New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1872.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 54, 3 February 1872, Page 11

New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1872.

'The laying the foundation stone of the new offices of the Provincial Government, on Monday last, may be considered, in the present circumstances of the colony, an event of no ordinary interest. It would seem to indicate that the Provincial system was not going to die so soon as the Provincial Secretary at one time anticipated. If, however, it is to be maintained some better reason must be given for its preservation than that to be found in the circumstance that one of its former opponents would lose a lucrative pose by its extinction, though it may bo one that he could ill afford to part with. It is fortunate lor Provincial Institutions that they require no such extraneous props to support them. The great benefit conferred upon the province since Mr Bunny has held the office of Provincial Secretary, with so much honor to himself and satisfaction to the country, affords a very good indication of the benefits Provincial Institutions are capable of conferring, when capable men hold offices under them. It is, nevertheless, quite certain that the Provincial Secretary long predicted the early death ol the provincial system, and persisted in a course of conduct well calculated to bring about the event predicted. It is equally certain that he announced at his election that he was going to town to assist at the funeral rites of Provincial Institutions, and that his whole political career was a standing proof that “ the wish was father to the thought.” It must be admitted, therefore, even by himself, that there was something anomalous in the circumstance of having, by virtue of his office, to take a prominent part in the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of new provincial buildings, nstead of being employed in the more con. genial task of providing a tomb for the inter, ment of Provincial Institutions. If his political views have undergone no change—if he is still of opinion that the fault was not in the engine driver but in the engine—if he still thinks that a Provincial Secretary is of no earthly service, and that a Provincial Council cannot, if it chooses, raise a very handsome revenue without imposing any heavy burdens on the people—mourning costume would have been more appropriate than the holiday attire he wore on the occasion. Strange that the being in or out of office should have such an effect in altering one’s feelings and modifying one’s opinions. Strange such difference there should be Between tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee.

A circular letter has been addressed by the Provincial Secretary to the several road boards in the province of Wellington, informing them of the amount of money allotted to them under the “ Payment to Provinces Act 1871,” and of the mode pi’escribed by that Act for its expenditure. It does not, however, contain any information with reference to the way the Government arrived at the amount to which each road district was entitled, nor as to the class to which it was considered to belong. In the absence of such information it is impossible to judge of the fairness of the apportionment, or whether the stringent conditions imposed under the act have been complied with. Prom what we can gather it would appear that the apportionment was made on the capitation principle, or according to the number of votes possessed by a district, rather than according to the amount of rates collected and its special requirements ; but the subject will doubtless receive the attention of the Provincial Council when it meets. These subsidies, out of either loan or general revenue, to Road Boards have many political and material defects and advantages, and the question is whether the latter do, or do not outweigh the former. To expend large sums of money out of loan in the making of roads, and consequently in the improvement of private property in wealthy and settled districts, is wrong in principle, and what the Colonial Secretary, in framing the “ Payment to Provinces Act, never contemplated.

A case which came before the Whareama Petty Sessions the other day deserves notice on two accounts. Pirst, because the defendant was a clergyman, and no less a person than the member for the district both in the Provincial Council and the General Assembly. Second, because the case was decided by two neighboring flockowners, who, with the defendant, are Justices of the Peace; the latter being also the chairman of the aforesaid sessions. They are all men of irreproachable character, both in public and private life ; and, as settlers, they are, we understand, equal to any other to be found in the province, as re-

gards enterprise, education, public spirit, and hospitality. There are no men, in short, one could more desire to have for neighbors. But for all that, it does not appear that they are altogether qualified to discharge impartially their magisterial duties in those cases which frequently come before them, and in which they, as flockowners or employers of labor, are directly or indirectly interested. In the present case they decided that a weekly servant who took a holiday, without leave, in the beginning ol Christmas week, was not entitled to receive any portion of the wages then due to him, amounting, he alleged to £2 15s. Such a decision is clearly illegal; and the question suggests itself, whether, in the public interest, the Resident Magistrate should not be Chairman of these Petty Sessions, considering that the Rev. J. C. Andrews would then be relieved of this gratuitous and disagreeable duty, without necessitating any additional cost to the country.