlieir shirts and stand inide"anions their well elacl Southron brethren. They • want roads, bridges, railroads, rcclama- ' lions, refuses for pauper and military setliars, and have no funds wherewi:h "to provile for their wants. Having pawned all . .their negotiable raiment, they come to the .Government and pi• svylll atjit may be,returned tliem, so that it can,, be again pledged. There is no use cloaking this fact, and I should do wrong to the paper, and Province I represent did'tjlesitate to proclaim what I believe to be the truth. I have talked to numbers of people belonging to the -North on this-subject, and theTr : :one universalrelrain is—We cjmnotiget •on wiihout." I have in you,r columns before, frequently adverted to the fact that Maori lands cost money to obtain. Tho" ; happy days,of Maori' musket'buying have: become a thing of the" past, and either "liard cash "or blood'have to be paid away " ' ere the Maori of the present or the future will part with his ancestral or; tribal ; pos- - sessions. It .costs more to obtain, lands ;bj' blood than cash. Somo of your readers have ideas that .Maori lands can be •bought or leased for a nominal priee. Let them comehere or elsewhere and try;nnd al though i t is contempkted 'a arrioiinr, of Maori lands'will be bought' for the £'500,000, the result will-show how fVir Lam right. I know this for a fact. The Natives, in their figurative mod;> of .speech, "have locked the door." They are forming a land league among them- , selves, have drafted a circular which they intend: to circulate among the whole of their people, the gisfciaf-which I amnotat liberty to explain. Their lands, they say, shall fetch a fair price. I will give you one-instance. For»a certain large block of land the Government offered four shillings and six pence an acre. . Ifc was onlv' an indifferent block. The refused . to sell. A friend of mine offered six shillings. .This alsoiwas refused, the owner wanting a-higher price. Now what I want; it possible; to evolve 'is this: no perpetuation of this wretched Northern Provincialise can do otherwise than mili- • late:against' thb r weal of the Colony. Divorce, of course, is impossible; bub some .more general measure thati Provincial borrowing must obtaiii .ere the future can be wisely dealt with; There would lie neither Provincial borrowing ■■or aught akin to it, but for the one question—Maori possession of Maori lands. This is the source ot trouble in all our' general policy. Otago is as ouch affected by the fact as Aucklahd ; perhaps even moreV ; Aiickland,goes to war,and loses blood—Otago f y loses money.. ■'" Taranaki goes in for a free fight, and our Colonial debentures become depreciated. It is the same as wounding any portion of the body—the stiff erring is felt through the whole. ~want to - put tti'e matter plainly, but feel I am afraid to do so.—' Star.'

.Speaking' on~ t ho. question of tiqn the . other, evening. to a full Ho'itse. Milton, said a sensible thing. had heard Sir Tatton Sykes, of Yorkshire* was famous for having the best horses, the

best caiiile,ja^eVtJiQ sheep in the district. Oil being iiiterrogated as to how ,c|p.ayp ( e ofor tun ate, Ji e, rel n a rke d~t hat te.lsr£d"tliem himscli*..<• 'J hex bMfcer^incr f ease! our- ' fSm'ate £bptUlitibiY, ;s &nd' ! breed' our own immigrants. In wandering, about; New Zealand I observe mode of peopling the land is not forgotten. The most amusing scene in the House js to note how the member for Duos tan i watches the member for Walcalip. He! is dk'brmihed to sit on Mr. Pyke, ;to avenge the'defeat of his Gold Mining Bill against Tiis versatile rival. .Mr. Mervyn has now an easy time of it. In speaking on the question of Ministers' salaries, Mr. Pyke ventured to make some statement, bu,fc|\ras doing as usual.,-;taik-)i)ig about Acts lie: had never! in the-: reported, when any papers-inHhe library contain aught that isipet\siDnai m them, they disappear, and the files become incomplete. this; session he said to an exrSwperintendent of a Northern Pro--viuc.e, I hope you will support me,this session." "In what?" "Mygeneral'policy and my.party" was the n:tivs reply. ' I wonder what affinity there can be between p'l ac in£-yolifr -11 jfn'dS" firydWbrefclil?s pock - ets and oratory, Eight members out of jten, get ;on thjir legs, assume -this peculiar .attitude, as though it assisted either the flow of ideas or language, they knew do-with their hands,- or : possessed an English;aversion to gesticu? jLu1i0n....... J, this point well elucidated.— 11 Star.'

•The " Smileivuhas talcen up a nem'.role .T-t.liJit.of for Mr. Vincent "Tyke, the new member for Wakatip. So soon as the latter gentleman speaks in the '!ouse, ' no matter on what "subject, yp juui,p.s, tlie ; Stniler" in a vain endeavor to set upon him, but wilh Avhat effect, your readers, who must know him much better than I do, c>m guess. How can any constituency be so infatuated as to turn such a.member ?—'Guardian.'