CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN NEW ZEALAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 238, 21 September 1875, Page 4

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN NEW ZEALAND.

(Australasian, September li f ) The absence of Sir Julius Vogel from New Zealand has not been fatal to the policy be initiated. The latest intelligence from Wellington is to the effect; that , the sacoad reading of the bill for the abolition of provincialism in both islands- baa been carried by an enormous majority; and though several of these who voted with the Government on ith^t occasion refrained from pledging themselves to support the third reading, there is no doubt that before .the present session of the General Assembly closes the doable form of government now existing in New ZealandiwtU come to ao end. Nothing better coald possibly be desired for that colony. We do not sopf&ige that the mere pecuniary savingwilr be great, for it was intimated in the coarse, of the debate that there was a poif ibijfty of many of the provincial officers being retained by the General Government, to discharge duties somewhat 'similar to those they were then performing. To some of tbe Superintendents this mus£ have been an agreeable intimation, for a permanent appointment under the Crown must certainly be a more agreeable possession theair'a precarious one, liable to be aff&ted every three or four years by the 7 . Votes of a constituency. The gain to itie General Government which may fairly be anticipated, from this great constitutional change is enormous. It removes all those distinctions and jealousies as to what was provincial and what was general as to land and revenue, 1 the control of the police, the naaaagemepfc of gaols and asylums, the eDaotment of laws, the administration of r;the laws affecting education, Ac, The result of the division explains why tb# 'Government some days bo fore announced its intention to proceed no furthei! with the State Forests Bill of last session. That measure, in its mutilated form, was accepted by Sir Joy us Vogel aa something only better than nothing at all. His real object undoubtedly was, in proposing his bill, to .obtain for the General Government possession of the landed estate of the colpnyplarg^ in Canterbury and Otago, comsiderable in Wellington, and small in the other provinces — claimed by tbe provinces, to be used for their own local purposes only. Outside of New Zealand, everyone looked upon the public lands as the ultimate security for the loans made to that colony ; butj the ■ prdvinciaiists who had valuable/ land to dispose of could not be per/ suaded that their possessions were ncft merely provincial, but colonial. Sir Julius looked to the forests of lie islands to, pay. the debt incurred fir opening up the country and pouring |q population, if the works constructs under. the loans should not prove suflL cigntly reproductive to pay for theoA sej!rs&i „F; i nding himself yigoroosiyV op^oged fast session by the Superintended of.Qt.ago, Canterbury, and WelHngtop, and only coldly supported by ttie^uperjntendentof Nelson, Sir Julius wjth, a State Forests Bill, which gave him only a tithe of that, for which be asked, and complexly defeated his main desire— the' possession of the whole public estate- His defeat on that occasion br^aght^ about bis determination to abolinh : provincialism in the North Island — a determination which it was stance; seen must lead to its extermination io both islands. Public opinion in JioVh was found to be io favor of the change, and there can now be no doubl of its being accomplished The effects of the change cannot ba be io the highest degree beneficial. I removes any doubt that might have been entertained as to the ability pt New Zealand to meet the claims of her English creditors. So long as tne Treasurer was embarrassed by «ie cla ; ms of the provinces be had a formidable difficulty to contend with which will ntft now exist. The Lower House will p^sa the bill, and it will be rtelcoroed in the Legislative Counlil, qfhtere- the anti-provincial feeling Has always been strong. New Zealabd securities, therefore, will now becoflae firmer than^ever they were before, aid if another four-uiillion loan is require!, the colony will have no difficulty m obtaining it. The minor advantage! will bdmany. When the bill passed into law; it will extinguish nice little Parliaments, wsth their power of enacting 1 legislation of s conflicting character. Jt.wiil enable the General Government fo bring about uniformity ia the laws, aod remove many difficulties that now exist ia. the selection of land for settlement or for mining purposes. The fact of police being under Provincial control was^ found to be attended with many dis&dvaatages that will now be removed. provinces were also at -Vail^Dce in their management of educational matters, aqd a national system wilt certainty be preferable to a provincial one. The time had come wh m the, .distinction between colonial and provincial properties and affairs could no looger be maintained. When the settlements were small and independent; and communication was infrequent and difficult, Provincialism was cot ooly good in its way, but a necessity. But as population increased, and ibe Pgqittoa of New Zealand among the colop^ea infproved, it began to be seen that a new order of things was iraperatevelycalted for, and that idea is now about to be realised. ,' The seleciioQ iif Sir George Grey as, lo&iiet 6f the Opposition appears to

have been a fortunate circumstance for the Ministry. His long retirement from public life has evidently unfitted him for the position in which he libb been placed. It is evident from his speeches in the House of Representatives that, while the old fire remains in him, he has no longer the ability of using it with wisdom or even with propriety. Always at variance when he was a Governor with the Secretary of State for tbe Colonies, he seems to have lost no opportunity during the sittings of the Assembly to assail the Governor (the Marquis of Normaoby), to quarrel with the "Usmtry.aad quibble upon every trifle. If any weight was attached to his ntme, it is lost , — if anything waa expected from his presence in the House, the expectation ha* been vain ; — and a Ministry that, in the absence of Sir Jaliua Vogel, was supposed to he weak, has been found to be flrm, united, and strong. All the better for New Zealaad, which is carrying out so large an experiment in the policy of a new country.