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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4180, 13 August 1874, Page 2

If any member of the two Houses of Parliament, or any politician out of doors, entertained tho idea that the Government were not wholly in earnest in proposing the resolutions on the subject of Provincialism in the North Island of which they had given notice, that impression will be removed by the statement made by the Premier yesterday. There may have been room for a supposition that the announcement of his intention to deal with the subject was drawn from tho Premier in a moment of irritation, occasioned by the factious opposition the hon. member for the Hutt has exhibited during the present session ; and that it was impossible for Mr. Vogel to forget the trouble he had lately experienced in checking the somewhat reckless financing, of the Provincial authorities of 'Wellington! It, could not be forgotten, however, that the figures read by tho Premier on a late occasion to the House, showing the enormous, extent to which the Province of Wellington had been a debtor to the General Government, must have induced the hon, member to consider why such a state of things should be allowed to go on, and why the General Government,; which had been forced to take so active and responsible a part in the administration of the affairs of that Province, should not assume the entire management and responsibility of its affairs. (Arrived at that" stage, it was only ncoes-, sary to look at the state of Taranaki to see that that Province ' could; notflourish under local Government. It is unable without assistance from the. Colonial Government to turn its own natural resources to account. Without a

harbor, without roads, without any adequate means of ' communication between the seaboard and the inland forests, Taranaki has languished though in the possession of forests of very great value; and is now, from these causes and others more serious, scarcely further advanced in material prosperity than she was twenty years ago. Even now, when the necessity of providing means of shipment and of opening up the country is pressing itself upon the. people in and around New Plymouth, they find themselves utterly helpless, and can duly call upon Jupiter, in the-form of the Colonial Government, to help their waggon out of the mud in which it is fast. If Hawke’sßay is looked at something very much similar is seen. That Province hasmade considerable progress, undoubtedly ; but as regards harbor accommodation it is scarcely bettor situated than Taranaki, and the work of constructing a harbor at Napier is a task altogether beyond the powers of the Province. The Government must step in not only to provide harbor accommodation, but to open up the country by roads and railways ; and if they must do so—if the credit of the Colony must be invoked to provide the public works required by the Province of Hawke’s Bay —it is difficult to perceive why many of its minoraffairs could not also be properly and inexpensively managed under a Minister charged with the superintendence of the whole business of the North Island, combined with so much of the system of local management as must under any circumstances exist. Nor can Auckland have any good reasons to put forward why, if the southern half of the Island should be disprovinoialised, the northern portion should not also be dealt with in the same manner. From the time of the first division of the Islands into Provinces, Auckland has been more or less dependent upon the General Government. That much of her difficulty arose from causes over which the Provincial authorities had no control, and the General Government for a time had but little, does not affect the argument otherwise than in favor of the extension of the authority of the Government of New Zealand, in all the affairs of the country, over the entire Island. The progress the Colony has been making, and the necessity of continuing the large efforts the General Government are engaged in to raise Now Zealand to the position that it • is destined to occupy among the Colonies of England, are bringing about the time when a change in the mode of administering the government of the North Island will beabsolutely necessary. Provincial Government has no doubt been of advantage in times past, when the - interests of the various divisions of the Islands were more individual and less colonial than they now are. But that time is passing away. The Northern Provinces are so bound together by colonial interests and responsibilities, that, so far as-is possible, their Government must be consolidated. Ministers propose, on the approval of the House—this session as to the principle, and next session as to details, to try the experiment. The reasons that probably induce them to make the proposition, as presented by the state and prospects of the four Provinces concerned, we have just glanced at. Those general reasons which also support their proposed federation under the General Government are not less obvious, and do not require recapitulation. The Ministry have based their official existence on the hazard of their appeal to the common sense of Parliament and the people. There has been no hesitation in placing this distinct issue before the House—the consolidation of the North Island and the continuance in office of the present Government, or a maintenance of the present dual system of government in each Province and a new pilot at the wheel, with a new crew. The question, of course, will bo discussed and dealt with entirely on its own merits, and without reference to any consequences that may follow from it as regards the position of parties and possible changes in the political situation. It cannot be forgotten, however, that the Ministry which has arrived at the conclusion that the abolition of Provincialism in the North Island is a necessity, is the same Ministry from which the country obtained that policy of action to which its present prosperity is attributable. That policy was entered upon amid prophecies in abundance from those who are now likely to oppose the proposition, that nothing but ruin, present and future, could flow from it. That they have proved themselves false prophets has not lessened, but sensibly increased, the animus they entertain not only to the Government as a whole, but to every, individual member of it; and this is a consideration which, whether it weighs with the House or no, will undoubtedly, be;, regarded by the country should it be called upon to review, during a general election, the decision at which the House may arrive on the resolutions that will be submitted to it this evening.