Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1881.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 154, 30 June 1881, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1881.

In perusing the pages of Hansard, the reader cannot fail to be struck, aud occasionally, perhaps, amused, by the frequency of the references to, and the suddenness of the demaud for, " local government." The subject pervaries the debate on the address in reply ; it fre quently floats to the surface io the 'speeches on the Licensing Bill; it appears to have been a perfect godsend to some of the members who thought they ought to say something on tbe Hospital and Charitable Institutions Bill ; and it is even introduced — somewhat laboriously, it is true, but atill there it is — into the debate on the question of Cbiuese immigration. As one of tho members piteously exclaimed a few nights ego:— "lt appears to me that the question of local government crops up in the discussion of every question that comes ba foro the House," despairingly adding, "It i 3 the central figure even here." In speaking of the application by several newspapers of the words " barren session " to tbat of last year, Mr Hursthouse said in tho House the other day :— " The Press of New Zealand reminds me of the weka'of old. When one weka gave out the cry it was taken up by the weka over the ridge, and so the cry was repeated from one another." Whether he was justified or not in making this statement decs not much matter, but his illustration appears to us to be an ex cellent one of the manner in which tbis question of local government is chattered about in the House of Representatives just now, many of the members to whom it had never occurred before, and who recently addressed their constituents without making evon the most distant allusion to it> now taking up and echoing the cry, for no earthly reason exept that Some weka before them has uttered it, and they canuot resist repeating i\ Thia does not apply — nor is it intended that it should — to all who have spoken on the Bubjsct, some of whom are very much in earnest, and are therefore entitled to tbe respect of those who differ from, as well as of "those \yho ngrce with,, them, but after carefully rcadiog the three numbers of flansard which are to hand we are but confirmed in the opinion which we formed after a perusal of the more condensed reports which appeared in thfi papers, that hitherto " local government" bas not assumed shape or form in the miads of those who are clamoring for it, but that the outcry raised is simply one of dissatisfaction with tbe existing state of things, and tbat the yearning ia not for a specific remedy but for somethi g indefinite — something whicb, it is hoped, will ba an improvement on the present reyime, but which may possibly prove even more objectionable. The aboli im of the provinces is viewed by some with deep regret ; others would on no account whatever see the unclean thing back again, but they want a substitute for it. Looking, however, below the surface we cannot help seeing that what is really wanted is not so much l< local government " as money. Money is very scarce, and under the strict economy observed by the Government during the last year, it has been extremely difficult to get. At oue lime it used to be always available somehow or other, if only the applicants were gifted with sufficient impudeto and pertinacity and were not to be easily g>t lid of wheb pressing their claims. But of late the public purse has beeu in a condition similar to that wbich prevailed in the Wellington reservoir a few weeks ago, and no draughts but what were absolutely necessary were allowed to be made upon it. Tbe consequence has been a general feeling of dissatisfaction, and the clamour is raised for local government in tbe hope that this may lead to a larger amount of funds being available, but whtrs they are to come from is at present left in doubt. Probably, however, we shall soon receive some enlightenment on the subject, but as matters now stand, and judging from the tone of the speeches aa reported in Hansara wo have no hesitation in saying that if one side of the House were to bring down a measure for tbe most perfect form of local government it i» possible to conceive, and tbe other to propjuud a scheme of finance whereby more, money could be procurable for local works without increasing the present burden of taxation, and ths Parliament had to make their choice. between the two, it is not "local government" that would get tho larger number of votea.