REFORM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 30, 19 August 1871, Page 2

REFORM.

[lndependhnt, August 14.] The feeling of humiliation expressed by Naaman, the Syrian, at the simplicity of the means prescribed for his recovery is frequently felt by a certain class of reformers of which "Wellington is not without some interesting specimens. We have had among us a Reform Association, one of whose characteristic aims has been the restoration of " Wellington to its proper position as the capital of the colony." To attain this great end it was thought necessary to import some commanding talent, and nobody but an ex-Premier was supposed capable of effecting this wonderful improvement. On his refusal, as a nepis aller, they requisitioned an ex-Native The former (Mr Stafford) instructed them that Wellington \vou\d " gain its proper position" hj the progress of settlement in the interior of the province, by connecting it with the good land in the interior by means of cheap railways and tramways, by attending to civic improvements, such as draining, lighting, and cleaning the streets, by providing means of education for the poorand destitute, a reformatory for neglected and criminal children, an asylum that would not be a " disgrace to civilisation" for the insane, and by enacting such police regulations as would prevent the application of the term " capital" being made a bye-word throughout the better regulated cities of the colony. Oh, no, nothing of the sort! His words were, "I am glad to hear that the people of Wellington are about to rouse themselves from the political torpor they have for some time indulged in. I trust that the efforts of the Reform Association may result in securing the return of members for Wellington who may, by the policy they advocate, seek to raise it to its proper position of the capital of the colony, rather than as hitherto to keep it a mere provincial town of second-rate importance. By the first course progress and many advantages may be secured, by the second nothing but stagnation and ridicule." The organ of the league at that * v time advised the electors of Wellington to "lay these words to* heart." We pointed out at the time that " they were as full of mystery as the body to which they were addressed." Whereupon we were informed, subsequently, that they meant the election of Richmond and Travers. Yes, they were the Abana and Pharpar to effect our restoration !

As we stated at the time, " we know of only one way of raising Wellington or any other place in importance, and that is by increasing its population, its trade, and commerce. The more it affects a Washington the less it approximates a New York ! Give us roads and railways, put the rich country we have in the interior into easy communication with the city, administer the lands we have lately acquired liberally andimpartially, induce the large capitalists at home, and the large land companies in the Southern island to invest in our more fertile lands, lying under a far more genial sky, fill the Province of Wellington with a numerous and contented population, and then, and then only, will the City of Wellington rise|to its proper position. Simultaneously with this let us see cheap railways made in both islands, and when Wellington is connected with the extretimes of the colony by rapid means of communication ; then, indeed, will she rise to her proper position as the capital city, because it will then be possible for her to satisfy the requirements of a capital. A mere geographical centre — a mere central spot on the map —does not necessarily indicate where a capital must be fixed, and the exigencies of the general body of the people are infinitely to be preferred to the factitious aggrandisement of any particular city. A cry for more importance from a city so far inferior, as the Hon. Mr Stafford has tried to show, is sure only to be laughed at in the "other more populous communities" as characteristic of a Little Peddlington rather than of a capital, and whoever uses it as a hustings cry will assuredly commit a most egregious mistake. Will any one advocate that the General Government should give it those sanitary improvements, and charitable, and educational institutions which would, indeed, raise its position as a capital city. In other words, they would dare to propose to tax the poor people of Invercargill for its water and

gas; New Plymouth for its drainage and sewerage, and Blenheim for its asylum and hospital ?" The people of Wellington would not have the Abana and Pharpar of the Reform Association; and to their own Provincial Council, their own Municipal Corporation, and their Parliamentary representatives chosen from among themselves, have they looked for Wellington being raised to its proper position. In the Provincial Council resolutions have been passed carrying out the very ideas we propounded, and instead of waiting, Micawber-like, for some " policy" to be advocated which will raise Wellington to its proper position, the Superintendent and Provincial Executive have heartily adopted the policy already sanctioned by the Assembly, and not expecting from it what neither it nor any other policy can promise, have inaugurated a new state of things, on the basis of self-help and direct taxation. The City Council has done much since the general election to raise Wellington to its proper position, but it has not done as much as we expected. Reform is not popular which requires the slightest exertion or sacrifice, without any corresponding glorification. It sounds better and costs less to talk of abolishing the Native Department than to pay an adequate assessment for the removing of pestilential nuisances. Our streets are disgracefully dirty, but our ardent reformers are so engrossed in talking about sweeping away existing institutions,, they cannot condescend to think of a scheme for sweeping away the garbage and odour that infest them. The city is still imperfectly paved, cleaned, and lighted; stagnant water and filth create daily pestilential effluvia in every ward ; our dues drive away shipping from our port; our Corporation bye-laws seem to be a dead letter; but these and kindred subjects of reform aredespised by our amateur reformers for some abstract theories of governing the nation. An election for a member of the City Council takes place on Monday, and the candidates have never yet made any explanation of their views. We look for reform abroad, and neglect our primary duty of improving Wellington so as to be worthy of its proper position of ttie capital of the colony, by having all the sanitary arrangements and amenities usually to be found in capitals. The means of effecting these reforms are simple and at hand, but that seems to be the very objection to their being employed. Our professional reformers despise the near and the attainable —they prefer the distant and the difficult. Will no genuine reformers come to the rescue ? Are we to go on for ever prating of being the capital, and content to be the worst regulated city of New Zealand? The great reforms initiated by the Provincial Council, by which we mean the resolutions passed relative to immigration, railways, and public works, selling land on deferred payment, and the Education and Highways Act, will go far to increase our population, trade, and commerce—it is for the Council to do its part, by introducing water, getting possession of the wharf, so as to see that shipping is not kept away by excessive charges, enforcing the bye-laws, and improving the lighting, drainage, and sewerage. By the city authorities supplementing the reforms begun by the provincial, Wellington will cease to be "of second rate importance," but if the Assembly is petitioned by our amateur reformers _to withhold that assistance without which the efforts of both will be abortive, then Wellington will be prevented by its own misguided citizens from " rising to its proper position." Those who are thus leagued together may call themselves reformers —we call them conspirators against the common weal!