CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 201, 25 August 1874, Page 4

CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES.

Tn the course of an able article on .Mr change of policy-% tffc Canterbury Frets writes: — .When a Minister begins the session b^jmnQasciog that he has no important P*f*PP*»l* tjO : make, attf afterwards at a moment's notice, and ' apparently by a sort of "bsppy thought " proposes a radical change in the canstitutioo.jMJne naturally c inquires .the reason .'fdPlso^ extraordinary a proceeding. Especially so whe_rrr£e£ grojpiosed change is of \a kind directly opposed- to the Minister^ | previo'oslyi expressed principles and theN course of his political action. For, till j recently^ Mr Yogel was the great charapfon oT 'provincialism * * What* then has brought' about so complete a change m his opinions? What j hashed hfm to the conclusion that pro-/ V-uclal-institutions are a .nuisance, ana that provincialism should be abolished/ The speech affords no answer to these enquiries^ It contains ample evidence that Mjr*Vbge! is much annoyed at tie opposition to the Forests Bill, that le ison tskd tefnis with the provincial v authorities of Wellington, and hn some^Bhrg like a personal quarrel with\ Mr Fiiaherbert. But that is all. WeA get •bo*QMe-*-to the reasons for his crusade against the provinces beyond such small prtvatooiotrves. On public grounds there is v no e*_fcDlanatioa - why provincialism has, grown\^|ious in his sigbfe, or;/Why,he is seised witka desire to destroy institutions which it used to be.., the .object of his political UV to prptect aod foster • . * \« , The provinces are as tbey were, th>J oi^y . oircumstances that have altered f are bis own. n He has moved from the/ Opposition to the Bench, anur in place of making demands, has to fidd the.weantf of satisfying them. There is no other way of accounting for bis sadden reversal of policy; we do not know whether the change will be held sufficient to justify it. •* * T* AJl t that: ttje r Premier urges — to wtiach his q eyes have been so wondrouply opened'by the debates on the Fore .fes Biiris an* old story with us. * * What we object to is the abruptness and inconvenience of Mr Vogel's acti )n. H-rTfefctoittg on; the spur of the mom mt and out of pique what ought to be d( ne deliberately and on well conside ed grounds of public policy. It is evid mt thit heTiad never.dreamt of touchifag the provincial question this session, aud that he would- '.not have meddled wiflb it — still less have takeujhe line he hate npop. it-rr-but for the opposition to tha Foreata'Bill.. The argument about the\ pauperism of tbe Northern Provinces, and* the disproportion between their revenues and the expenditure . of the General Government in tbe North Island, is clearly J an afterthought. While, then, we have no quarrel with Mr"Vogei's conclusions, we dislike the process by which he has arrived at them. If the, Northern Provinces are to "be abolished, ifc should not be as a penalty/or opposition to the Governmental A great. : constitutional change, even though desirable in itself, ought noftO'be made merely because a Minister happens to lose his temper over the ill-success of a favorite measure. — Evening, Post.

'Thw Wellington correspondent of the^AhcKand . Herald telegraphs that M^:' Stsflto^d / wants the Premier to conyene another session shortly to pass the Bill to consolidate' the provinces. At the JPort g{ 'JNewcaatle on the 26^1^ Jnly., there, were tbe following vessels, in harbor : — 12 steamers, 23 ships, 23 barques, 4 brigs, and 5 schooners. The export of coal for the week ending the 24th July was 19,950 tons, of whicb quantity 3591 tons was for Neir Zealand. fc??* si< .*fi* ■ --. Th* Southern papers are beginning to feomplain of the want of work for the^mmigranta now being poured into theriohmy^ The Otago Daily Times remarks - : — "It is matter for regret thai a large, number of able-bodied men andrwomen should be allowed fo eat thtf Bread MDf idleness in our Immigration B_tfi£cia»j; { In most cases, perhaps, it ytyl rS«i»«npoaaible to blame the immigrants themselves, as all cannot ex s?^?^P?9 ia A l y, a Mbis season of tfeje yea*/io WtkinHituations ot once." Mr Luxmor^, the Chairman of the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works, writes to 9ueiofuhe local papers complaining of the -H.g_»:ewil_. tHesays :— ■"! think I f**\«*?ißg expression to an almost universal feeling throughout the conntry when I say that immigrants are being poured into Canterbury at far too fast a rate. Tmust confess that it was with feelings of the greatest satisfaction that I learn that on, I believe, the representation of the provincial authorities, - the General Government had. telegraphed home to Stop absolutely any further immigrants being aent to either Canterbury or Otago."

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