The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 569, 27 September 1851, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

Be just aiul fear not lot all the ends thoti aims't at, be thy Couiitry'b, 'ihy Ciou's, and Trutli'b.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY. SEPT. 27, 1851.

Even if the Municipal CiußrEii had been piesentcd to the public with smaller claims on favourable reception that its adversaries themselves aie constrained to admit that it possesses, and if the objections urged against it were more tangible and tenable — based more upon fact and argument, and less upon unsupported and fallacious asseition — than, (asi 1 receding articles we have endeavoured to ove) they actually are, still, we submit, it w». Id be the part of prudent men to avail themselves of the good immediately attainable, ra'her than frowardly to reject the measure because it does not in every respect come up to their wishes, or because they see, or think they .cc, drawbacks connected with its undoubted advantages. Were it only a niggardly modicum, instead of a large instalment of the power of ]• cal selfgovernment, It would notwithstanding be wise to secuie it, remembering that its reception cannot foreclose the transaction as between the people and their rulers, so as to prey 'nt their seeking the remainder; but on the contrary, it must place them in a better position for obtaining at an early day all that they can i nstitutionally claim. That such will be i-s effect appears from the consideration, th't^it will afford machinery for embodying an givin/ forcible expression to the popular mimti whch hitherto never existed here. Public rfgftngs and Memorials, on political subjects, have lost much of their weight from the belief, (whether well or ill founded we need not now stop to inquire), that they have frequently rathei exhibited the skill of the tactics by which a few agitating leaders managed to get them up, than conveyed the intelligently and deliberately formed judgment of the Community whose sentiments they professed to express. Cut it will be widely different with applications for the redress of grievances or the extension of privileges, made to either the Colonial or the Imperial authorities by a representative and deliberative Body like the Common Council; — a Body composed of men whose official existence will of itselC be a sufficient proof that they are confided in by the people, — whose suffrages have placed them in a position of trust and responsibility, and in whose views and feelings they may therefore be fairly assumed to sympathise. Tliey will form a medium of communication between the public and the Government, less open to suspicion and more secure of respectful attention, than any we have hitherto possessed ; and were there no other benefit to be derived from the Charter than the establishment of such a medium, this alone would give it a value which should not be lightly regarded. The voice of the Council would, however, be especially influential on matters relating to the organization and operation of the Municipal Institution itself; and if, after a fair trial of the present Charter^ the Councillors should point out faults which required to be rectified, or improvements which could be j effected, there can be no reasonable doubt that their remonstrances and recommendations j would have an effectiveness which could not be equally well biought into exercise by other means. Thus the Charter, while it, at the outset, confers on the inhabitants of the Borough extensive benefits— such as an almost unlimited franchise, the right of managing their own local affairs in the way they judge most conducive to the general welfare, and pecuniary resources, (independent of taxation,) to a considerable amount — includes within it also the principle of an organization which may afterwards be energetically and successfully employed for its own expansion and improvement, according to the necessities which experience of its working, or the progress of circumstances may develop in the future. It is obvious, however, that in this, as indeed in every other aspect of the question, the practical value of our Municipal Corporation | must mainly hinge upon a judicious selection of Councillors. The Burgesses cannot too soon or too anxiously consider what are the qualifications which their representatives should possess, and who are the men in their respective Wards in whom those qualifications can be j found most fully united . If a grave responsibility will rest upon the Council, a grave re^ sponsibility also rests, and tests primarily, upon those by whose votes that Council is to be created. Cliqueship, — clanship,— class, personal, and party, prejudices or predilectionswill we trust be firmly subordinated to the public interest, always bearing in mind that extensive powers, whether for benefit ar injury, to the Borough generally, and, in his own measure* to each individual Burgess, will be deposited in the hands of the Councillors. They will have the management of various important Institutions, and the power to hinder or promote, to make or to mar, numerous local improvements. They will be entrusted with the control of valuable endowments and of a considerable sum from the colonial revenue, and will be authorised to levy taxes which the Burgesses, whether they like it or not. will have no alternative but to pay. Five out of the fourteen will be Justices of the Peace. Now, none of these things should be lost sight of in making the choice. Besides, during this first year, the Councillors will have to act as legislators, in a manner which will not be required in the game degree of their successors in office. They willTiaYe but the mere original materials

for the Municipal fabric, which it will be ll.eir province to combine, arrange, and consolidate. They will be the fathers and founders of practical self-government in the District, and any impiovements or extensions which may be effected by future Councils, must necessarily proceed from their scheme and frame-work as the centre. Sir Glorge Grey has, in few but business-like woids, urged this point in bis explanatory Despatch '.—". — " The first Council will, in the appointment of Corporate Officers, in fixing the nature and amount of their iemuneration. in the enactment of the first code of Bye La-vs, and in other similar respects, both direc y and indirectly enjoy much greater practical power, during their term of office, than ,'*iy succeeding Council ; and the conduct and mode of proceeding of the first Council will probably give a tone to, and stamp for years to come, the character of the governing body of the Borough, and exert a considerable influence upon their proceedings." It follows that if the Burgesses are true to themselvf s and to the duty now devolving on them, they will fix on men of intelligence, of local information, of disinterestedness, and of integrity; wherever they find them ; — men whose sympathies are known to be with the people as a ivhole, not with any class exc'usively; — and, let us add, men on whom no . uch suspicion can rest as that they would enter J the Council with a purpose of frustrating rather than workiny the Charter ; but who — however they may wish it altered in some particulars, and be disposed to exert themselves for its improvement — will be determined, in the mean lime, — honourably, and in a spirit of unswerving good faith, — to carry out its objects, and to turn such capabilities as it possesses, to the best account for the public benefit.